It's hard to keep up with all the places our bomb-happy President is already bombing or plans to bomb, and I never ever heard of Quetta, a city of 850,000 souls in faraway Balochistan, until I read that maybe we're planning to bomb it, or maybe not.
Tribesmen watch bombs fall in Balochistan.
Reports that the U.S. is seeking Pakistan's approval for expanding its controversial drone campaign against targets in Balochistan - a clear red line for Pakistan - have raised serious concerns in Islamabad about Washington's ultimate intentions (The News, [Islamabad], September 29). As the Obama administration escalates its military campaign in Afghanistan, Pakistani leaders have expressed deep concerns about the potential destabilization of Balochistan resulting from the intensified fighting expected in Afghanistan in the coming months (The Nation [Lahore], November 27). As if these concerns were not enough, Balochistan remains a hotbed of ethno-nationalist militancy, drug smuggling, and organized crime. Balochistan is also in the throes of a refugee crisis that has been largely ignored. The confluence of these trends - which indirectly or directly reinforce each other - is making an already dangerous situation worse with severe implications for Pakistan and the wider region.
Ethnic Balochistan extends across southern Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as expressed by various shadings on the map above.
Senior U.S. officials are pushing to expand CIA drone strikes beyond Pakistan's tribal region and into a major city in an attempt to pressure the Pakistani government to pursue Taliban leaders based in Quetta.
The proposal has opened a contentious new front in the clandestine war. The prospect of Predator aircraft strikes in Quetta, a sprawling city, signals a new U.S. resolve to decapitate the Taliban. But it also risks rupturing Washington's relationship with Islamabad.
Quetta, (also spelled Kwata, which is a variation of Kuatta, a Pashto word meaning "fort") the provincial capital of Pakistani Balochistan, is "believed to serve as a critical hub for financing and organizing Taliban and al-Qaeda operations (Dawn, September 30)."
But...
senior Pakistani official bristled at the suggestion that Pakistan has been reluctant to target militants in Quetta, saying U.S. assertions about the city's role as a sanctuary have been exaggerated.
"We keep hearing that there is a shadow government in Quetta, but we have never been given actionable intelligence," the Pakistani official said.
The Wikipedia article about Quetta also provides some helpful info for exotic travellers...
Quetta is a major tourist attraction for tourists from abroad. It is advertised as a thrilling location, full of adventure and enjoyment.
Is President Obama planning some sort of virtual bombing tour of Quetta? Nobody seems to know, and in spite of conflicting reports, the President remains rather vague about it.
"The most important thing we can do in Pakistan is to change their strategic orientation," Obama said in a meeting with news columnists Dec. 1. The pursuit of Al Qaeda involves a range of activities, he said, "some of which I can't discuss."
Change the strategic orientation of Pakistan? As if such a thing existed! It's a bag of cats, and an excerpt from balochivoice.com may partially convey the complexity of inter-relations even between ethnically distinct but equally distressed minorities in Pakistan and the rest of Southwest Asia.
The anti-Chinese anger amongst the Balochs continues to be as strong as ever, but the moves for a joint freedom struggle by the Balochs, the Shias of Gilgit and Baltistan and the Uighurs of Xinjiang have not made much headway so far, but the contacts are continuing. There are two groups of Uighur militants. One group, like the Balochs, is fighting for independence for the Uighur homeland. It is not pan-Islamic and does not accept the ideology of Al Qaeda. Another group is pan-Islamic and has accepted the leadership of Al Qaeda in the International Islamic Front (IIF). The move is for co-operation between the Balochs and those Uighurs, who are fighting for independence for their homeland, but do not accept the pan-Islamic ideology of Al Qaeda.
Is President Obama planning some sort of virtual bombing tour of Quetta? Nobody seems to know, and in spite of conflicting reports, the President remains rather vague about it.
"The most important thing we can do in Pakistan is to change their strategic orientation," Obama said in a meeting with news columnists Dec. 1. The pursuit of Al Qaeda involves a range of activities, he said, "some of which I can't discuss."
Change the strategic orientation of Pakistan? As if such a thing existed! It's a bag of cats, and an excerpt from balochivoice.com may partially convey the complexity of inter-relations even between ethnically distinct but equally distressed minorities in Pakistan and the rest of Southwest Asia.
The anti-Chinese anger amongst the Balochs continues to be as strong as ever, but the moves for a joint freedom struggle by the Balochs, the Shias of Gilgit and Baltistan and the Uighurs of Xinjiang have not made much headway so far, but the contacts are continuing. There are two groups of Uighur militants. One group, like the Balochs, is fighting for independence for the Uighur homeland. It is not pan-Islamic and does not accept the ideology of Al Qaeda. Another group is pan-Islamic and has accepted the leadership of Al Qaeda in the International Islamic Front (IIF). The move is for co-operation between the Balochs and those Uighurs, who are fighting for independence for their homeland, but do not accept the pan-Islamic ideology of Al Qaeda.
The Shias of Gilgit and Baltistan? What the heck is Gilgit? Where is Baltistan? Is the IIF the same as al Qaeda?
Mystery after mystery, in the infinite exotica of World War III.
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