The American Pundit

This is the result of the Pakistani government appeasing terrorists rather than simply fighting them. You give the Taliban an inch and it’ll take a mile. May this be a lesson to governments (ahem) looking to negotiate with the organization.

There are fears that the Taliban, who have already been handed control of the Swat valley, could now take Islamabad and topple the government.

Militants are believed to be just 60 miles away – and edging closer by the day…

Many in Buner are now too frightened to speak to reporters.

However, one judge said that the militants had entered the district in ‘large numbers’ and started setting up checkpoints at main roads and strategic positions…

Rasul Bakhsh Rais, professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences, said the Taliban may have concluded from the Swat deal that authorities will cave in to violent demands for Islamic law elsewhere.

‘They have natural allies in the religious political parties in other parts of the country,’ he said.

The real concern lies, of course, with the nation’s nuclear arsenal. If the Taliban manages to take control of Pakistan, a terrorist group responsible for harboring Osama Bin Laden will have both nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them.  

The Taliban takeover of Haripur would put the Taliban on the doorstep of Islamabad and would also put two major nuclear facilities at risk.

Haripur borders the Margala Hills, a region in the Islamabad Capital Territory. Haripur also borders the Punjab districts of Attock and Rawalpindi.

Attock hosts two major nuclear facilities in Pakistan: the Wah Cantonment Ordnance Complex and the Kamra (Minhas) Airbase. The Wah Cantonment Ordnance Complex host three sites where nuclear weapons and components are stored and assembled and aircraft and missiles are modified for use in nuclear attacks. The nearby Kamra Airbase is thought to host attack aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Rawalpindi is the “garrison” city for Pakistan’s military. The city hosts the headquarters of the Army and Air Force, and several nuclear weapons research facilities are also located there.

Supposedly the Pentagon has contingency plans to seize Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal if the country’s government should fall to the Taliban. One can only hope that’s the case. 

Via Hot Air.