Word: taliban
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Baitullah Mehsud is a natural leader: cagey, dogged and charismatic, with an apparent knack for uniting disparate factions around a common cause. But instead of channeling those talents toward building an empire, Mehsud is trying to bring one to its knees. The shadowy Pakistani Taliban commander, whose vertiginous rise to infamy landed him on 2008's TIME 100 List, has transformed the badlands of South Waziristan into al-Qaeda's most important redoubt. Among the atrocities attributed to Mehsud is the brazen assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Dec. 2007. Mehsud has denied involvement, but even...
...Mehsud served as a Taliban fighter against the Soviets in the battle for Afghanistan, but first rose to prominence as a supporter of Abdullah Mehsud, a one-legged militant imprisoned soon after the 9/11 terror attacks at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Baitullah Mehsud quickly leapfrogged his boss, and his ascension up the jihadi ladder was made apparent in 2005, when - swathed in a black cloth to shield his face - he negotiated the public signing of a cease-fire agreement with the Pakistani government. He has also served as the protege of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar...
...Under the cover afforded by the agreement - he was once touted by a Pakistani Army official as a "good Taliban" - Mehsud quickly tightened his grip on Waziristan, converting the rugged region into a haven where militant groups could freely operate camps and training facilities. In 2007, he signaled the depth of his influence in the region when he took hostage more than 200 soldiers who had been on patrol...
...Afghanistan, however, is far away from the North Atlantic region where NATO pledged to keep the peace, and the Alliance is staking its credibility on a war in which Western forces are struggling. "The Taliban does not accept defeat, so how can you win?" says Karl-Heinz Kamp, director of the research division of the NATO Defense College in Rome, which trains all ranking NATO officials and diplomats. "NATO might not be able to lose or win in a classic military way," he adds...
...President Barack Obama recently decided to send 17,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan in the hopes of stopping the Taliban's momentum. But the limited reinforcements made available by the Europeans - and the restriction to noncombat roles in order to win the consent of Europe's mostly antiwar electorates - have raised questions about the purpose of the Alliance. "NATO lost its credibility when it refused to commit the resources needed," says Barkawi. After several appeals by then President George W. Bush for more combat troops from Europe failed to secure significant reinforcements, the Obama Administration has made clear that...