Word: talibanize
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...more his reputation for ruthlessness as a warlord during the country's civil war in the 1990s. Sherzai's ability to get things done, however, has earned him another nickname from the American military commanders who work with him: the Bulldozer. Under his leadership, Nangahar, once a Taliban haven awash with opium poppies, has become one the most successful provinces in Afghanistan in terms of development and drug eradication...
...presidential candidate, Sherzai ticked all the boxes. He is Pashtun, the country's biggest ethnic group; as a tribal chieftain he has the necessary respect to deal with leaders of the Taliban insurgency devastating the south; and he possesses a national reputation garnered from his successful governorship. (Read "Why the Taliban Is Winning the Propaganda...
...last time I saw Sherzai, who is an accomplished lyricist, he was belting out a newly written ode in Pashto to the Taliban in the domed atrium of his Baroque governor's palace. A turbaned Pavarotti with a deep voice burnished by years of cigarettes, he put one hand on his heart and, with the other raised in a beseeching manner, chastised his enemies. "Once, we stood side by side fighting for our country/ Leave me some pride in those memories/ Your worth is more than in killing yourself/ You slaughter your brother while calling out God's name/ Come...
Still, the army is reluctant to launch an all-out campaign against the militants, not least because of a widely held perception in Pakistan that the Taliban's rise is a product of America's unpopular war in Afghanistan. There's little support in the public - or within the ranks of the military - for deploying the military in a sustained civil war against the militants. Many in Pakistan were convinced that the Taliban had exceeded their bounds in Buner and Swat and needed to be pushed back - but not necessarily crushed. Whereas U.S. officials warn of the Taliban...
This week, Obama will follow a path well worn by his predecessor, seeking to convince his Pakistani counterpart to do more against the Taliban. But the smart money says that, like Musharraf before him, Zardari - and the power behind the throne, armed forces chief General Ashfaq Kiyani - will be more inclined to simply do the minimum necessary to ease U.S. pressure, believing that their domestic insurgency will peter out when the U.S. ends its campaign in Afghanistan. That may explain Zardari's hopeful statement on bin Laden's current status...