Word: talibanize
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...Obama is keenly aware of the limitations on what his reinforcements can achieve. "I am absolutely convinced that you cannot solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban, the spread of extremism in that region solely through military means," he told an interviewer on Tuesday. But more troops are needed simply to arrest and begin to reverse a perilous slide in NATO's fortunes in Afghanistan...
...With the Taliban growing in confidence and feeling the wind at its back, the bad news out of the Afghanistan theater just keeps getting worse for the U.S. NATO commanders have long expressed frustration at the failure of the Pakistani military to prevent Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters maintaining sanctuaries in Pakistan from which they can launch attacks inside Afghanistan. But Pakistan's announcement on Monday of a peace agreement to accommodate the domestic Taliban insurgency in the Swat Valley suggests that an all-out war against militants on their soil is not what Pakistan's generals have in mind...
...since the Soviets invaded, Afghans have become adept at accommodating themselves with the likely winner at any given moment. Right now, the trends are not moving in Washington's favor, and that fact is recognized by the Afghan citizenry. "There's been a major shift towards acceptance of the Taliban," military scholar Anthony Cordesman told a congressional panel last week. He noted that polling in Afghanistan shows "the number of people who feel the United States has performed well in Afghanistan has been cut in half in the last three years," from 68 percent in 2005 to 32 percent...
Scarcely 100 miles from the Pakistani capital, Taliban forces loyal to jihadist preacher (and former chairlift operator) Maulana Fazlullah have brutally advanced across Swat - a region once known as the "Switzerland of Asia" - capturing more than four-fifths of the plush valley. Once a choice destination for honeymooners, Swat has over the past two years seen more than 1,500 people killed, close to 200 schools destroyed and girls' education banned, scores of beheadings and kidnappings, and more than 100,000 people driven from their homes. (See pictures of Pakistan's vulnerable North-West Frontier Province...
Speaking at a news conference in Peshawar, Amir Haider Khan Hoti, the chief minister of the North-West Frontier Province, said on Monday that Shari'a law would be introduced to the Malakand division (which includes the Swat Valley), but only once the area is peaceful. The Taliban tentatively welcomed the decision, announcing a 10-day cease-fire on Sunday...