Death of Taliban leader in Pakistan is good news

The man considered the most dangerous individual in violence-prone Pakistan is dead, the victim of a CIA missile strike. That’s big news — even bigger than the dolts who have been attending town hall meetings hosted by members of Congress with the singular intent of spreading false information about the various plans to reform the nation’s health care system.

The death of Baitullah Mehsud is a major development, not only for the people of Pakistan, but in the United States’ war on global terrorism. Mehsud, who was at his father-in-law’s home in Pakistan’s rugged, lawless tribal area, “controlled a very violent aspect of the insurgent problem on the Pakistani side of the border,” said U.S. National Security Adviser Jim Jones. “ ... this is a big deal.”

In April, The Observer newspaper of Britain reported that Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban, vowed to strike at the “heart of American power.” He spoke to reporters in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal region.

“His face — fleshy and bearded — was visible only by the light from mobile phones and torches,” the newspaper reported. “Kalashnikov-wielding gunmen stood guard; a pair of local doctors crouched nearby. Opposite him sat tribal elders from a neighbouring area, whom Mehsud had called for the meeting. He laid out his agenda, a plan to flood the area with Taliban soldiers to attack the pillars of the state — police, health workers, teachers, soldiers.”

“I am at war with the government,” Mehsud said.

The people of Pakistan and Afghanistan next door were witness to his campaign of death and destruction. His goal: To restore the Taliban Islamic militants to governance in Kabul and overthrow the democratically elected government in Islamabad and replace it with Islamic extremists.

There are reports that a major fight had broken out between rival factions during a meeting to select a replacement for Mehsud. Such upheaval is not only a revealing development, but it opens the door to the United States and its chief ally in the terrorism fight, Pakistan, to take advantage of the internal power struggle.

The Taliban fighters in Afghanistan are deployed from the border area in Pakistan and in recent months have stepped up their attacks on American and coalition forces. President Barack Obama has announced an increase in the deployement of troops and there are indications that Congress will be asked to approve even more fighting men and women for what has become Obama’s war.

Major step

The killing of Mehsud must been seen as a major step forward in the push to dismantle the Taliban, which has ties to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist organization.

Indeed, bin Laden and his close advisers are said to be holed up in the mountainous region between the two countries. The remoteness of the area and the fact that lawless tribal chieftains are in control mean that neither the Pakistanis nor the Americans have been able to get anywhere close to the area.

But the killing of Mehsud and members of his family show a vulnerability that must worry the Taliban.

According to the British newspaper, he was one of the most feared figures in Pakistan, and the globe. In April, the U.S. placed a $5 million bounty on his head — the same amount offered for information leading to the arrest or death of bin Laden.

Since February, according to the Observer, CIA drones have concentrated their missiles on Mehsud’s mountainous domain. In his meeting with reporters in April, he responded in the way he knows best. A gang of tribal gunmen stormed a poorly defended police training center in Lahore, killing eight cadets. Claiming responsibility, Mehsud said the assault was in retaliation for the Predator strikes. The next attack, he threatened, would be in the heart of American power. “Not in Afghanistan, but in Washington, which will amaze the entire world,” he said.

Now he’s dead and there is a leadership void.

The U.S. and its allies should keep the pressure up and target other leaders of the Taliban in Pakistan. The people of that region of the world need to believe that the death and destruction visited upon them for so long will soon end.