According to a United Nations report, more than 800,000 residents have been fleeing for their lives. The refugee crisis, according to António Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, is “a huge and rapidly unfolding emergency which is going to require considerable resources beyond those that currently exist in the region.”

 

Under the Bush administration, more than $10 billion in U.S. taxpayer money was spent to train and equip the Pakistani military to pursue a hard-hitting attack against the Taliban and al Qaeda. Regardless of the lack of tangible results, other than excessive civilian and residential carnage and destruction, Congress has approved another $3 billion to train and equip Pakistan’s military. The money is supposed to be spent on counter-insurgency training and equipment, yet Pakistan is too infatuated with its conflict with India to fully and efficiently pursue an effective attack again the Taliban and al Qaeda. “While the Taliban were seizing control of the Buner district last month, coming within 70 miles of the capital, the bulk of Pakistan’s forces remained at the southeastern border with India, poised for the possibility of attack,” points out Brinkley. Even as the Taliban seized the district, not a single soldier relocated. Richard Holbrooke, special envoy to Pakistan, attempted to defend Pakistan’s counter-insurgency strategy before Congress, but admitted that the equipment being used by the Pakistani military is not fully up-to-date, and its pilots are not properly trained.

 

Outsiders are observing the situation through government-controlled binoculars, as Pakistani newspapers have only covered a few scattered reports of civilian casualties, and journalists are not permitted in the areas under attack.

-Erika K. Solanki