Waziristan

Never heard of it? You will have before long.

Waziristan is technically a province in North West Pakistan. In reality it is ungovernable bandit country, providing a base for terrorists, notably remnants of Al Qaeda, and the Taliban, driven out of next-door Afghanistan in 2001. It is an area in which the Pakistani army has been fighting the terrorists, without much success.

Now the Pakistan government has given up and surrendered the area to the murderous gangsters. No wonder the Chicago Tribune has dubbed it Terroristan. The CT articulates the obvious worry for the west:

It seems entirely likely that this area will become a sanctuary for terrorists, a protected place for them to regroup and rearm, a miniature version of what Afghanistan had become before the U.S. routed the Taliban starting in 2001.

The Times has a very thoughtful analysis of the serious consequences of Pakistan's actions, well worth a careful reading.

Tags: Afghanistan, Waziristan