Quote Originally Posted by carl View Post
If fear is the thing holding them back, perhaps increasing local security would be the decisive thing to do. That is easier than changing the minds of the ideologically committed.

Judging by recent results, do the Pakistanis have any idea what to do and could they pull it off if they did? The ISI appears to know how to do insurgency, but does the army know counterinsurgency?

I remember once getting a small lecture by a Pakistani captain in a pizza joint in Kisangani, Congo (the Hawaiian, Tom and Stan. it's still there.). I asked why the UN just didn't hunt down and destroy the FDLR and all the various Mai-Mai groups, which were mainly bandits.

He explained to me how they had a superior understanding guerilla warfare and would proceed accordingly. I am skeptical of his assertion.
As to what they know, one doesn't partake in creating and maintaining something without obtaining a fairly good understanding of the weaknesses inherent.

That said it's the balance they will have to seek in how to attack it without exposing and or exaggerating the cracks in their own armor. Not an easy thing I'm afraid.

Like the saying goes, it's easy for anyone to see a problem. Finding the solution is completely something else.