For those interested in the cost of keeping a nuclear 'ally' from losing control...
Richard's $.02 
Pakistan Regains Control of Remote Area, for Now
JANE PERLEZ, NYT, 8 Mar 2009
INAYAT KALAY, Pakistan —
After a six-month campaign, the Pakistani military is claiming victory over the Taliban in Bajaur, a northern sliver of the tribal areas, saying the militants have suffered heavy losses and have been pushed over the border into Afghanistan.
As evidence, the military this month showed off the once-busy, mile-long marketplace here, captured from the militants and pulverized to bits of concrete and mounds of dust. A tank was still parked in the remains of a shop.
“The resistance has been broken down. We control the roads,” said Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan, the inspector general of the Frontier Corps, the paramilitary force responsible for security in the tribal regions. “They have lost.”
Already, Pakistani officials are hailing Bajaur as a landmark turn in the battle against Islamic militants and are trying to persuade the 300,000 people displaced by the fighting here to return,
aided by a $19 million program financed by the United States.
(cont'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/wo...er=rss&emc=rss
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