As the reports on the military action in swat (will not call it a battle)are sketchy& authenticity of the same can not be verified I will keep my fingers crossed as to how much Pakistani rulers can do to contain Taliban, their in house creation.

I feel the army full of Taliban sympathizers has little ground to maneuver. I take the action as the great fire works show in diwali which lights up the dark sky without much of an impact save more pollution.

I think a time will come when US realize that this unwilling horse can not be made to drink water aid or no aid but for a b….y civil war.

As US is loath to shed blood on foreign soil Vietnam , Afganistan & Iraq are burning examples. So the Af-Pak strategy at some point will include both India & China.

Arming of India with sophisticated weapons which are Pakistan centric but can also be a deterrent against china area case in point.

Instead of directly getting involved good offices of Israel are being used for this purpose. Joint exercises with us army, supply of missile defense system, awacs , spy satellite & other hardware(we already have agni iii to reach china )put few nuclear submarines & couple of aircraft carriers in the bag & the hamper is ready.

I think at some point US will take the strategic assets of Pakistan in its own secret custody ( if it has already not been done ).There is always a quid for a pro with a democratic India as an ally against china will fill a vital piece of jigsaw.

Of course some face saving bone on kashmir will be offered with adequate pressure on India ( not that we have much choice as we have leaned against us in the aftermath of 26/11).After all nuclear Pakistan is a worthy foe.

So if at some point there is a PMlike Narendra Modi , foreign minister like Jaswant singh & opposition leader like Pranab Mukherjee some type of limited engagement may take place on the lines of Bangladesh creating Talibanistan & Pakistan wild dream, wish full thinking ,you may have your own opinion.

I do not mind being called a nut. So do I see light at the end of the tunnel? You bet I do whether it is of sunshine or that of a nuclear tipped missile only time will tell. But there is no harm in being optimistic while keeping the fingers firmly on the trigger.
amen