Penny's Computer

Times Square Bomber Analysis? Pakistani Taliban involved or no, those suckers need to be put down.

It is not yet clear whether the Pakistani Taliban had anything to do with Faisal Shahzad’s attempt to bomb Times Square, but either way, experts say the group is getting to big for its britches.

Let’s say that the Pakistani Taliban was, in fact, behind the plot. This would be a tremendous advancement for the group, once thought to have no capacity to do violence outside of its home country.

“It would be a game-changing development,” says Juan Zarate, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington. “You would now have a new, potential global actor coming out of western Pakistan to complement what Al Qaeda has been doing for 15 years.” (Christian Science Monitor)

Now let’s say the Pakistan Taliban had nothing to do with the bomb. Those in the know are still seeing a change on the ground. “The Pakistani Taliban have sustained themselves through alliances with any number of other militant groups, splinter cells, foot soldiers and guns-for-hire in the areas under their control.” One intelligence official said the group was becoming a “witch’s brew.” Times of India

What does this mean to us? It means that (shocker) there may be a downside to our increasingly global world of instant communication because NOW the baddies are getting together and making friends. Stankyouverymuch, internet.

Hakimullah Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban