While I continue to worry whether Pakistan will really fight this campaign vigorously, Strategypage seems to think the Pakistanis are solid:
Baitullah Mehsud has become the main target of the army, and this has forced Mehsud to call for a ceasefire and truce. The army has refused, and continues to move against Mehsud controlled villages. Mehsud hasn't got sufficient firepower to stand up to the army, nor has he got enough trained terrorists to put a dent in the army's combat power. Pakistani generals now believe that Mehsud's organization has been responsible for protecting al Qaeda for the last few years. That means that the defeat of Mehsud could reveal where Osama Bin Laden has been hiding out. Mehsud, however, is an elusive fellow. This time, however, the Pakistani army is out for blood, the growing number of terror attacks, and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, has turned this into a death match.
I hope so. The jihadis make it clear they want a death match as long as our side does the dying. But when the tables are turned they aren't so eager for those terms. Let's keep this a death match.
