Remember the War on Terror?

The Mainstream Media's cheerleading for Obama upon the signing of the Economic Stagnation Bill has overshadowed another news story – a major setback in the War on Terror. Once again, where the MSM falls down, the Blogosphere steps in.

Yesterday the government of Pakistan announced it signed a truce with the Taliban. In exchange for a cease-fire, the government recognizes Islamic Sharia law, as interpreted by the Taliban, in the Malakand Division, an area in Northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border.

This is a huge victory for radical Islam. Islamabad is ceding rule of a portion of its territory to terrorists. While the cease-fire lasts, it provides the Taliban with a base of operations for the activities for which it was expelled from Afghanistan: forcing Sharia on the inhabitants, training terrorists for operations against the United States and its allies, destroying the cultural relics of other religions, and oppressing women, including banning the education of girls. One refugee from the region said, "They are killing people, they are beheading people, there is no accounting for what they are doing…For God's sake, in the West you must realize this: no education for women. You are going to destroy an entire generation."

As of last week, 576 American soldiers, all volunteers, had lost their lives in the Afghanistan region. They did not give this last full measure of devotion so that the Taliban, expelled from Afghanistan, could pick up where they left off in Pakistan. This action by the Government of Pakistan calls for the strongest possible response from the United States. The Federation of American Scientists estimates that the U.S. is planning some $1.2 billion in overt military and economic aid to Pakistan in fiscal 2009. We need to make it clear that continued aid depends on an aggressive effort by Islamabad to dislodge the Taliban from its Northwest haven.