PAKISTANI PM: THIS IS AN EXISTENTIAL WAR FOR PAKISTAN

BBC: Pakistan 'fighting for survival'

Pakistan's military is fighting "for the survival of the country" against Taleban militants in the Swat valley, the prime minister says.

Yusuf Raza Gilani was speaking as the army tried to retake Swat's main town, Mingora, where a curfew is in force.

... "This is not a normal war," Prime Minister Gilani told reporters on Saturday, Reuters news agency reports, "this is a guerrilla war."

"This is our own war. This is war for the survival of the country," he said.

Pakistani military spokesman Gen Athar Abbas said the military's objective was to eliminate the militants from the Swat valley and also the neighbouring districts of Dir and Buner.

... The fighting has already displaced some 200,000 people, while a further 300,000 are estimated to be on the move or about to flee, the UN says.

Sitara Imran, minister for social welfare in North West Frontier Province, called the exodus "one of the huge displacements, internal displacements in the world".

Our correspondent says the government is hoping for a quick victory, while it still has the support of the Pakistani people.

SUMMARY:

1. Pakistan's military is fighting "for the survival of the country" against Taleban militants in the Swat valley, the prime minister says.
2. "This is not a normal war,"
3. This is war for the survival of the country,
4. ...The fighting has already displaced some 200,000 people, while a further 300,000 are estimated to be on the move or about to flee, the UN says.
5. the government is hoping for a quick victory,

NOW THAT THE CIVILIANS WHO WANT TO LEAVE HAVE LEFT, IT'S TIME FOR THE PAK ARMY TO DO WHAT MUST BE DONE - AND GUARANTEE THE "QUICK VICTORY" THEY NEED: NUKE THE TALIBAN.

• THE ONLY REASON THAT PAKISTAN HAS NUKES IS TO SAFEGUARD THEIR EXISTENCE - ORIGINALLY FROM NUCLEAR INDIA.

• RIGHT NOW, THE EXISTENTIAL THREAT FROM THE TALIBAN IS GREATER. AND THE TALIBAN ARE A GREATER THREAT TO THE REGION AND THE WORLD.

• IT'S WRONG AND FOOLISH FOR PAKISTAN TO FIGHT THE TALIBAN WITH ONE HAND BEHIND THEIR BACKS.

HISTORY HAS SHOWN THAT NUKES CAN BE USED EFFECTIVELY TO END WARS.