It's been quite a week in Pakistan, with Taliban forces accepting a "peace" deal with the government in which they would surrender their weapons in return for keeping control of the Swat Valley region, and then the Taliban doing what they always have done in the past: saying thank-you-very-much and continuing to advance.
Tuesday Reza Aslan was on American Morning to discuss the situation with John Roberts and the possibility of the Pakistani government collapsing:
(I'm currently reading Reza's new book -- it is excellent, of course!)
Wednesday John spoke with Ivan Watson in Islamabad, who reported on the overnight move that brought the Taliban within 60 miles of Islamabad:
Later that day, Ivan had a piece on The Situation Room that showed how Islamabad's residents were reacting to the advance:
An interesting piece from International's Jim Clancy that shows how the Taliban really advances -- by using Sharia law to intimidate their way to power:
Friday, Roland Martin spoke with Ivan about the situation on the ground, and with Peter Bergen about the long-term possibility of the Pakistani government collapsing. Ali Velshi and Erica Hill also take part in the conversation:
So, time for a reality check -- just how close to Islamabad are the Taliban forces? Thursday on International's BackStory, Michael Holmes used Google Earth to show just how far that 60 miles "as the crow flies" is -- and a look at the mountainous terrain is quite reassuring. (Well, maybe not if you live there, but...)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Where in the World...?
SATURDAY: Suzanne Malveaux was in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago with President Obama.
MONDAY: John Roberts co-hosted American Morning from Atlanta, where he emceed a fundraiser for the Brain Tumor Foundation for Children. TJ Holmes was in for Heidi Collins.
TUESDAY: Randi Kaye was in Boston to cover the "Craigslist Killer." TJ was again in for Heidi.
WEDNESDAY: Jeffrey Toobin was in San Francisco; Ivan Watson was reporting from Islamabad; Frederik Pleitgen (above) traveled from Baghdad to Kandahar with an Army unit that specializes in clearing bombs from roads... legendary producer Tommy Evans also traveled with him (clips in Monday's post.)
THURSDAY: Cal Perry is back in Baghdad.
FRIDAY: Nic Robertson is back in Islamabad. TJ was in for Rick Sanchez; Dr. Drew was in for Larry King.
That's it for me today... have a great weekend!
"..... legendary producer, Tommy Evans," indeed - legendary. Imagine what kind of skills, courage, intelligence and talent it takes to be publicly recognized for your work in a position where you intentionally hide from being recognized. As a resident of Baghdad, as a producer covering floods and wars and who knows what else, his work has been alternately dangerous, tedious and difficult.
ReplyDeleteThanks for keeping us up-to-date on everyone ... even the (usually) camera-shy producer - Tommy.