hunting grounds So them Pak forces have marked and cordoned an area where they suspect AlQaeda members are hiding. "Fierce fighting" has ensued, and a few of the uniformed men are down already. I know wars are fought with strategy, weapons and a lot of money, but maybe at tyms, the generals should refer to relevant literature, perhaps just for the heck of it. It may help you know. Like, in thys case, MM Kaye's Far Pavilions may tell the big green men all what the Afghans are about. The love story talks in length of the British military policy in Afghanistan, which not only sparked the Second Afghan War, but also ended in disaster Britain's attempt to establish a mission in Kabul. Basically, from the little I know of FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Area), I feel that it's as if we "WISH" it were FATA. The terrain is hostile, and life difficult. The tribes, who have found survival in a land of high mountains, little water and even less comfort, have never accepted Pakistani law or its governments. And they aren't about to now. All attempts to bring it under wing have failed miserably. The wars Ms Kaye describes from over a hundred years ago, were all lost by the british raj only because it lacked the acuteness required to overcome the severe landscape. In her book, she described the Pathans as a warring tribe, and said that that was all they've ever known and done. And if u look at history, it sorta seems true. When the afghans weren't fighting amongst themselves, they were fighting the British, once Pakistan came about, they were busy sponsoring the Redshirts, then they fought with Russia for 23 years, and after THAT invasion ended, along came the Taliban (revenge paki style) and viola! the last ten -- fifteen years have been spent fighting them. And the Waziri tribes have been in the middle the whole tym. They are a race of independent, murderous, hot-headed, and vain men, and their isolation (cultural, social) has made them extremely self-reliant. They know the mountains like I know my ice creams. They know the hideouts, the passes, the seasonal passes, the secret passes, the caves, the rivers, the crevices and all the bottomless pits that are hidden in the mountains. They know when to fight, and when to cut their loses. And sure as hell, they know where to hide their guests. Provided Osama / Zawahiri are actually with them, there is no way our men can walk in and walk out of Waziristan, booty in hand. I for one think the waziris are fighting simply cuz it feeds their blood lust. "hmm! I'm kinda bored today, lets go catch some green!" Sending in our forces to fight in the mountains is as smart a move as is sending an American soldier to wage a war in Iraq, mid June. How successful a man from the plains (as are most men in the army) can be, on broken ground and tortuous ravines, is anyone's guess. I just hope precious lives aren't being lost in a ghost chase. for more on british raj, u could watch the man who would be king. if nothyng else, it has sean connery and micheal caine :) as iraq assault turns 1. I could probably show you pictures more real, more gruesome, and less poetic. Aargh! These people make me sick with their idealism. in other news: anyone care for a dead gorilla?