In what can be considered a clear sign that Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai, is becoming increasingly more confident in the strength of his country’s military, he has now threatened to send Afghan troops into Pakistan if that country continues to let Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters to hide and unite there.

President Karzai said that his country has the right to defend itself and that since militants cross over from Pakistan “to come and kill Afghan and kill coalition troops, it exactly gives us the right to do the same.”

“Baitullah Mehsud should know that we will go after him now and hit him in his house,” Karzai said about Pakistan-based Taliban leader Mehsud at a news conference earlier today. “And the other fellow, (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar of Pakistan should know the same,” Karzai continued. “This is a two-way road in this case, and Afghans are good at the two-way road journey. We will complete the journey and we will get them and we will defeat them. We will avenge all that they have done to Afghanistan for the past so many years.”

This is an interesting development for a variety of reasons. Some of them are:

1. It gives one the impression that President Karzai is quite confident.

2. It gives one the impression to eradicate the Taliban, who pose a serious threat to his regime (and life).

3. One should also note that he sides with the United States and against Pakistan; Pakistan has tried to make deals with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The US criticized those deals in the past, Karzai now does the same.

4. It has often been said that if the US would cross Pakistan’s border on a grand scale, many Pakistanis would react, and the country could fall victim to chaos. But what if Afghanistan invades Pakistan to fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda? Afghanistan is a befriended and a Muslim country. That may very well change things considerably (which is one of the reasons that the West wants Middle Eastern countries to take the lead in these affairs).