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U.S. General Sees Taliban in Afghanistan
Taliban fighters, paid and trained by al-Qaida, are pouring into Afghanistan from Pakistan, the top American commander in Afghanistan said Sunday.
What a suprise, well no, not really.
Lt. Gen. John Vines said the Taliban were trying to regroup and regain control of the country they ruled until ousted by the United States in late 2001. His comments to reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld were the first confirmation from a top U.S. military official of reports of a Taliban resurgence out of Pakistan into Afghanistan. American, Afghan and coalition forces have responded with military operations against the radical Islamic fighters. As many as 200 Taliban have been killed this week alone, Vines said. "They have been attempting to (regroup) for nine months," Vines said. "Every time, we’ve disrupted them, we’ve interdicted them, we’ve denied them sanctuary, and we’ve killed them." Vines said perhaps as many as 1,000 Taliban were in and around the area. "They’re attempting to regain power," Vines said. "They’ve been attempting to do that for a year and a half."
They’re gonna keep trying as long as they have a safe haven.
American military officials have indications the recent Taliban resurgence is spurred in part by operatives of the al-Qaida network, who have been giving the Taliban training and funding. Apparently frustrated with the Taliban’s lack of success, their al-Qaida sponsors have urged the Taliban on or risk losing al-Qaida’s support. Vines called it a ``use it or lose it’’ ultimatum from Osama bin Laden’s network.
That’s interesting, maybe they are running short of money and personnel. Mounting operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq must be a major drain on resources. They may need something they can show as a success in order to keep the contributions and volunteers coming.

Their most recent success is a couple hundred deaders, an expenditure of 14,400 doe-eyed virgins. The number of Paks involved should be the subject of intense scrutiny on the part of the intel guys, as well as their points of origin and affiliation with fundo parties. It's pretty evident that since the fundos took legislative control of NWFP and Balochistan they've turned them into Little Afghanistans and provide routine protection for them. This is a dangerous game for the Paks to play — and I've no doubt they're playing it (See today's article on the Tablighi Jamaat). I don't suppose the ISI/Fundo establishment cares particularly about a proxy invasion of Afghanistan being seen as an act of war by the Afghans, but they should be thinking seriously of the implications of an act of war against the U.S.

Now that I think about it, what better mechanism to unite the fractious Afghans than a national jihad against NWFP and Balochistan? With a bit of help from the U.S., the festivities could let off quite a bit of national steam...

Posted by: Steve 2003-09-08
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=18453