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Afghanistan
Taliban plan to fight through winter to throttle Kabul
2006-10-29
The Taliban are planning a major winter offensive combining their diverse factions in a push on the Afghan capital, Kabul, intelligence analysts and sources among the militia have revealed. The thrust will involve a concerted attempt to take control of surrounding provinces, a bid to cut the key commercial highway linking the capital with the eastern city of Jalalabad, and operations designed to tie down British and other Nato troops in the south.

Last week Nato, with a force of 40,000 in the country including around 5,000 from Britain, said it had killed 48 more Taliban in areas thought to have been 'cleared'. 'They have major attacks planned all the way through to the spring and are quite happy for their enemy to know it,' a Pakistan-based source close to the militia told The Observer. 'There will be no winter pause.' The Taliban's fugitive leader, Mullah Omar, yesterday rejected overtures for peace talks from President Hamid Karzai and said it intended to try him in an Islamic court for the 'massacre' of Afghan civilians.

Since their resurgence earlier this year the Taliban have made steady progress towards Kabul from their heartland in the south-east around Kandahar, establishing a presence in Ghazni province an hour's drive from the suburbs. They do not expect to capture the capital but aim to continue destabilising the increasingly fragile Karzai government and influence Western public opinion to force a withdrawal of troops. 'The aim is clear,' said the source. 'Force the international representatives of the crusader Zionist alliance out, and finish with their puppet government.'
Posted by:Fred

#18  so solly lotp, just being a 'Sunday go to meeting' smart ass!

>::)
Posted by: RD   2006-10-29 18:07  

#17  lotp: In the early 1800s, West Point was key to producing professional military officers and national leaders who identified with the U.S. as a nation.

we luv you lotp, but...

May I remind you dear that during the war of Northern Aggression such luminary Southern Patriots as Gen. Robert E Lee, Gen. Stonewall Jackson, Gen. A.P. Hill, Gen. Joseph Reid Anderson and about 100+ other West Point trained General officers resigned their commissions to fight like hell for heart and home. [as well as hundreds of other West Point trained officers of course]

»:-)
Posted by: RD   2006-10-29 15:33  

#16  I hope they do try for a winter push. Let the snow bury the bodies.
Posted by: anymouse   2006-10-29 14:51  

#15  Ha!
Still a fine titler for a book.
Posted by: Shipman   2006-10-29 12:14  

#14  BoNeards?

Oh, baby.
Posted by: .com   2006-10-29 11:26  

#13  
I can understand how the Taliban would have Displacement Anxiety because of encroaching modernity. No one wants to give up oppressing women, beheading infidels and the like, but the times they are a changing.

I suggest they read my new book published by Appalachian Press: "Hey, who moved my hummus!" It might help them to adjust to their new reality.

Posted by: BoNeards   2006-10-29 11:21  

#12  Let them fight, die like the porKoranimals they are. It will keep our boys from getting bored.
Posted by: Icerigger   2006-10-29 10:48  

#11  Not a breed I keep either, Shipman. For sighthound, I prefer my Whippets. Smart, wicked fast, fearless (puppies taking on nasty woodchucks that outweigh them), elegant and delightful pets once they get past the puppy stage.

But for sneaky smarts, you can't beat my spaniels. What's not to like about a dog that can open the refrigerator and bring a can of coke / beer on command?

Just keep the meat, cheese and eggs on the upper shelf or in the drawer, or they'll take care of their gratuity themselves LOL.
Posted by: dog fancier   2006-10-29 09:38  

#10  You gotta remember this is the Guardian. They are full of shit. They would love to see the Taliwhackers win. So they act out their fantasies by writing about them in their rag.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2006-10-29 09:32  

#9  Little thing, reminds me of S*** Dawg. Smart for an Afghan.

/no mo Afghans ever, ever, ever again. Unless they looks like Cookie Dawg.
Posted by: Shipman   2006-10-29 09:17  

#8  Actually, some strut their stuff in the Big Apple. Man, forget about brutal Afghan winters, we're talking NY cabbies and the competition at Westminster Kennel Club. Now THAT's brutal!!



Heh.
Posted by: dog fancier   2006-10-29 09:13  

#7  Where they go during the BAW.
Posted by: Shipman   2006-10-29 09:05  

#6  Funny, the writer doesn't indicate whether the Brutal Afghan WinterTM applies to the Taliban. We know that it applies to us, though. I wonder why that is...
Posted by: Raj   2006-10-29 08:51  

#5  I should add that we have people helping the Afghans at the academy. If it were struck, a fair number of US field grade officers might be casualties.
Posted by: lotp   2006-10-29 04:56  

#4  Re: Kabul, although it would not be the only target in the city, the Talibani will almost certainly try to hit the new Afghan national military academy. Many Pashtuns are furious that they do not dominate the student body or faculty there -- it's a representative mix of tribal backgrounds at present.

Killing cadets and faculty there would be aimed at chilling any movement towards an Afghan identity that transcends tribal differences. In the early 1800s, West Point was key to producing professional military officers and national leaders who identified with the U.S. as a nation. The Afghan academy is designed to have a similar effect there. The Talibani hate it -- it's their REAL rival for influence, long term.
Posted by: lotp   2006-10-29 04:54  

#3  Infiltrating from Waziristan won't be a picnic. So few mountain passes. Kabul is a demographic mix. Taliban has always been a Pashto phenomenon. Taliban has a major problem: lying. In the West, most captured Pashtos are very unhappy with their Balochistan based trainers. And Balochis - many of whom are separatists - aren't too pleased with their parasitic guests.
Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550   2006-10-29 02:53  

#2  Talk about a target-rich environment for a Spectre : all those great sensors including thermal sights, all that firepower locked to the computer gunsights, and the ability to fly so high above the battlefield that the Taliban only know Spectre is there when they start to die. A few LRRP-style teams out with the new laser targeting sights and GPS targeting handhelds to confirm hostiles, and then Splatter Time!!
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2006-10-29 02:31  

#1   Hey guys, Infra-red detectors? Temperature differentials? OK I'll keep it simple: warm body on snowy mountainside, very conspicuous. What did they teach you in that Madrassah anyway?
Posted by: Grunter   2006-10-29 00:45  

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