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| Afghanistan | |
| U.S. Is Escalating a Secretive War in Afghanistan | |
| 2015-02-14 | |
| [NYTimes] Data From Seized Computer Fuels a Surge in U.S. Raids on Al Qaeda As an October chill fell on the mountain passes that separate the turban havens in Afghanistan and Pakistain, a small team of Afghan intelligence commandos and American Special Operations forces descended on a village where they believed a leader of Al Qaeda was hiding. That night the Afghans and Americans got their man, Abu Bara al-Kuwaiti. They also came away with what officials from both countries say was an even bigger prize: a laptop computer and files detailing Qaeda operations on both sides of the border. American military officials said the intelligence seized in the raid was possibly as significant as the information found in the computer and documents of the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now beyond all cares and woe... in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... , Pakistain, after members of the Navy SEALs killed him in 2011. In the months since, the trove of intelligence has helped fuel a significant increase in night raids by American Special Operations forces and Afghan intelligence commandos, Afghan and American officials said. American and Afghan officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing operations that are largely classified, said that American forces were playing direct combat roles in many of the raids and were not simply going along as advisers. The raids appear to have targeted a broad cross section of Islamist turbans. They have hit both Qaeda and Taliban operatives, going beyond the narrow counterterrorism mission that B.O. regime officials had said would continue after the formal end of American-led combat operations last December. The tempo of operations is "unprecedented for this time of year" -- that is, the traditional winter lull in fighting, an American military official said. No official would provide exact figures, because the data is classified. The Afghan and American governments have also sought to keep quiet the surge in night raids to avoid political fallout in both countries. "It's all in the shadows now," said a former Afghan security official who informally advises his former colleagues. "The official war for the Americans -- the part of the war that you could go see -- that's over. It's only the secret war that's still going. But it's going hard."
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. .. , signed a security agreement with the United States and eased restrictions on night raids by American and Afghan forces that had been put in place by his predecessor, Hamid Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... . Mr. Karzai had also sought to limit the use of American air power, even to support Afghan forces. | |
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