BAGRAM - The United States has turned a corner in Afghanistan, as I witnessed after returning from my fourth trip in the past year. It has made some progress against the Taliban and other insurgent groups in eastern Afghanistan, and created a window of opportunity to spread this elsewhere.
The conventional view from Washington, supported by a slew of recent reports, is that Afghanistan has plunged into a spiral of violence. Some parts of the country have certainly experienced deteriorating security. Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently noted there was a 27-per-cent increase in violence from 2006 to 2007. Most of this was in the south, where Canadian, British and Dutch soldiers are battling the Taliban and other groups.
But in eastern Afghanistan, where the bulk of U.S. forces are deployed, violence levels declined by 40 per cent in 2007. In Khowst, which I visited last month, suicide attacks dropped from one a week in 2006 to one a month in 2007.
The most significant reason is a shift in U.S. strategy. Building on counterinsurgency lessons from the British, French and American historical experiences, the U.S. military has increasingly focused its efforts on "soft power." This has translated into a greater focus on reconstruction and development projects, and less emphasis on combat operations.
At the core of this strategy is an assumption that local Afghans are the centre of gravity. Many are frustrated by the lack of development over the past several years, and unhappy with poor governance. To deal with these concerns, America's strategy includes three components.
The first involves interacting with tribal leaders to identify local needs and grievances, and to develop projects that help address them. In Khowst, for example, Colonel Martin Schweitzer and provincial governor Arsala Jamal have teamed up to build roads, hospitals and water and electricity projects.
The second component is hiring local Afghans to perform the work. A sizable chunk of the money comes from the Commander's Emergency Response Program funds, which enable U.S. military commanders to dole out aid quickly. Other aid comes from organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank.
The third is executing the projects. In Paktia province, where I visited, U.S. forces operating under Combined Joint Task Force-82 have focused on building roads and revamping water and power infrastructure. In Kunar province, newly paved roads have sparked a boom in commerce in the Pech River Valley, and fighting there has largely stopped.
Overall, the results have been impressive, and U.S. efforts have contributed to a decline in violence in the east. But this progress could be undermined by a failure to address several looming challenges.
One is Pakistan. Every major insurgent group such as the Taliban, Sirajuddin Haqqani's network, Hizb-i-Islami, and al-Qaeda enjoys sanctuary in Pakistan. Some individuals within Pakistan's government, including within the Frontier Corps and Inter-Services Intelligence agency, also provide assistance to insurgent groups, especially the Taliban and Haqqani network.
America's failure to persuade Pakistan to dry up this sanctuary and end its support for militant groups will undermine security in Afghanistan and the region. Outside support from states has been lethal to counterinsurgency efforts. Since 1945, insurgencies, such as Afghanistan's, that have gained and maintained state support have won more than half the time.
Another problem is governance. Afghans have become increasingly frustrated with national and local officials who are corrupt and self-serving. This sentiment is just as palpable in rural areas as in cities. There are well-known government officials at the district, provincial and national levels involved in drug trafficking.
Many of America's efforts in the east have helped local leaders deliver the services and security. But a failure to fix corruption will undercut this progress.
A final challenge is international resources, which are still not adequate. NATO has roughly 50,000 troops in Afghanistan, along with more than 50,000 Afghan army soldiers. Based on some counterinsurgency estimates that a minimum of four troops per 1,000 inhabitants is necessary to establish security, the requirement in Afghanistan is at least 128,000 soldiers.
This leaves a gap of 28,000 soldiers, which Afghan soldiers can fill over time. In the near future, however, the U.S. military must fill this gap. This requires making difficult choices, such as redeploying some U.S. forces from Iraq to Afghanistan.
America's war on terrorism began in Afghanistan in 2001 when it overthrew the Taliban regime. It is time for the United States to finish what it started.
Seth G. Jones is a political scientist at the Rand Corp. and author of the forthcoming In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan.
#1
Another problem is governance. Afghans have become increasingly frustrated with national and local officials who are corrupt and self-serving. This sentiment is just as palpable in rural areas as in cities. There are well-known government officials at the district, provincial and national levels involved in drug trafficking."
France has offered to send up to 1,000 troops to Afghanistan, Nato said last night. They will go to the east of the country, enabling 2,500 Canadian troops to stay in the south until 2011.
It came as Gordon Brown urged Nato allies to do more. The PM said no country should stand on the sidelines in the fight against the Taliban. With British soldiers braced for a spring offensive, he urged those who cannot send troops to lend kit such as helicopters. At a summit of the 26 Nato countries in Romania he said: "Burden sharing is about sharing equipment and people stepping up to the plate."
Meanwhile, former Liberal leader Lord Ashdown, a UN special envoy, warned: "I'm not saying we have lost, but we're getting pretty close to it."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Now we can say viva la France!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
04/04/2008 3:41 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"Burden sharing is about sharing equipment and people stepping up to the plate."
Nice one Gordon , muppet . How about the Government shares their wealth with equipment for our 'always under-equiped' boys instead of fat cat lunch plates and dodgey expense claims .
As for Paddy Ashdown , thanks you morale boosting c***
#6
I wonder when NATO will finally call out the Germans for being lazy worthless non-fighting pissants that they have become?
Perhaps an insult or 2 might wake them up. Because to be honest, the Canadians, Dutch, Norwegians and others have helped us far more than the Germans, and with far fewer resources.
Canada pledged on Thursday to keep its troops in Afghanistan after France offered to bolster the NATO force there, and other world leaders said they were committed to the country for the long haul.
In a joint declaration issued at a summit in Bucharest, the 40 nations of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission confirmed their "firm and shared long-term commitment" to Afghanistan.
"The whole international community, including the United Nations, are behind you," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a joint news conference after meeting President Hamid Karzai.
"The cost of disengagement would be greater than the cost of engagement," Ban said. "It is absolutely necessary that the international community continue to engage so that and until the Afghan government will be able to stand on their own".
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Good going Great White North!!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
04/04/2008 3:38 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I saw a heart-warming sight the other day: a Canadian car with a "Support the Troops" magnet on it. That's the first I've seen, and we get lots of Canadian drivers here in New England.
#6
Highway 401 through Ontario has been officially renamed "Highway of Heroes". All the fallen from Afghanistan are flow to Trenton CFB. The soldier and family receive a police escort along the highway to downtown Toronto. Every overpass for the 160 mile journey fills with flag waving folks, fire, emergency, and police salutes.
#7
Nice work, Canada. Just another reason why I don't mind spending my hard earned vacation dollars up north. That and heli-skiing is a hell-of-a-lot of fun.
The Afghan government has told private television stations in the country to stop broadcasting Indian soap operas. The culture and information ministry says the stations have until 15 April to stop broadcasting the shows.
Can't have any of them furriner influences!
A ministry spokesman said the decision follows a meeting with MPs and clerics. He said there had been numerous complaints about the shows.
All from the clerics and none from the viewers ...
Correspondents say the decision reflects the growing influence of hardline Islamists in Afghanistan.
There are six Indian soap operas running in Afghanistan, providing vital revenue for TV stations, but they have been criticised for being un-Islamic.
As is most everything modern in an Islamic state ...
A television show broadcast recently which showed Afghan men and women dancing together at a movie awards ceremony caused uproar in parliament.
It would have been worse had I been there dancing ...
Correspondents say that foreign soap operas and music videos are relatively new to Afghanistan - most television was banned by the extremist Taleban government between 1996 and 2001. While the shows are popular, they have alarmed conservatives who argue that they threaten to lower moral standards and harm Afghan traditions and culture.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
To be followed by the banning of satellite dishes. :)
If we really wanted to wage a war against radical Islam we should provide free sat dishes, receivers, and subsidize 'corrupt decadent Western cultural' broadcasts. Sorta of the lower tier basic channel selection. Just like VOA during the Cold War.
#2
P2K, that sounds like a good idea but I'm afraid if the Taliban came into a village and found satellite dishes they'd murder the residents for daring to be so unIslamic. Maybe it would be a better idea to plant some IEDs along the routes that are traveled by some of these clerics.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/04/2008 11:31 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Hot wire the satelite dishes, the Orcs couldn't resist tearing them down, and BLAMMO, one less orc.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/04/2008 15:04 Comments ||
Top||
#4
As an aside, I'd love to ban ALL "Soap operas" Trash, every single one.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/04/2008 15:10 Comments ||
Top||
(SomaliNet) UN Development Program (UNDP) communications adviser Sue Morrell says the men are reportedly in good condition, but not much else is known of their whereabouts. The foreign nationals, a Briton and a Kenyan, are sub-contractors for the Indian company Genesys International Corporation, carrying out a flood control and irrigation survey of two southern Somali rivers, the Jubba and the Shabelle, for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
They were snared at gunpoint and reportedly taken to a nearby town.
"We've effectively got nothing new that I can say. The men are well, but there is no contact between anybody and the abductors. No demands of any sort have been made. It's not in fact a hopeless situation, so we have to play it very, very carefully," Morrell said. However, she said it was "her understanding that they were in their car" at the time of their abduction, but that no negotiations are taking place to gain the captives' release.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Extremists plotted suicide attacks on at least seven flights from Britain to the United States in a simultaneous attack of truly global impact, a prosecutor said on Thursday. The eight men, whose arrest prompted tough limits on the carrying of liquids in hand baggage on to planes, wanted to target seven flights from Londons Heathrow airport to New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto and Montreal, prosecutor Peter Wright said as he opened the case against them.
They aimed to use liquid explosives in soft drinks bottles to cause a civilian death toll from an act of terrorism on an almost unprecedented scale, Wright added. He said the accused were not long off activating their plan and had talked of up to 18 different suicide bombers targeting flights, when police busted the group in August 2006.
The seven flights were operated by United Airlines, American Airlines and Air Canada. They left Heathrow daily, within roughly two and a half hours of each other meaning they would have been in mid-air simultaneously, Wright said. These flights were particularly vulnerable to a co-ordinated attack upon them while in flight. If each of these aircraft was successfully blown up the potential for loss of life was indeed considerable, he said. When the mid-flight explosions began the authorities would be unable to prevent the other flights from meeting a similar fate as they would already be in mid-air and carrying their deadly cargo, he added. These men and others were actively engaged in a deadly plan which would have resulted in a civilian death toll from an act of terrorism on an almost unprecedented scale, he said.
In the dock sat some of those prepared to lose their lives, he said, adding that they bore the cold-eyed certainty of the fanatic and were indifferent to the carnage that was likely to ensue.
I'da guessed most of not all of them with the possible exception of Brian were from Pakistain.
All deny the charges of conspiracy to commit murder between January 1 and August 11, 2006 and conspiracy to commit an act of violence likely to endanger the safety of an aircraft between the same dates.
Per the Khaleej Times, up to 18 could have been involved.
This article starring:
ABDULLA AHMED ALI
al-Qaeda
AHMED ALI KHAN
al-Qaeda
ARAFAT WAHID KHAN
al-Qaeda
ASAD SARWAR
al-Qaeda
BRIAN YOUNG
al-Qaeda
IBRAHIM SAVANT
al-Qaeda
MOHAMED GULZAR
al-Qaeda
OMAR ISLAM
al-Qaeda
Prosecutor Peter Wright
TANVIR HUSEIN
al-Qaeda
WAHID ZAMAN
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Brian Young, Ye hardly known - a disgruntled youth only pining for celtics football. and an x-box. and health care. and honor.
#3
IIRC, CNN was arguing that this incident iff successful was suppos to be more CASUALTY-INTENSIVE THAN 9-11, i.e. par or greater than 3000 dead, etc. I DON'T SEE IT UNLESS LARGE-AREA WMDS WERE INVOLVED ALSO ABOARD THE PLANES, MOST LIKELY BIOWAR OR CHEMWAR OR MIX??? Assum that CNN's Report is correct, WERE THIS MEN UNKNOWING DUPES/DIVERSION FOR SOMETHING BIGGER, AND DECEIVED BY THEIR OWN???
NATO leaders agreed Thursday to endorse a United States missile defense system based in Europe and to provide more troops for Afghanistan, but they refused to back President Bushs proposal to bring Ukraine and Georgia closer to NATO membership.
Washingtons failure to win over Germany, France, Italy, Spain and other crucial European countries to its view on Ukraine and Georgia was considered by some countries of Central and Eastern Europe to have sent a message of alliance weakness to Moscow, a day before the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, makes his first visit to a NATO summit. But Mr. Bush could claim success in persuading NATO to endorse his missile-defense plan in the face of Russian objections, and on Thursday signed an agreement with the Czech Republic to build radar for the system.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
See my previous post on RUSSIA giving CHINa giving IRAN the Dual/Nuclear Warhead-capable MOSKIT anti-ship/carrier missle.
NOT TO ARGUE THAT EUROPE OR AFRICA, etc. IS SAFE, BUT THIS IS MORE EVIDS THAT MY AFGHAN WAR COMRADE OSAMA HAS INDEED COVERTLY ALTERED THE STRATEGIC DIRECTION-FOCII OF THE ISLAMIST JIHAD TOWARDS RUSSIA, CENASIA, + CHINA, i.e. where Radical Islam can SAVE ITSELF + OWG JIHAD-AGENDA BY GETTING NUKES-WMDS ASAP, EITHER FROM NUCLEAR IRAN ANDOR OUTSIDE = NON-IRANIAN/SHIA SOURCES.
#2
Don't these morons know a missile shield is impossible? Good thing the Indians, the Israelis and the Japanese know better than to pursue this folly.
#3
WAFF.com > MACEDONIA WALKS OUT OF NATO SUMMIT, on news that NATO will accept CROATIA + ALBANIA, but not MACEDONIA??? That sound you here are GREEKS dancing in the streets.
A key adviser to Senator Obama's campaign is recommending in a confidential paper that America keep between 60,000 and 80,000 troops in Iraq as of late 2010, a plan at odds with the public pledge of the Illinois senator to withdraw combat forces from Iraq within 16 months of taking office.
The paper, obtained by The New York Sun, was written by Colin Kahl for the center-left Center for a New American Security. In "Stay on Success: A Policy of Conditional Engagement," Mr. Kahl writes that through negotiations with the Iraqi government "the U.S. should aim to transition to a sustainable over-watch posture (of perhaps 60,00080,000 forces) by the end of 2010 (although the specific timelines should be the byproduct of negotiations and conditions on the ground)."
Mr. Kahl is the day-to-day coordinator of the Obama campaign's working group on Iraq. A shorter and less detailed version of this paper appeared on the center's Web site as a policy brief. . . . Wait'll the moonbats catch wind of this.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/04/2008 13:49 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Obama is either lying to his moonbat base, or is a complete moron.
#6
Another PDeniable indicia that the US-Coalition is actually winning or prevailing in Iraq + Afghanistan. AQ + Radical Islam is losing too many men + materiel, etc. to wage a sustained campaign thru 2010 and beyond. I BELIEVE OSAMA + ZWI, etc. ARE WELL-AWARE OF THIS, ERGO THEIR RECENT COVERT REDIRECTION/ESCALATION OF JIHAD TOWARDS RUSSIA, CENTRAL ASIA, + EVEN CHINA, ALBEIT THEY'LL STILL MAINTAIN "HOLDING/
CONTAINMENT" EFFORTS AGZ IRAQ-ME, ISRAEL, AFRICA, etc. They need Nukes-WMDS, Warfighters-JIhadies, + other new resources ASAP, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY BE IT VIA "BLACK MARKETS" [old] OR AGZ ANY UNSECURE CONTEMPOR COLD WAR MIL ARSENALS-CACHES, XPERTS, ETC, even iff it means helping, protecting, and empowering NUCLEARIZING SHIA IRAN [Revival of Persian-Ottoman Empire].
Lastly, iff there is a de facto ISLAMIST "HIDDEN IMAM/MAHDI", THIS IS THE TIME FOR HIM TO MANIFEST AND SHOW HIMSELF, AND LEAD WORLD ISLAMISM/ISLAM. i.e. to demonstrate his ability to lead struggling or failing Islamism = Islamist Jihad agz overwhelming enemy odds, Regionally and Globally unto Victory of Faith-God-Prophet, correct!? THE HIDDEN IMAM/MAHDI MUST ALSO MODERNIZE + REJUVENATE ISLAM, NOT MERELY VALIDATE THE "STAUS QUO" WHICH INDUCED 9-11 TO BEGIN WITH. IMAM/MAHDI > LEADERSHIP, etc. CAN ACHIEVE WHAT MILPOL-NUCLEAR FIREPOWER MAY NOT.
Although the US = US-Coalition is presently successful or winning agz Radical Islamism-Terror, AT THIS TIME [2008-2010/2012 maxima]IT REMAINS VERY CAPABLE OF BEING STRATEGICALLY AND TACTICALLY DEFEATED IN IRAQ-ME UNDER RIGHT LEADERSHIP, STRATEGERY, + CONDITIONS.
After 2010 or 2012, it will be all but mil impossible for Radicla Islam to get the US-West out of the ME, or likely even anywhere in the Muslim World. REGIONAL-GLOBAL JIHAD > devolve in LT into LOCAL-AREA = SECTARIAN JIHAD, AND NOT MORE THAN THAT, AT BEST A LOCAL, MINOR "POLICE ACTION".
#7
"60,000-80,000" > No surprise here. the USA CAN GO EVEN LOWER THAN THAT DEPENDING HOW OSAMA + AQ REACT, vv any "American Hiroshima" options, + HOW RUSSIA-CHINA WILL REACT TO OSAMA'S REDIRECTION OF JIHAD AGZ THEM.
As a cold darkness enveloped the tiny U.S. military camp just inside Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, word spread that Taliban fighters were on the move nearby, planning an attack.
Capt. Chris Hammonds expected it. In a mud-brick command center, the 32-year-old Army Ranger pivoted between a radio and a map, tracking reports of approaching Taliban. Several explosions soon ripped through the night as U.S. forces hit the suspected Taliban positions, including a cross-border guided-munitions strike on a compound about a mile inside Pakistan where senior associates of Siraj Haqqani -- considered one of the most dangerous Taliban commanders -- were thought to be meeting.
The U.S. military usually strikes across the border only when taking accurate fire from Pakistan, and standard practice calls for informing the Pakistani military about threats from its side. But Hammonds argued that the Pakistani military checkpoint was "under siege" from the Taliban and that Pakistani officers -- fearful of retaliation -- could tip off the insurgents.
The rare strike averted an imminent Taliban attack, Hammonds said, but across the border a starkly different account emerged. "Two women and two children got killed, so whatever was assessed was not correct," said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, a spokesman for the Pakistani army. No Taliban were meeting in the family compound, he said. The Pakistani government issued a protest, and demonstrations erupted. "We were never informed about the strike," Abbas said. "This has serious implications for operations."
The March 12 incident highlights how, more than six years into the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, efforts to stabilize the country increasingly focus on the rugged frontier area straddling the border with Pakistan. Over the past 18 months, Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters have exploited peace deals by Pakistan's government to create an unprecedented haven in the region, U.S. officials said. From there, insurgents have escalated attacks in Pakistan and in eastern Afghanistan, leading the United States last year to double its troop presence along more than 600 miles of frontier.
Recent high-level talks among the three countries have called for more intelligence-sharing and coordinated operations along the border. Last Saturday, the first of six new border coordination centers -- with officers from the three nations -- opened at Torkham at the Khyber Pass, a "giant step" forward, said Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, the top U.S. commander in eastern Afghanistan.
But despite such efforts, front-line commanders such as Hammonds still grapple with key obstacles -- including unreliable Afghan and Pakistani soldiers, ambivalent villagers, and even disputes over where the true border lies. Commanders said they need at least 50 percent more U.S. troops and more reconstruction money. At current levels, they said, it will take at least five years to quell insurgent attacks, which increased nearly 40 percent in eastern Afghanistan last year, including a 22 percent rise in attacks along the border.
"This combat outpost will get attacked within the next week or so, with rockets or small-arms fire," said Hammonds, commander of Attack Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment. "They can't stand that we are in this location."
The U.S. outpost -- which Hammonds and his forces set up a month ago in an insurgent safe house nicknamed the "Taliban Hotel" -- is part of an effort to stem the flow of fighters moving along routes from Pakistan's North and South Waziristan and other Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Collaboration is growing between Taliban commanders in Afghanistan such as Haqqani, who has tribal roots in Paktika province, and Pakistanis such as Baitullah Mehsud, a commander in South Waziristan who is reorganizing the Taliban with help from agents in Pakistan's intelligence service, according to U.S. military officials. Mehsud, the CIA has said, is responsible for the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto in December.
Taliban fighters and facilitators plan and resupply in Waziristan towns and then move across the border to launch attacks as far inside Afghanistan as Kabul. Overall attacks in eastern Paktika province rose about 30 percent last year, and have more than quadrupled since 2003, according to military data. Attacks by improvised explosive devices have risen tenfold since 2003, and suicide bombings, unseen before 2006, numbered seven last year.
"The threat of suicide-borne IEDs and IEDs are everywhere. It's far more significant than in the past," said Lt. Col. Michael Fenzel, commander of the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Roadside bombs killed 10 of the battalion's 12 soldiers lost since May. The insurgents "have an IED division, a suicide-bombing division, and everything else supports those two things," he said.
Throughout last fall and winter, Fenzel's battalion conducted operations in eastern Paktika and southern Khowst province to establish closer ties with villagers and to help block the influx of fighters with the spring thaw. His troops are building several outposts, already pushing the fighting closer to the border and away from populated areas.
A new outpost two miles from Afghanistan's border with South Waziristan has drawn a large volume of mortars, rockets and small-arms fire away from a base in a large town farther inland. On the night of Nov. 24, Capt. Rob McChrystal recalled, he and his infantry company were manning the outpost when scores of Taliban converged on them. McChrystal, of Charleston, S.C., said he waited until the insurgents came within 200 yards before he attacked with artillery and aircraft fire.
"I expect a lot more of the same this spring," he said. "They'll attempt another direct-fire attack because the [outpost] is a thorn in their side."
In the latest operation, in the Kowchun Valley just north of Paktika, Hammonds's company staked out a position above a narrow streambed that snakes through a gorge into North Waziristan, the scene of dozens of firefights between U.S. troops and the Taliban. From his base, Hammonds can see for miles into Pakistan. Haqqani "is extremely upset and can't get anything through," said Fenzel, citing U.S. intelligence.
But because of a shortage of U.S. troops, Hammonds's company can stay in the area only for several weeks. He doubts that Afghan and Pakistani soldiers will be able to control the route once he leaves.
"You're in the middle of an ANA mutiny," Hammonds said one afternoon, referring to the Afghan National Army, as Afghan soldiers from the 203rd Battalion piled into pickup trucks and quit the camp. The Afghans left after learning that the operation, originally to last nine days, would continue for weeks. The exodus underscored Hammonds's belief that Afghan army units cannot guard the border because they rotate every three to six months and they lack enough local knowledge. "The key to securing the border is to remove the ANA completely," he said.
Instead, Hammonds favors the Afghan border police, but eastern Paktika now has only 66 percent of its 857 authorized border police officers and, until December, they were led by a corrupt commander who colluded with the Taliban.
A greater frustration, he and other U.S. troops said, is that they cannot trust their Pakistani counterparts. "The Pakistan military is corrupt and lets people come through," Hammonds said. Pakistani forces reportedly told insurgents the location of his observation post, and when U.S. troops in a firefight call the Pakistani military for help, he said, "they never answer the phone."
Pakistan's Frontier Corps, which mans several border checkpoints, is viewed as nearly an enemy force. "The Frontier Corps might as well be Taliban. . . . They are active facilitators of infiltration," said a U.S. soldier who spoke on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Last May, after Maj. Larry J. Bauguess Jr. of the 82nd Airborne Division attended a meeting to ease frictions between Afghan and Pakistani forces in the Pakistani frontier town of Teri Mengel, he was shot dead by a Frontier Corps guard, military officials said. The U.S. military in Pakistan is funding a multimillion-dollar program to train and equip the Frontier Corps.
U.S. troops face a mixed reception as they offer aid and seek intelligence from local villagers. In the town of Potsmillah, residents spat at Hammonds's soldiers, while in Sra Kunda, they accepted shoes, prayer rugs and offers of a new porch for their mosque.
But in the Kowchun Valley, where there are few roads and no electricity or schools, villagers are loyal to their tribes, which straddle the border. Sra Kunda's 50 families survive by gathering wood and selling it in Pakistan, or tending meager plots of rain-watered wheat. Residents keep Pakistani time on their watches, use Pakistani rupees and frequent markets across the border. "We don't know whether we're from Pakistan or Afghanistan," said Nakib Balibi, 18. "So we just go on Pakistan time."
Posted by: john frum ||
04/04/2008 09:23 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Pakistan's Frontier Corps, which mans several border checkpoints, is viewed as nearly an enemy force. "The Frontier Corps might as well be Taliban. . . . They are active facilitators of infiltration," said a U.S. soldier who spoke on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.
At least the Pak military is consistent... they facilitated terror in the past and continue to do so...
Posted by: john frum ||
04/04/2008 9:28 Comments ||
Top||
#2
prayer rugs and offers of a new porch for their mosque.
Am I the only one who thinks American forces should
never do anything encouraging mosque attendance?
#4
Wife thinks we should invite China to use Afghanistan as lebensraum just like they use Tibet. Then it is only a problem until it is %90 Han and then the problem is gone.
A British civil rights group has threatened to sue Britain and Portugal if they did not divulge relevant information on the secret transfer of detainees to the US camp at Guantanamo. "I wrote a letter to the British government asking them to give out any evidence they have, and we know they do, that can help our defence," said lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, the founder of Reprieve. "If they dont answer within one week, we will sue the (British) government," he warned.
"There are two ways of making the Portuguese government cooperate: the nice way and the not so nice way. The not so nice way is to sue them and make them do it."
Reprieve said its intention was to ensure that the British and Portuguese governments respected legal and moral obligations to provide evidence the prisoners lawyers urgently needed to prove their clients innocence. On Portuguese co-operation with Reprieves enquiries, Stafford Smith said: "There are two ways of making the Portuguese government cooperate: the nice way and the not so nice way. The not so nice way is to sue them and make them do it."
Citing Portuguese and US data as well as prisoner testimony, Reprieve earlier this year released a report stating that 728 prisoners at the notorious US detention camp on Cuba had been transported through Portuguese jurisdiction. Portugal denied these claims. "There is zero doubt that the Portuguese government was complacent with the rendering of prisoners," said Stafford Smith.
He was scheduled to meet a state attorney investigating the question of the secret transfer of prisoners. "There are many examples of people who apparently were rendered through Portugal. We listed 10 of them in our report and they all potentially face the death penalty."
This article starring:
Clive Stafford Smith
Posted by: ryuge ||
04/04/2008 07:53 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
Oh. No. Not. That.
Don't kill the job, Clive...
This ought to be good. As a case study of some kind.
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr offered Thursday to help purge Iraqi security forces of militia members. No thanks. They already autopurged themselves.
But he also criticized the Iraqi government for denying that it sent envoys to him to discuss last week's government offensive in Basra. Vaporware.
The offensive sparked fighting between security forces in other Shiite cities and in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad. The clashes subsided after al-Sadr called for his followers to stand down, a pronouncement made Sunday after meetings with Iranian officials and Iraqi Shiite lawmakers in Iran.
"I advise everyone to end the sedition, to stop the bloodshed and arrests immediately," al-Sadr said Thursday in a statement read by Saleh al-Ageili, a spokesman for the Sadrist parliamentary bloc. "And if the government cannot make infiltrators and other Baathists, terrorists, militias of parties and saboteurs surrender, we are ready to cooperate with [the government] to cleanse our army and police of them. Let the government and people be one to liberate Iraq of the occupier."
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said there were no government negotiations with Shiite militias and emphasized that he didn't send an envoy to the Sadrists' headquarters in the Iraqi city of Najaf for talks. He said he was "not consulted" by those Shiite lawmakers who traveled to Najaf to speak with al-Sadr.
But al-Ageili said the prime minister's denials were meant only "to save face."
The Iraqi government said the operation that began March 25 targeted criminals who had been carrying out indiscriminate attacks, burglaries and oil smuggling. Although Iraqi and U.S. authorities repeatedly said militias weren't targeted, much of the fighting occurred in strongholds of al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia.
A senior Iraqi official said that more than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers deserted in Basra and other hot spots during the fighting. There were others who simply took off their uniforms and joined the Shiite militias the army was battling, the official said.
A closely held U.S. military intelligence analysis of the fighting showed that Iraqi security forces controlled less than a quarter of the city, according to U.S. officials in the United States and Iraq. They said Basra's police units were deeply infiltrated by members of al-Sadr's Mehdi Army.
Al-Maliki called the operation in the oil-rich southern city a success Thursday but said it exposed weaknesses in the security forces, including operational snafus and troop desertions that he said will be addressed and reviewed. He said those who "didn't fight with their colleagues" will be sent to military courts on charges of desertion and insubordination, though he noted that "joining the army or police is not a picnic." Among the penalties those security force members will face is dismissal from the military. The prime minister, who was in Basra overseeing the fighting in its early days, brushed off criticism that the widespread action was poorly planned, was politically motivated and failed to dislodge the renegade militias from their strongholds across the southern city.
Al-Maliki said he plans actions in other cities and Baghdad neighborhoods, such as Sadr City, Shula and Amiriya, and vowed that the military will "be 100 percent ready" when it embarks on those operations. Sadr City and Shula are Shiite areas dominated by the Mehdi Army militia, but Amiriya is predominantly Sunni and controlled by a Sons of Iraq group — the U.S.-backed Sunni militias.
"We will not sit quietly" while gangs hold areas captive, said al-Maliki, who emphasized that such areas should be "liberated." Asked about the possibility of government operations in Sadr City, al-Ageili said there is a committee led by al-Sadr that is monitoring events and issues directives accordingly.
"This is solid leadership, and we will not seek an escalation," he said.
Al-Maliki also has promised a major offensive targeting al Qaeda in Iraq, a predominantly Sunni group, in the northern city of Mosul.
Al-Ageili also said al-Sadr had called for peaceful demonstrations in Sadr City after Friday prayers "to protest the campaign of raids carried out by the occupier." A Sadr City resident said mosque loudspeakers Thursday blared the call to protest.
Al-Sadr's political movement called for millions of Iraqis to demonstrate Wednesday against the U.S. presence in Iraq, a protest that would coincide with scheduled testimony in Washington from top U.S. officials in Iraq and the anniversary of the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime. Al-Sadr urged people to converge on Najaf, the city south of Baghdad that is holy to Shiite Muslims and where the Sadrists have their main office. His message was all-encompassing, an address to all Iraqis: Sunnis and Shiites, Kurds and Arabs, "mujahedeen and the patient people" and those who've lost loved ones in the war. The group is urging Iraqis to wave flags, demand Iraqi independence, support Iraqi unity, support "oppressed people" and do so in a way that dignifies Islam.
"It is the time to express your rejection and raise your voices loudly in Iraq's sky against the unjust occupier, the enemy of nations and humanity and against the awful massacres committed by the occupier and unjust people against our noble nation," a Sadrist statement said.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday he planned to launch more security crackdowns like the one in Basra against "criminal gangs" in Baghdad. Addressing a news conference, he singled out Sadr City and Shula - two Mahdi Army militia strongholds in Baghdad - as likely targets in the future crackdowns, saying they were under the sway of "criminal gangs."
Al-Maliki did not mention by name the Mahdi Army militia, which is led by radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadr City and Shula are militia strongholds and any attack by government troops there is likely to trigger a backlash by the militia like what happened in Basra last week.
"We cannot remain silent about our people and families in Sadr City, Shula and other areas ... while they are held hostage by gangs that control them. We must liberate these cities because we came (to office) to serve them," al-Maliki said.
He also announced the creation of 25,000 jobs in Basra and the spending of US $100 million to improve services in the city, Iraq's second largest.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
Well, he'll have at least a little bit more credibility that before the operation in Basra.
Followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accused the army of violating an Iranian-brokered agreement that ended last week's fighting, which erupted in Basra and quickly engulfed Baghdad and major cities of the Shiite south.
Those complaints raised concern that fighting could flare again as the Iraqi government and Shiite militias maneuver for control of Basra -- the country's oil capital 340 miles southeast of Baghdad and a major commercial center of 2 million people.
In the north, meanwhile, a suicide bomber in a vehicle attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint west of Mosul late Wednesday, killing seven people and wounding 12, according to the Iraqi army.
Violence in the Shiite south and in the north, where al-Qaeda operates, illustrates the fragile state of security in Iraq as the U.S. moves to reduce its troop levels after five years of war.
Iraqi troops met no significant resistance as a dozen-vehicle convoy drove Wednesday into the Hayaniyah district of central Basra, scene of fierce clashes last week with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters.
Troops set up checkpoints and searched a few houses before leaving the neighborhood after a couple of hours, witnesses said.
An Iraqi cameraman working for the U.S.-funded Alhurra satellite television station was shot in the leg as he filmed the operation in Hayaniyah.
Later, the camera operator, Mazin al-Tayar, told Alhurra by telephone that the soldiers faced "many roadside bombs and mortar rounds" during the operation, although there were no reports of military casualties.
One of the bombs exploded near a vehicle carrying the local Iraqi army commander, Lt. Gen. Mohan al-Fireji, but caused no injuries, according to Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari, who was traveling with the general.
The Basra joint operations center announced that Iraqi soldiers had detained two suspected militia figures in the Qibla area. A gunbattle erupted during the raid and an Iraqi army vehicle was set on fire.
Nevertheless, Basra's provincial governor, Mohammed al-Waili, said the overall situation in the oil-rich city was "very calm and stable" and that normalcy was returning. "We issued orders to all government employees to go to their offices starting from today and they will be obliged to work their full schedule," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
What's Mr. Tooth Decay doing in that pic, his retard imitation?
#4
sinse: that is the very comely Ms. Ranger-Up gal Grace. go to their website for a description on how she came to be the face ( and stuff) for that company.
#5
Give them lots of clicks and buy some of their stuff and they'll start advertising here again.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 17:54 Comments ||
Top||
#6
#5 Fred - You mean clicking isn't enough? We actually have to buy stuff?
Speaking of buying, I've got my Rantburg Surprise Meter™ mousepad and mug, but what I really want is the Rantburg Sympathy Meter™. (I can think of several places it would come in handy. ;-p)
Any chance of adding that to Rantburg's offering?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/04/2008 18:40 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Barb, once it is in a comment, print it out and pin the pic on a wall. Would work as a real thing, promise.
Basra residents contacted by telephone said many people were fearful that the truce might not last.
Underscoring those fears, clashes broke out hours later after Iraqi troops raided Basra's Maakal area, another Mahdi Army stronghold, according to local police who could not immediately provide further details.
A Mahdi Army spokesman in Basra, known as Abu Liqa al-Basri, said Wednesday that their gunmen were keeping a low profile on al-Sadr's orders. He accused Iraqi security forces of creating a "crisis of trust" by mounting "provocative raids" and arresting al-Sadr supporters. "If the Iraqi army continues in its provocative raids, the consequences will be bad," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Thursday for a million Iraqis to march against U.S. "occupiers", threatening a massive show of strength a week after his Mehdi Army militia battled U.S. and government troops. The government said it would not try to block the April 9 march if it was peaceful.
A statement released by Sadr's office in the holy city of Najaf called on Iraqis of all sects to descend on the southern city, site of annual Shi'ite pilgrimages that attract hundreds of thousands of worshippers. "The time has come to express your rejections and raise your voices loud against the unjust occupier and enemy of nations and humanity, and against the horrible massacres committed by the occupier against our honorable people," it said.
The demonstration, called for the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad on Wednesday, raises the prospect of unrest coinciding with a politically sensitive progress report to Congress by the top U.S. officials in Iraq. "If his intention is to get a whole lot of people together and go and make trouble in Najaf, I don't think that is going to be very popular," U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker told a briefing.
Sadr's trying his darndest -- from Iran -- to make this look like Tet.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
Gonna look bad if it doesn't work. I wonder how he's going to weasel out of this one.
#2
Doesn't matter how it turns out on the ground. He'll sit in Qom and call it a famous victory. Muslim attention span and recall being what they are, a year from now it will be.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 9:11 Comments ||
Top||
#3
With Photoshop the MSM can turn the 10,000 who show up into a million, easy.
#5
gosh - he's just like our own liberals and MSM. Call for a march against "X" and when a few Code Pink and Workers World activists show up with a few Hamas supporters and a couple of aging hippies, they claim it a national statement.
A disillusioned True Believer. Zakariya Zubeidi, until not long ago the commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin.
What happened? Why did it die?
"Why? Because our politicians are whores. Our leadership is garbage. Look at Ruhi Fatouh, who was president of the PA for 60 days, as Yasser Arafat's replacement. He smuggled mobile phones. Do you understand? We have been defeated. The political splits and schisms have destroyed us not only politically - they have destroyed our national identity. Today there is no Palestinian identity. Go up to anyone in the street and ask him, 'Who are you?' He'll answer you, 'I'm a Fatah activist,' 'I'm a Hamas activist,' or an activist of some other organization, but he won't say to you, 'I am a Palestinian.' Every organization flies its own flag, but no one is raising the flag of Palestine."
Are you, who used to be a symbol of the intifada, saying, "We have been defeated, we have failed, the intifada is dead?"
"Even Gamal Abdel Nasser admitted his defeat, so why not me? Come on, I'll tell you something. On Saturday there was a ceremony to mark the killing of one of our martyrs. They asked me to say a few words. What could I say? I can no longer promise that we will follow in the martyr's footsteps, as is customary, because I would be lying. So then one of the heads of Fatah came over to me and said, 'We are following in the footsteps of the martyrs, we are continuing the resistance.' And I told him that he is a liar.
"I feel that they have abandoned us, the Al-Aqsa activists. They have left us behind and forgotten us. We are marching in the direction of nowhere, toward total ruin. The Palestinian people is finished. Done for. Hamas comes on the air on its television station and says 'Fatah is a traitor.' That is to say, 40 percent of the nation are traitors. And then Fatah does the same thing and you already have 80 percent traitors." Rest at the link...
#1
I see all of this as positive. The worst thing that Israel can do is continue to attempt to treat the Palestinians as any form of a territory or nationless state. Rather - let the people have elections and suffer the consequences of their own actions. Only then can the Palestinian people see that the Jews are nothing more than scapegoats of their failed leadership. After electing leaders who would give them what they thought they really wanted - a chance to push the Jews into the sea, they are beginning to see it is their own leaders, not the Jews that are the source of their misery.
#3
"We are marching in the direction of nowhere, toward total ruin. The Palestinian people is finished."
Great. Hurry the hell up.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/04/2008 15:29 Comments ||
Top||
#4
We are marching in the direction of nowhere, toward total ruin.
A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles for recovery from addictive, compulsive, or other behavioral problems, originally developed by the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous for recovery from alcoholism.
The first of the twelve steps is to admit you have a problem.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/04/2008 16:26 Comments ||
Top||
They'll get around to dealing with UNRWA as soon as they finish dealing with all the other things that harm Islam. Probably in about 3010.
A Gazan group calling itself The Free Men of the Homeland has threatened to target UNRWA because it "harms Islam." Free Men of the Homeland. Free meals, free houses, free...stuff. Just cuz we want to kill them, can we still get that?
The group stated that UNRWA distributes profane publications and enables mixing of the genders by encouraging womens employment in education and organizing events to mark International Womens Day. It'd be nice to see the UNRWA say, "Well, were outtta here. Good luck everybody." But instead they'll just order extra vaseline and bend over a little more.
The ruling Hamas party in Gaza slammed on Thursday what it termed 'ignorance' by the international community of Gaza conditions, calling on all concerned parties to take their responsibilities towards such conditions.
In a statement, faxed to press by the Hamas's spokesmna, Fawzi Barhoum, " the repeated Arab failures to take a decisive action to the best of lifting the Israel-enforced siege, are unjustified, in a time the United States has been working on undermining the democratic processs of the Palestinian people and perpetuating the siege."
"There should be an overall assesment of the Arab and inrternational positions with respect to the American-Israeli practices against the Palestinian people", Barhoum stated.
He also said that the running out of fuel, medicine and medical equipment, has increasingly become devastating to households, schools, industrial facilites and hospitals. The Hamas official warned as well of the continuation of such policy against the Gaza's 1.5 million residents, appealing to all human rights organisations worldwide to uncover the reality in Gaza and calling upon all Arab and Islamic nations to outcry against closure of Gaza, in place since last June.
Barhoum called on Egypt to allow all foreign activists and representatives of international institutions to enter the coastal territory, in a time Israel restricts movement of such bodies through Isael-controlled crossings.
All Gaza's crossings, including the Rafah terminal on Gaza-Egypt border lines, have been closed since June of last year, after the democrtitically-elected Islamist Hamas party wrestled complete control over the Gaza Strip amidts a power struggle with the secular Fatah party.
This article starring:
FAWZI BARHUM
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Why doesn't the Palestinian state claiming sovereignty take responsibility for itself? I agree it is "repeated Arab failures" at fault here but the international community is not ignorant, but unsympathetic to their self-induced hell-hole! They have isolated themselves from the peace plan.
Palestinian lawmakers probing the death in custody of a preacher from the Islamist Hamas movement said on Thursday he had been "tortured to death" by security men loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas.
A self-appointed investigation team comprising six independent lawmakers determined that Majd al-Barghouthi died as a result of torture and said the head of the Fatah-run intelligence services, Tewfiq Tirawi, should be held to account.
Another commission which Abbas appointed in late February to investigate the matter has not yet delivered its verdict, although a pathologist working on behalf of Fatah said he had not found signs of torture on Barghouthi's body.
Independent lawmaker Hassan Khreisheh, a member of the investigating commission, said it had observed "torture marks" on the legs, back and arms of the 45-year-old father of nine, who had been detained for a week before his death. He said witnesses had told the commission that Barghouthi had been turned into a newt tortured in a "mad manner".
"We demand that this incident close the chapter of political detention once and for all," Khreisheh told Reuters. He said the lawmakers had demanded that Abbas punish anyone who participated in, ordered or oversaw the torture of Barghouthi.
In February, Hamas officials accused security agents from Abbas's secular Fatah faction of torturing Barghouthi to death but security officials said he had died of a stroke.
Human rights groups accused Hamas of torturing to death four Palestinians in Gaza since it took control of the coastal territory. Both Fatah and Hamas accuse each other of arresting and torturing their supporters in the enclaves.
This article starring:
Hassan Khreisheh
MAJD AL BARGHUTHI
Hamas
TEWFIQ TIRAWI
Fatah
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Lebanese Army chief General Michel Suleiman said on Thursday that he intends step down on August 22 as commander of the military and expressed resentment over the continued bickering on his nomination for the presidency. "I'm tired of the ongoing bickering over my name as a consensus presidential candidate," Suleiman said in an interview with As Safir newspaper. "If one side nominates me, the other objects. If one country backs my nomination, other countries object...Every time we make a step forward, we find ourselves" facing more demands, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
The Israeli vice premier said Hezbollah is "wary of avenging" the death of its leader Imad Mugniyah due to Israel's surprising moves in the Second Lebanon War.
Vice Premier Haim Ramon said Thursday at a gathering with Tel Aviv officials that "Hezbollah is wary of avenging the assassination of its commander Imad Mugniyah because they discovered during the Second Lebanon War that they cannot predict Israel's response to their actions."
Concerning the mounting "cold escalation" with the northern front of Israel, Ramon said, "Israel's ability to negotiate with Syria is very limited, if at all existent, at the moment. It is very difficult to withdraw Syria from the axis of extremism, because the Golan Heights are not sufficient incentive for Syria to sacrifice its alliance with Iran and the control that it harbors over Lebanon."
Ramon added that Damascus "has made a strategic choice" and places more importance on keeping peace with Iran and Hezbollah than Israel, Ynetnews reported Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al- Zawahiri defended insurgent attacks in Iraq, Algeria and Morocco that killed Muslims and blamed the West for using them as human shields, according to a U.S.-based intelligence group. Zawahiri was responding to questions posed to him over the Internet after announcing the online interview in December, according to IntelCenter, based in Alexandria, Virginia.
``If there was any innocent who was killed in the Mujahedeen's operations, then it was either an unintentional error, or out of necessity,'' Zawahiri said in the 103-minute audio file released today by al-Qaeda's media production unit, as-Sahab. ``We don't kill innocents, in fact, we fight those who kill innocents.''
Zawahiri, an Egyptian-born doctor who makes frequent video and audio addresses for al-Qaeda, said in the tape that leader Osama bin Laden is ``healthy and well'' and that reports of him being ill are spread by ``the prejudiced ones.''
Bin Laden, whose al-Qaeda network carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, has recorded at least four video and audio tapes since last September from his presumed hiding places on the mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. There have been no confirmed sightings of bin Laden since he was turned into cranberry jam escaped U.S.-led forces in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in December 2001.
Several questions out of the 90 Zawahiri selected to answer challenged him over attacks that have killed Muslim women and children, according to IntelCenter, which provides counterterrorism intelligence support to the U.S., British, Australian and Canadian armed forces.
``Why have you, to this day, not carried out any strike in Israel? Or is it easier to kill Muslims in the markets? Maybe it is necessary to take some geography lessons, because your maps only show the Muslims' states,'' asked one questioner, identified as Mudarris Jughrafiya.
I wish I had planted that question, heh ...
Zawahiri said the group has carried out operations against Israelis, including attacks in Tunisia and the 2002 assault in Kenya, when al-Qaeda bombed a hotel and fired missiles at a chartered Israeli airliner taking off from Mombasa.
Another questioner, identified as Algerian medical student Talib Jami'i Tib al-Jazaa'ir, challenged Zawahiri over the Dec. 11 suicide bombings in Algiers. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attacks on the United Nations office and the Constitutional Council building, which killed more than 60 people, including 17 UN workers.
Those killed were ``not from the innocents,'' said Zawahiri. ``They are from the crusader unbelievers and the government troops who defend them.''
The deputy leader also defended his past criticism of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which he said shouldn't participate in the government of the Gaza Strip. ``I took a gradual approach with them, but they didn't heed the opinion of their brothers,'' he said.
Zawahiri said he expected the jihad, or holy war, to move to Jerusalem when U.S. forces leave Iraq. ``There is no doubt that the American collapse has begun,'' he said. ``The raids on New York and Washington were identifying marks of this collapse, but I point out that the collapse of empires doesn't come in a single moment.''
Zawahiri said he sought Allah's guidance when selecting which questions to answer, according to an English-language transcript of the audio file provided by IntelCenter. He said he couldn't respond to some questions for security reasons. He grouped his replies into four sections, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, a U.S.-based organization that monitors extremist Web sites. They covered the killing of innocents, Iran, Egypt and the Palestinian territories. The audio file was the first of two installments, Zawahiri said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
TOPIX > WILL THE THIRD ROME [Russia] FALL TO ISLAM? Russ under pressure.
OTOH, UPI > OUTSIDE VIEW:CARRIER STRATEGY-PART V > RUSSIA reportedly gave CHINA its MOSKIT "Dual-Use" Nuclear Warhead-capable anti-ship missle which CHINA reportedly gave/sold to IRAN.
#2
We don't kill innocents, in fact, we fight those who kill innocents
Err, so why weren't the innocents around Coalition forces already dead then?
Really, it seems to me that the only definition of an "innocent" that fits this guys answers is "any muslim". Period. Anyone else is an infidel, and they must be killed or captured and used. Doesn't matter if the muslim is carrying a gun or not. If they are a murderer or rapist or whatever. Mujahedeen seem to be a higher order of innocent.
#3
The more speeches Al-Qaeda's #2 makes declaring it's alright to bump off Muslim in terrorist attacks, the more Muslims will hopefully realize who the real bad guys are - and switch sides!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
04/04/2008 3:33 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I dunno, Mark. I'm not sure Muslims ever actually realize anything.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 7:29 Comments ||
Top||
#5
``Why have you, to this day, not carried out any strike in Israel? Or is it easier to kill Muslims in the markets? Maybe it is necessary to take some geography lessons, because your maps only show the Muslims' states,'' asked one questioner, identified as Mudarris Jughrafiya.
"Silence! I keeeel you!" responded al-Zawahiri
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/04/2008 7:34 Comments ||
Top||
#6
"There is no doubt that the American collapse has begun,''...
In an hour-and-a-half long audio-taped message Wednesday night, Al-Qaeda Deputy Commander Ayman al-Zawahri vowed that with Allah's help, they would target Jews worldwide. "We promise our Muslim brothers that we will do the best we can to harm Jews in Israel and the world over, with Allah's help and according to his command," said al-Qaeda's second in command.
Last week, he called on Muslims worldwide to strike Israeli and Jewish communities abroad to revenge Israel's counter-terror operation in the Gaza Strip in early March.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
'We'll Strike Jews Everywhere'
Whatdaya ya mean "WE" kemosabe? Go ahead and try it Big Ass-Head, Joooos shoot & kill pecker-heads like you first.. no sweat!
BTW You been in yer hole too long, and you stinkum plenty!
#2
"We promise our Muslim brothers that we will do the best we can to harm Jews in Israel and the world over, with Allah's help and according to his command We'll do the same to any Muslim who thinks different too ," said al-Qaeda's second in command.
#3
Actually, it should be, "Al-Zawahiri: I'll Take the Credit for Striking Jews Everywhere".
Tough to do when there isn't one within 2000 miles of you, right, doc? But you never impressed me as being a "get your hands dirty" guy anyways...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Questions put to Osama bin Laden's deputy in an online forum this week indicated Al Qaeda's violent tactics may be seriously questioned by some of the movement's sympathizers, a U.S. counterintelligence official said on Thursday.
The U.S. official, interpreting the questions and the answers given by Ayman al-Zawahri, said: "They've been taken to the online woodshed on a number of things."
"Some of the questioners are raising tough issues, such as the legitimacy of murdering innocent civilians and the effectiveness of al-Qaeda's overall strategy," the U.S. official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.
"Since al-Qaeda chose what questions to address, it suggests al-Qaeda's tactics have raised serious concerns -- even among potential sympathizers -- and that the group's leadership recognizes that it has some serious explaining to do," he said.
Zawahri, in the first batch of answers to questions solicited by al Qaeda-linked Web forums in December, was asked about issues including the justification for killing Muslims in Algeria or for killing women and children.
Another questioner asked about al Qaeda's killing "innocents in Baghdad, Morocco and Algeria."
Al Qaeda's wing in North Africa has claimed responsibility for several major attacks, including against Algerian soldiers and two suicide bombings that targeted U.N. offices and a court building.
Zawahri in his responses denied killing innocents, and said that if any died in attacks it was through error or necessity, such as they were serving as human shields.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/04/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Again, the OSAMA BIN LADEN [includ ZAWIHIRI, etc] that I rememeber from the anti-Soviet Afghani War is committed to fight for his Faith-Beliefs to the Death, even unto MUTUAL DESTRUCTION IN LIEU OF ISLAM'S/ISLAMISM'S DEFEAT.
I interprete this article as concerns about Radicla Islamism's willingness to escalate unto GLOBAL MUTUAL DESTRUCTION > IMO, Osama must be aware that, all things equal, IT IS THE US-WEST/COALITION THAT WILL LIKELY PREVAIL AND WIN THE "LONG WAR", NOT RADICAL ISLAMISM. SOMETHING(S) THEN, MUST SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGE FOR ISLAMISM TO "WIN" OR "NOT LOSE" PAR AGZ THE USA, etc. Iff Radical Islamism, then, hopes to unilater control its own destiny, by and for itself + Allah-Islam, IT NEEDS MORE RESOURCES + FIREPOWER THAN PRESENT AS IT IS CONSUMING AND LOSING TOO MANY MEN AND MATERIEL AGZ US-ALLIED IN IRAQ-AFGHANI.
Iff Osama + Islamists still desire their Jihad and their desired GLOBAL ISLAMIST-JIHADIST STATE, THEY NEED A LARGE QUANTITY/ARSENAL OF NUKES-WMDS AND TO START WAGING NUCLEAR-WMD TERROR + RELATED INSIDE THE USA + WEST PROPER.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
France has offered to send up to 1,000 troops to Afghanistan, Nato said last night. They will go to the east of the country, enabling 2,500 Canadian troops to stay in the south until 2011. 
Canada pledged on Thursday to keep its troops in Afghanistan after France offered to bolster the NATO force there, and other world leaders said they were committed to the country for the long haul.
The Afghan government has told private television stations in the country to stop broadcasting Indian soap operas. The culture and information ministry says the stations have until 15 April to stop broadcasting the shows.
(SomaliNet) UN Development Program (UNDP) communications adviser Sue Morrell says the men are reportedly in good condition, but not much else is known of their whereabouts. The foreign nationals, a Briton and a Kenyan, are sub-contractors for the Indian company Genesys International Corporation, carrying out a flood control and irrigation survey of two southern Somali rivers, the Jubba and the Shabelle, for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 
Extremists plotted suicide attacks on at least seven flights from Britain to the United States in a simultaneous attack of truly global impact, a prosecutor said on Thursday. The eight men, whose arrest prompted tough limits on the carrying of liquids in hand baggage on to planes, wanted to target seven flights from Londons Heathrow airport to New York, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto and Montreal, 
NATO leaders agreed Thursday to endorse a United States missile defense system based in Europe and to provide more troops for Afghanistan, but they refused to back President Bushs proposal to bring Ukraine and Georgia closer to NATO membership.
A British civil rights group has threatened to sue Britain and Portugal if they did not divulge relevant information on the secret transfer of detainees to the US camp at Guantanamo. "I wrote a letter to the British government asking them to give out any evidence they have, and we know they do, that can help our defence," said lawyer 
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday he planned to launch more security crackdowns like the one in Basra against "criminal gangs" in Baghdad. Addressing a news conference, he singled out Sadr City and Shula - two Mahdi Army militia strongholds in Baghdad - as likely targets in the future crackdowns, saying they were under the sway of "criminal gangs."
Followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accused the army of violating an Iranian-brokered agreement that ended last week's fighting, which erupted in Basra and quickly engulfed Baghdad and major cities of the Shiite south.
Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Thursday for a million Iraqis to march against U.S. "occupiers", threatening a massive show of strength a week after his Mehdi Army militia battled U.S. and government troops. The government said it would not try to block the April 9 march if it was peaceful.
Palestinian lawmakers probing the death in custody of a preacher from the Islamist Hamas movement said on Thursday he had been "tortured to death" by security men loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas.
April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al- Zawahiri defended insurgent attacks in Iraq, Algeria and Morocco that killed Muslims and blamed the West for using them as human shields, according to a U.S.-based intelligence group. Zawahiri was responding to questions posed to him over the Internet after announcing the online interview in December, according to IntelCenter, based in Alexandria, Virginia.
In an hour-and-a-half long audio-taped message Wednesday night, Al-Qaeda Deputy Commander Ayman al-Zawahri vowed that with Allah's help, they would target Jews worldwide. "We promise our Muslim brothers that we will do the best we can to harm Jews in Israel and the world over, with Allah's help and according to his command," said al-Qaeda's second in command.
