Something Rantburgers already knew. Now a number attached to it.
As with the original Taliban back in the early 1990s, the main source of current Taliban gunmen are the Madrasses (religious schools) in the tribal areas of Pakistan and northern Pakistan in general. Radio intercepts, prisoner interrogations and captured documents indicate that up to 60 percent of the Taliban found in southern Afghanistan, especially in Helmand province, are Pakistanis. ...
Posted by: ed ||
05/15/2008 09:27 ||
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#1
Massoud (the Aghan resitance leader who was killed two days before 9/11) told that many/most Taliban captured by his men didn't speak Pashto only Urdhu. Ie they were not Pakistani Pashtuns helping their Afghan brothers but came from Pakistan's main land (ie not of those Afghan territories who were conceded to British India by the Surand treaty and were inherited by Pakistan)
#2
The Pakistan/Saudi connection pops up again.Saudi Clerics and Wahabbism is central to our War on Terror.Until We tackle the Saudi govt and their religios leadershp things will not change!!!!!
Saudi influence on Pakistan has caused more trouble than good!!!
For years we have blamed Pakistan but the money, influence and ideology comes from Saudi.
Saudi and Iran are both are foes not our allies!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
05/15/2008 10:55 Comments ||
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#3
Re above i made a mistake re calling Iran our AllY!!!
The priority countries that need tackling in the WOT are 1.Iran 2.Saudi and then hopefully Syria and Pakistan their proxies fall into line!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
05/15/2008 12:03 Comments ||
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Moderator note: please do not type in long links; they break our formatting. Either embed them (use the Link button) or provide a 'tinyURL'. AoS.
Posted by: Paul ||
05/15/2008 13:06 Comments ||
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#6
most Taliban captured by his men didn't speak Pashto only Urdhu.
Most of the "Kashmiri Militants" caught by India don't speak Kashmiri either. They are invariably Urdu or Punjabi speakers from Pakistan proper.
The Pakistani government organizes tours in its portion of Kashmir where the MSM are shown "refugees". One such tour had an Indian born US journalist. When a woman began relating her tale of woe, of being driven from Kashmir by Indian soldiers, he found it odd she spoke Urdu. He asked her questions in Kashmiri, which as everyone soon realized, she was ignorant of. The Pakistani military cut the tour off at that point.
Posted by: john frum ||
05/15/2008 19:57 Comments ||
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BRUSSELS: Attacks by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan have risen sharply, NATO said Wednesday, expressing concerns that Pakistani agreements with the Taliban may be creating safe havens for militants.
NATO spokesman James Appathurai said attacks were up 50 percent in April compared to the same period last year, a significant jump that could indicate the militants are getting help on the Pakistani side of the border.
``The principle concern is ... the deals being struck between the Pakistani government and extremist groups in the tribal areas may be allowing them - the extremists - to have safe havens, rest, reconstitute and then move across the border,'' he said.
Appathurai said the alliance would take up the issue of militants afe havens with Pakistani authorities. He said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer plans to travel to Islamabad soon for talks with the Pakistani government.
GARMSER, Afghanistan (AP) U.S. Marines who once planned to be in this southern Afghan town for just a few days are extending their mission by several weeks after facing an influx of Taliban fighters.
The change in plans shows that despite a record number of international troops in the country, forces are still spread thin and U.S. commanders must make tough choices about where to deploy them.
Manpower problems are acute in Helmand, the largest and probably the most dangerous province in Afghanistan, where the U.S. 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit arrived late last month to open a route to move troops to its southern reaches near the border with Pakistan.
Britain has about 7,500 soldiers in the province, but does not have enough troops to move south of Garmser, a district still largely held by the Taliban and bursting with opium poppy fields.
The 2,400-strong Marine unit met stiff resistance as they moved in. Between 100 and 400 Taliban fighters moved into the Garmser area as the poppy harvest got under way, apparently to defend their interests in the lucrative drug trade.
Maj. Tom Clinton Jr. said the Marines would be in Garmser for several more weeks. It means the Marines might not take part in an operation that was planned in another southern province this month.
"The number of fighters that stood and fought is kind of surprising to me, but obviously they're fighting for something," Clinton said, alluding to poppies. "They're flowing in, guys are going south and picking up arms. We have an opportunity to really clear them out, cripple them, so I think we're exploiting the success we're finding."
Helmand is the hub of opium production in Afghanistan, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the global supply of this raw material of heroin. The Taliban are believed to derive tens of millions of dollars from the trade.
Still, the Marines have been careful not to alienate residents by destroying the poppy fields that poor farmers rely on for income. Commanders say their goal is to rid the region of Taliban fighters so the Afghan government can move in and tackle the drug problem.
The prospects of that happening appear remote. Although thousands of acres of poppy fields are eradicated annually in Afghanistan, it is only a small fraction of the total area sown. Year after year, production has soared and security has deteriorated.
In recognition of the growing threat posed by Taliban militants, there are now almost 70,000 international soldiers in Afghanistan. The U.S. has 33,000, the most since the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001 ousted the Taliban for giving haven to al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
U.S. forces have mostly operated in the east of the country, rather than the south, where NATO has struggled to find nations willing to fight the increasingly bloody insurgency.
U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, has said he needs three more brigades two for combat and one to train Afghan soldiers, roughly 7,500 to 10,000 additional soldiers.
When the Marines eventually leave Garmser, any gains the 24th has made could be quickly erased unless other forces from NATO or the Afghan government move in.
"We can't be a permanent 24/7 presence. We don't have enough men to stay here," said Staff Sgt. Darrell Penyak, 29, of Grove City, Ohio. "We would need the ANA (Afghan army) to move in, and right now the way we're fighting, there's no way the ANA can come in. They couldn't handle it."
Afghanistan's army and police forces are steadily growing, but are still not big or skilled enough to protect much of the country. Spokesmen for both forces said they were not aware of plans to send forces to Garmser.
Col. Nick Borton, commander of British forces in the southern part of Helmand, recently visited U.S. positions in Garmser, where he told the Americans he'd be happy if they stayed on. "If they're here for only a short time, we can't build very much off that," he said. "Their presence for a few days doesn't really help us."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Helmand is the hub of opium production in Afghanistan, which accounts for more than 90 percent of the global supply of this raw material of heroin. The Taliban are believed to derive tens of millions of dollars from the trade.
Destroy the fields and pay the farmers........otherwise, this just sets up a realignment for continuing drug trade......that aint good. Reduces our efforts to a pretense.
That's the best option. Give the farmers seed grains and tell tell them we will buy the next harvest at a set price. If they grow poppies then the field will be destroyed and they will get nothing.
Posted by: ed ||
05/15/2008 8:38 Comments ||
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#4
Failing the above option, at least start tracking and destroying the stockpiles of opium. Start taking apart the Taliban economic base.
#5
is it actually necessary to destroy the fields? from what I can gather, this is a fly paper strategy. The simple presence of the USMC makes it hard for the Taliban to collect revenues from the opium farmers. Which FORCES them to engage in offensive, quasi-conventional tactics, which results in dramatic Taliban casualities.
Key graf - 'The number of fighters that stood and fought is kind of surprising to me, but obviously they're fighting for something," Clinton said, alluding to poppies. "They're flowing in, guys are going south and picking up arms. We have an opportunity to really clear them out, cripple them, so I think we're exploiting the success we're finding."'
#6
"U.S. Marines who once planned to be in this southern Afghan town for just a few days are extending their mission by several weeks after facing an influx of Taliban Pakistani fighters."
I posted an article on this the other day. It looks like we won't have to take nearly so active a role in the situation -- the price of wheat has tripled at the same time as that of opium has fallen, so in the pacified areas the farmers are making the switch in their own financial interest. The Afghan farmers around Garmser no doubt would prefer to make the switch, too, if the Marines are staying to protect them from bad guys.
(SomaliNet) Saying that delegates at the Djibouti talks "do not represent the opposition", a former warlord allied to Somalia's collapsed Islamic Courts movement has rejected peace talks that opened in Djibouti yesterday. Yusuf "Indho Ade" Mohamed Siad, one of the country's most notorious warlords, made these comments on a Mogadishu radio station Tuesday.
"The Djibouti Conference is intended to destroy the Asmara Alliance, and this is not acceptable," said Indho Ade, who now holds the post of defense secretary for the Eritrea-based Somali opposition group, the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS).
Has to be an important man, he's got an impressive title ...
The delegates in Djibouti who are planning to meet with Somali government officials "cannot speak on behalf of the Asmara Alliance," while warning the international community to be cautious of such "self-appointed opposition members," The ex-warlord said. "We [ARS] do not want to talk with Somali government officials, because they have committed many crimes," Mr. Indho Ade said.
"They keep killing our hard boyz!"
The United Nations is sponsoring the Djibouti-based peace talks between opposition leaders and the Somali government, with ARS Chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed openly saying a delegation from the ARS is in Djibouti City to meet with UN representatives. Although the Djibouti talks have officially started, there has not been any face-to-face meeting between the two Somali sides yet.
Sounds like they're making great progress, Somali-style ...
The ARS was established in Asmara in September 2007 as a united front against Somalia's Ethiopian-backed interim government. The ARS, which is dominated by Islamists, also includes former government officials and Diaspora activists.
Mr. Indho Ade was a warlord who ruled the fertile region of Lower Shabelle using brutal clan militias, who murdered and subjugated the local population at will for five years. He played a key role in the initial military success of the Islamic Courts, who expelled warlords from Mogadishu, and he was later appointed as the movement's defense chief.
In December 2006, the ex-warlord issued a seven-day ultimatum for Ethiopian troops to leave Somali soil or face jihad, while calling on Muslim foreign fighters to join the war. When the Ethiopian army took him up on his offer began its advance on Islamist-led Mogadishu, Mr. Indho Ade and Islamic Courts chief Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys ran away fled Somalia, as thousands of young men fought a costly war against Ethiopia's superior armed forces.
Brave, brave lion, making threats from a safe house in Eritrea ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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Thousands of people on Wednesday demonstrated in Khartoum at a government-organised victory rally to denounce Darfur rebels who staged a daring attack on the capital as agents of Israel.
Waving flags and banners, crowds of men, women and school children converged outside army headquarters to hear a speech from President Omar al-Beshir whose government has been fighting rebels in Darfur for more than five years. Heavily guarded by police and soldiers, the main streets outside the army compound were sealed to traffic. Protestors danced to music, denounced the rebels and shouted religious chants. Witnesses varied widely on the size of the crowd, some estimating around 7,000 people attended. Others put the figure at 15,000 to less than 20,000.
They are executing a foreign agenda. Ask yourselves who brought the weapons, the cars, who is paying them to do this, Beshir, dressed in military fatigues, shouted into a barrage of microphones.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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West Midlands Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have apologised for accusing the makers of a Channel 4 documentary of distortion. The apology and the promise of £100,000 were made at the High Court on Thursday. It follows comments made about a Dispatches programme, Undercover Mosque, which tackled claims of Islamic extremism in the West Midlands. The police statement said the force was wrong to make the allegations.
A press release issued by the police and the CPS in August 2007 claimed the Dispatches programme, broadcast in January of that year, misrepresented the views of Muslim preachers and clerics with misleading editing. One preacher was shown saying a homosexual should be thrown off a mountain, another that women were born deficient.
Police also reported Channel 4 to television watchdog Ofcom for "heavily editing" the words of Islamic imams.
But in November, Ofcom rejected the police and CPS claims, and Channel 4 said it was going to sue the CPS and police for libel.
The statement, released to the media after the High Court hearing by West Midlands Police, said they accepted there had been no evidence that Channel 4 or the documentary makers had "misled the audience or that the programme was likely to encourage or incite criminal activity". It added that the Ofcom report showed the documentary had "accurately represented the material it had gathered and dealt with the subject matter responsibly and in context".
The police statement concluded: "We accept, without reservation, the conclusions of Ofcom and apologise to the programme makers for the damage and distress caused by our original press release."
Kevin Sutcliffe, deputy head of current affairs at Channel 4, said the apology was a vindication of the programme team in exposing extreme views. "Channel 4 was fully aware of the sensitivities surrounding the subject matter but recognised the programme's findings were clearly a matter of important public interest.
"The authorities should be doing all they can to encourage investigations like this, not attempting to publicly rubbish them for reasons they have never properly explained," he said.
David Henshaw, executive producer of Hardcash Productions, who made the documentary, said it was a thorough and detailed programme, made over nine months and at personal risk to the undercover reporter.
Channel 4 boss Julian Bellamy said they had had no choice but to pursue action when the police and CPS refused to withdraw their remarks.
The programme infiltrated a number of mosques, one of which was Green Lane Mosque in Small Heath, Birmingham. An undercover reporter claimed to provide evidence that certain speakers preached messages of religious bigotry and extremism.
Police initially investigated whether three of the people shown in the programme could be prosecuted for inciting terrorism or racial hatred. But they later switched their attention to the documentary makers, suggesting they may have been guilty of stirring up racial hatred.
Channel 4 said £50,000 would be donated to the Rory Peck Trust for freelance journalists and their families. The broadcaster will also receive £50,000 to cover legal costs. Yanks should thank God they elect their Police Cheifs. The Police are more a extension of the Labour party than a crime deterrent.
Umm, we don't elect the city police Chiefs. We elect the city mayors and county boards that hire the police chiefs. We know who to go to if a police chief fails.
#1
Well, we usually elect our sheriffs. Police chiefs are hired and fired usually by the Mayor, though some locations have confirmation votes by councils. In the states we have overlapping jurisdictions between county sheriffs and municipal police forces particularly when dealing with unincorporated sections of land. However, most of the smaller municipalities where the Mayor does appoint, the general population is usually very sensitive to crime and will dump the man in charge without much hesitation. So the mayors are usually attentive to this issue far more than bureaucrats. Major municipalities like Chicago, Newark, etc, not so much.
#5
I'd like to ask our Brit friends this question.
Given that Brown doesn't have to call an election for quite a while (2009?)
What are the chances of BJ taking over control of the Tories from boy David? Cameron strikes me as a wussie that wouldn't be any improvement on Labour.
(IANS) The pending Nuremberg-type trial of an Afghan Canadian at Guantanamo Bay has led a senator to equate Canada and the US with Al-Qaeda for human rights violations. Appearing before a House of Commons committee on international human rights in Ottawa Tuesday, Canadian senator Romeo Dallaire said the US and his own country have sunk to the moral equivalent of Al-Qaeda terrorists in their maltreatment of child soldier Omar Khadr held at Guantanamo Bay.
Now 21, Khadr was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed an American soldier. The US has ordered his trial before a military tribunal. Being a Canadian citizen, he is the only western detainee at the US military base.
His will be the first such trial after the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis after World War II.
The senator said Khadr was a child soldier who deserved to be rehabilitated in society, rather than subjected to what he termed an illegal trial. He said the Americans were paranoid about security after 9/11 and ignoring international laws and conventions in their treatment of Khadr.
Criticising his own government for not doing anything to bring Khadr back, Dallaire said Canada was betraying itself by kowtowing to the Americans.
The senator, who represents the opposition Liberal party, added, The minute you start playing with human rights, with conventions, with civil liberties, in order to say that youre doing it to protect yourself and you are going against those rights and conventions, you are no better than the guy who doesnt believe in them at all.
By ignoring Khadrs rights, he said, we are slipping down the slope of going down that same route as Al-Qaeda terrorists.
In rebuttal, Secretary of State for Mlticulturalism Jason Kenney asked the senator what he thought of Al-Qaeda outfitting mentally retarded girls with explosives and forcing them to blow themselves off in crowded Baghdad markets.
Is it your testimony that Al-Qaeda strapping up a 14-year-old girl with Down syndrome and sending her into a pet market to be remotely detonated is the moral equivalent to Canadas not making extraordinary political efforts for a transfer of Omar Khadr to this country? Kenney asked him.
But the senator, who has served as special UN ambassador for children, insisted that Canada was playing politics in the Khadr case since its own forces have rehabilitated over 7,000 other child soldiers in Afghanistan.
How is Khadr different from those who have been rehabilitated? he asked.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
What I find as amazingly ignorant is that Mr. Dallaire comes to this conclusion based on a single incident. And this is from a country whose laws allow for the incarceration and prosecution of 16 year old murderers.
His analogy is equivalent of accusing the US and Canada of being the 'moral equivalent' of Hitler and the Nazis based on the incarceration of a 16 year old German solider.
#2
What I find as amazingly ignorant is that Mr. Dallaire comes to this conclusion based on a single incident.
The single incident is simply a pretext. Did it not exist, or if Guantanamo did not exist, Mr. Dallaire would find another pretext to spout the same rubbish.
Posted by: Jan ||
05/15/2008 1:42 Comments ||
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#4
Only a bozo? Wikipedia says he led the "ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping force for Rwanda between 1993 and 1994." That was the lowest point in UN history, until the blue berets shielded for Hizbollah during the Israel incursion of 2006.
#5
Not that anyone would want to, but - just in case - one may e-mail the senator via a link at a website extolling his many virtues. Lovely photograph, too.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/15/2008 5:57 Comments ||
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#6
All other things being equal then, I still prefer an ice cold Labatts Blue in an Ontario strip club!
#14
These things are all relative and, as such, disclose more about the speaker than the subject. If Dallaire is standing in a place where the US and AQ look the same, then he is pretty far out to left field, orbiting Saturn and running low on oxygen.
#16
What never occurs to this type of fellow is that if the US was really as bad as Al Queda nobody would have any idea who we have hidden at Guantanimo until we beheaded them or something. The fact that we're discussing a trial is another step. If he's found guilty is the time for Canadians to worry about how one of their own turned into such a rat bastard at such a young age.
#17
Yeah, I don't remember hearing anything about trials of Al Qaeda victims , with defense lawyers, qualified judges, etc. I mostly have heard about announcements of the judgment of Allan having been rendered, or a description of the body count from the explosive vest.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
05/15/2008 13:52 Comments ||
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#18
Senator Romeo Dallaire is the dude that saw his soldiers being murdered by the Rwanda "rebels" and drove on because he said he "couldn't do anything" about the situation. Then he came home to Canada, had a major public nervous breakdown, hit the bottle good and hard and is now a LIBERAL senator.
This guy is an excuse for a soldier, a public disgrace, a tool of the LIBERAL party and he and his precious opinions should be ignored.
Good stuff from the Prez today:
In a particularly sharp blast from halfway around the world, President Bush suggested Thursday that Sen. Barack Obama and other Democrats are in favor of appeasement of terrorists in the same way U.S. leaders appeased Nazis in the run-up to World War II.
Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along, said Bush, in what White House aides privately acknowledged was a reference to calls by Obama and other Democrats for the U.S. president to sit down for talks with leaders like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
We have heard this foolish delusion before, Bush said in remarks to the Israeli Knesset. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American Senator declared: Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided. We have an obligation to call this what it is the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history. Team Obama took offense:
Lets not confuse precondition with preparation, said Gibbs of any talks with Iran. Obviously these meetings would be full of preparation. But were not going to sit down and engage Iran, unless or until they give up their nuclear weapons program. Oh really? Hot Air has Obama singing another tune on tape and on his website.
#3
The intrinsic advantage in such discussions of a well-earnt degree in history. Poor Candidate Obama only studied political science, and of course law. What and why trump mere how, every time.
#7
Dems need to be whacked often on their defeatist appeasement stand. I guess the 911 wake up call missed them back in 2001. They must have been doing something else at the time.
#10
Let's see, who could he have been referring to? . . . Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Murtha, Kerry, Edwards, Kucinich, Sheehan, Soros, Carter, Dodd, . . . the list is almost infinite.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/15/2008 14:09 Comments ||
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#11
So why did W do it on a trip, and not from the Oval Office?
I think the domestic audience he wanted to reach is paying attention to the trip. That's why the donks are up in arms. A lot of moving parts in this election.
#13
I'd like to see Bush do McCain a favor and continue to pound the Dems on this from now on. McCain believes in the WoT so he shouldn't complain about the Pres. getting pointed by the Dhimmis.
#14
I'd like to see Bush do McCain a favor and bomb Iran so that it is no longer a threat, accept Cheney's resignation and then declare that he's accomplished all he can and resign himself. Leave Pelosi President and let her fight it out with Husseoin and Hildebeast.
#16
Good for Bush on this one. The Israelis have been showing manifest appreciation to Bush for not deserting them when they need a friend. He was reassuring Israel, in speaking to the Knesset, that America will not abandon her. And that Americans would be quite foolish in electing a commie and Muzz to its highest office. I especially enjoyed hearing the disgraceful little pissant Daschle squeal like a scalded chiuahua. This pond scum is a washed up has been. Now he's trying to ass kiss his way back into a cushy government job with Hussein.
#17
the idiots really got their panties in a bunch, especially when W left it so open-ended who he was referring to. Let's you know who the wound hurt. F*ckers. When Biden and Pelosi are unanswerable for their traitorous behavior, the country is lost. Let the 527's play HA's tape and their outraged reactions and say: "who do you want to run this country?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/15/2008 19:51 Comments ||
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#18
I thought he was talking bout the Arafat grave kissing penis farmer and Obamba was just jealous.
#19
I think the domestic audience he wanted to reach is paying attention to the trip.
Nimble Spemble dear, I think that might possibly be the most subtle statement ever made at this site. I had to read it twice to realize you were pointing to realize you didn't just mean Rantburgers.
#20
If Obama hadn't said a word the President's comments would have been ignored. It's not as if the MSM wants to report anything the President says. But he had to go and complain, so now everyone notices.
This is another one of those 'staff mistakes', right?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2008 20:29 Comments ||
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#23
Sorry, #15 Querent - all the available stock went to Alaska Paul in return for his getting the zoning variance for me to run the rail spur through the neighborhood to the back of my house to boost the popcorn supply. (I didn't ask him how he did that; I probably don't want to know.)
He's got a picture of my industrial-strength popcorn popper - if you ask him nicely he might show it to you. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/15/2008 21:38 Comments ||
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#24
Thank you TW. I didn't want anyone to take offence.
lotp, they don't watch the news in Foggy Bottom, they make it!
#26
Wow! Seems i was a bit off in my estimate of the 'why' for the comments. Guess I should study subtleness rather than brute direct in your face. thanks....
#27
CNN > BLITZER SIUATION ROOM + BEST POLITICAL TEAM > JOE BIDEN INTERVIEW = Biden labeled Dubya's speech as B***S**** and argued that Dubya was the greatest appeaser, NOT THE DEMS, as per Dubya's Admin calls to talk = foster negotiations wid Iran[NOT WAR]???
#28
SAME > MCCAIN > argued that by Year 2013, IRAQ should be a FUNCTIONING DEMOCRACY + MOST US TROOPS SHOULD BE ABLE TO FINALLY COME HOME FOR GOOD???
Again, 2008 - 2012/13> DECISIVE PERIOD FOR BOTH US-LED/CENTRIC OWG-NWO, as well as RADICAL ISLAM-IRAN as per SAVING THE JIHAD BY ACQUIRING STRATEGIC CAPABILITIES. Lest we fergit, NET > RUSSIA IS ANTICIPATED BY MANY TO BECOME A MUSLIM MAJORITY NATION by 2030-2050.
NATO urged Pakistan Wednesday to improve security on its border with Afghanistan following a rise in cross-border attacks by Taliban fighters and Al-Qaeda militants.
"The number of attacks is up significantly from the same period last year," the alliance's chief spokesman James Appathurai said. "There is not enough effectiveness in border control on Pakistan's side."
"The concerns have been communicated to Pakistan," he told reporters.
He said the level of attacks from across the border -- where Taliban fighters and Al-Qaeda militants control some of their operations -- climbed to a high in April close to figures recorded during peak fighting last summer.
"The increase is some 52 percent more than same period last year. It's very close to the August 2007 peak we have seen last year," Appathurai said.
"The main concern is the extremists regroup, rest, reconstitute and then move through the border again," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Not until the West realises that they are funding the war by giving money to the Pakis especially Perv and the ISI!!!!
Its in the Pakis interest to have unrest/war continue so they can pick up their WOT cqs!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
05/15/2008 11:46 Comments ||
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MULTAN: Pakistan remains committed to the fight against terrorism, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Wednesday. Talking to reporters after the concluding ceremony of the three-day urs of Hazrat Shah Rukn-e-Alam, Qureshi expressed grief over the Jaipur blasts in India and the loss of life in the attacks. He said that Pakistan and India enjoyed good relations, adding that the Indian foreign minister was expected to visit Pakistan on May 21. He said that an effective counter-terrorism strategy would be devised with the Indian foreign minister. Qureshi said that both the PPP and the PML-N were pursuing the supremacy of the Constitution and the restoration of the sacked judges. He said the PPP wanted to resolve the issue according to the Constitution and in a way that does not cause further problems. Qureshi said the PPP was in contact with the PML-N and that the governments in the Centre and Punjab would continue to function.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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India could use the Jaipur bombings of Tuesday to create a crisis with Pakistan, something the United States might encourage it to do, given its unease with the new Pakistani governments decision to negotiate with the Taliban and religious extremist elements, according to a commentary published here.
Stratfor, a US-based news intelligence service, writes that prior to the diplomatic process that took off in late 2003, New Delhi would accuse Islamabad of abetting terrorism. However, as part of an effort to normalise relations, the Indians have since limited their claims that the Pakistanis were falling short in preventing cross-border terrorism. The difference between the older stance versus the more recent stance is significant. In the past, India could not afford to continue with routine diplomacy. Will it revert to the old rhetoric is a question that remains to be answered. The US is having its own problems with the new Pakistani government. Washington is uneasy over the fact that either through weakness or through policy, Islamabad may try to reach an accommodation with the Taliban and Al Qaeda, not to split the Taliban, but to reduce the threat to Pakistan, something that will directly affect American interests in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Cut off all financial aid to Pakistan and let/encourage India to do whatever they want with this failed state.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/15/2008 12:00 Comments ||
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Riyadh, May 15, (VOI) Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari on Thursday said that Iraq will not be another Lebanon, stressing the need to fight militia groups and not allowing the establishment of a state within state.
Excellent, and very perceptive on his part given the region of the world he lives in. States-within-states don't have a glowing history of stability.
"The largest security challenges are militia groups and organized crime gangs," Zibari said in an interview with the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper in its Saudi edition.
The Iraqi government's recent battles against the Sadrist movement's Mahdi Army and other armed groups "highlights the government's persistence to prevent Iraq from turning into another Lebanon," the minister said, adding that arms and weapons should be exclusively possessed by government forces.
"The presence of Arab ambassadors in Iraq will provide Arab governments with a clear picture about what is happening," the minister said on the sidelines of his participation in the Arab Ministerial Meeting, held in the Egyptian capital today to address the volatile situation in Lebanon. "
We do not want to beg for visits by Arab officials to Iraq," the minister added, dismissing the convention of a new round of U.S.-Iranian talks on Iraq in the near future. "There are difference and problems obstructing the resumption of dialogue. We believe that such talks should take place in a positive atmosphere, which is not currently available," the minister added.
BAGHDAD When the Surge Strategy is documented in history, the Sons of Iraq program will be listed as one of its successes. Now, long-term plans are being developed so that gains arent lost as its members transition into other roles.
In the past year, the SoI have been instrumental in transforming the security landscape of Iraq. Since the start of the program, areas where SoI operate have witnessed an unprecedented drop in violence and terrorist-related activities.
Currently, about 36,000 SoI operate in Multi-National Division Center, the region South and Southeast of Baghdad. Organized via local tribal authorities, SoI are ordinary citizens who stepped up to take responsibility for securing their neighborhood. Their contributions to the countrys current stability cannot be overemphasized.
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#1
Wonderful. I should have assumed there would be plans in place to make the Sons of Iraq, who've already stepped up to ensure the safety of their community, the backbone of the new Iraq. I look forward to years of hearing of the accomplishments of SoI alumni... sort of like the Society of Cincinnatus here, of which Cincinnati is particularly proud.
JISR DIYALA, Iraq The Shiite sheik told the Shiite general that a new Shiite extremist just slipped into town.
A U.S. Army commander, listening to the conversation from a distance, arched an eyebrow and nodded in approval. "Thats pretty significant," observed Lt. Col. John Kolasheski, whose unit of soldiers with the 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment spent the past year working toward such a breakthrough.
Just a few months ago, this sort of revelation would be hard to coax from one of Jisr Diyalas tribal leaders. Particularly in mixed company. But during weekly roundtable Jisr Diyala Security Council meetings with the Iraqi National Police and Army leaders, Shiite and Sunni sheiks have begun to put tribal considerations aside for the sake of security.
In an effort to capitalize on the recent security gains and ethnic reconciliation achieved in part by the security council meetings, which commenced in January and other similar efforts in the Madain Qada U.S. forces here are poised to launch a major public works initiative. Dubbed "Marne Dauntless," it aims to fire a jolt of energy into the local economy in the coming weeks.
And at the center of the effort is the Baumholder, Germany-based Task Force 1-35 Armor, which is now in control of the greater Jisr Diyala area, southeast of Baghdad. "Our sector is truly an area where Shia and Sunni have to co-exist," said Lt. Col. Rich Morales, the 1-35 commander whose unit recently replaced the redeploying 3-1 soldiers out of Fort Benning, Ga.
Some 18 projects will be introduced to the Jisr Diyala Nahia the primary focus of Marne Dauntless during the next couple months. Irrigation projects, expansion of electricity services, a health clinic, veterinary clinic, and school and village markets are among the efforts planned.
About $4.5 million in coalition funds and another $2 million in Iraqi funding will be poured into Morales area of operation. The operation, designed to rebuild the dilapidated infrastructure and create jobs, is viewed as a way to establish long-term security in the region. "Its a microcosm of what were trying to do in Iraq," Morales said.
What distinguishes Marne Dauntless from other past public works efforts is that local Iraqis down to the village level have had a say in whats to be built. Local civic groups have been instrumental in shaping the initiative, Morales said. "The projects are really developed from the bottom up," he said.
The projects target Jisr Diyala, a poor city with a population of 120,000 and surrounding villages with a collective population of roughly another 120,000.
But everything hinges on continued security.
Tips from local "Sons of Iraq" leaders and the Iraqi National Police force have been crucial to the improved conditions, Morales said. Intelligence gathered by local leaders routinely leads soldiers to caches of weapons and roadside bombs, he said. "The Iraqi security forces are the ones out there pushing this," said Morales, who noted that four caches have been turned over in the past week.
Because of such cooperation, violence has plummeted about 80 percent since an Army presence arrived in the Jisr Diyala region last year as part of the "surge." Though there was a flare-up in violent activity in March, connected with the fighting in Basra and Sadr City, commanders say it was quickly put down.
At the recent security council meeting, the head of the local National Police brigade reminded the local village leaders that they must continue to be vigilant against extremists. Even if it means turning in a friend or family member, he said.
When a Shiite sheik expressed concerns about the latest talk on the street, involving an out of town Shiite extremist who just moved into town, the police commander gave words of encouragement. "Just give me five minutes notice (on his location) and well be there," National Police Brig. Gen. Emad Ali Abud Faris told the tribal leader.
Baghdad, May 14, (VOI)- Sadrist lawmaker Zainab al-Kanani on Wednesday accused U.S. forces of attempting to violate the agreement signed between the bloc and the government to stop military operations in Sadr City, while the U.S. army said these accusations groundless.
Since signing the agreement last Saturday there are violations by U.S. forces, which we believe they are trying to provoke tensions in the city, she told Aswat al-Iraq Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Prime Minister Nouri al-Malikis Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC) signed an agreement with the Sadrist bloc last Saturday to calm down the situation, which entered into force last Sunday.
Last night we saw air raids and repeated shelling on Jamila neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, the lawmaker noted. There are violations against a number of Sadr City residents by Iraqi security forces, she underlined.
Intermittent clashes erupted this afternoon in Sadr City areas of Jamila market, al-Hai market and Sahet 55, followed by missiles attacks by U.S. choppers.
The shelling targeted gunmen who were clashing with security forces, eyewitnesses told Aswat al-Iraq Voices of Iraq (VOI). Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadrs al-Mahdi army abides by the agreement but we fear that such provocative acts could flare up the situation again, al-Kanani explained.
The Sadrist bloc has 30 seats out of the 275-seat parliament.
For his part, Abdellatif Rayan, an MNF-Iraq media adviser, denied that the U.S. army is violating the agreement between the government and the Sadrist bloc, asserting that these accusations are bare of truth. Our operations in Sadr City are limited and we responded only when we are attacked. Our forces are being stationed in the city to back Iraqi forces, he said.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC ||
05/15/2008 00:20 ||
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#1
You don't need an AMPLIFIER to detect the bullshit from that source.
(Xinhua) -- Egypt has invited a Hamas delegation to Cairo to discuss Israel's decision regarding the Egyptian offer for a ceasefire between Israel and armed Palestinian groups, Hamas sources said on Wednesday.
According to the invitation, Hamas representatives will be in Cairo on Sunday to meet Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman who just returned from Israel after presenting the Gaza ceasefire initiative.
"We hope to get positive reply on stopping the aggressions and lifting the siege on Gaza," Hamas' spokesman Ayman Taha told reporters in Gaza. The Palestinian factions, led by Hamas, have earlier accepted the Egyptian proposal.
Egypt presented the offer to avoid further economic deterioration and an escalation of violence in Gaza Strip due to a tight siege that Israel imposed when Hamas took over the territory by force in June.
Hamas said that Egypt should open its borders with Gaza unilaterally if Israel rejected the truce offer, adding that Hamas' stance regarding the ceasefire "would be decided after receiving Israel's official response via Suleiman."
Israel has reportedly linked the acceptance of the ceasefire with the release of Gilad Shalit, a Israeli corporal detained by Hamas since a cross-border raid in 2006. Hamas rejects to involve Shalit in the lull deal.
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05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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Following the Grad rocket attack on an Ashkelon shopping mall on Wednesday that wounded at least 14 people, two Kadima faction members called on the government to assassinate Hamas leaders. "Hamas leaders must be assassinated. We need to prove to [US President George] Bush and to the world that Israel can deal with terror," said MK Shlomo Mula. Knesset House Committee chairman David Tal said that "Israel must sever the hand that is launching rockets at Israel."
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05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON - The United States plans to speed up assistance to Lebanon's army but has no plans as yet to increase current military aid to deal with the latest crisis, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.
Why? Is Lebanon planning on using its army?
"I know there are a number of things in the pipeline for them and my understanding is that we will be trying to move some of those things through the pipeline in an expedited fashion," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey, who provided no details about which items would be delivered more quickly or their value.
Casey said there were no current plans for new assistance for Lebanon's military. "There is no new aid, or no new aid program for the Lebanese military. What we have is an ongoing program," Casey told reporters.
Since mid-2006, the United States has given Lebanon about $1.3 billion in assistance, of which State Department officials said about $400 million was for military aid.
"We have an ongoing military assistance program for Lebanon and that is something that has been active over the past couple of years and has been designed to help the Lebanese military to provide security for the entirety of the country," said Casey. "We intend to give them the kind of help they need to carry out their mission in support of the Lebanese people," he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Of course, no one has thought [cough] of military assistance from the best of the Iraqi Army [battle tested and competent] helping their brethren in Lebanon. That would send a message from Baghdad to Tehran and Damascus.
#3
Something's wrong here: this shit started before the Burma debacle, yet we had airplanes full of relief supplies either already on the ground nearby, or sitting on the ramp ready to go, but it takes a week to 'speed up help'to Lebanon???
especially in an area that we have a much more vested interest?
#4
Something's wrong here: this shit started before the Burma debacle, yet we had airplanes full of relief supplies either already on the ground nearby, or sitting on the ramp ready to go, but it takes a week to 'speed up help'to Lebanon???
Exercise Cobra Gold is happening in Thailand. An adjunct to that is humanitarian work in the host and surrounding countries. Meaning some supplies were already positioned.
Additionally, pallets of disaster-relief supplies, etc, are already paid for, pre-positioned and easier to arrange and transport.
It's a bit different, and more complicated, for military aid. You don't need End User certificates for, and have Congressional oversight on, mosquito netting for example.
Lebanon's cabinet is likely to cancel measures on Wednesday that angered the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and triggered the worst internal conflict since the country's civil war, political sources said. "You can say it's a done deal, but we're waiting for the cabinet meeting," one political source said shortly before Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who is supported by the United States, convened his ministers for talks at 4:30 p.m. British time.
Other political sources said later the cabinet was also debating the timing of any announcement of the cancellations.
Rescinding a ban on Hezbollah's communications network and the sacking of Beirut airport's security chief, who is close to the group, is one of Hezbollah's demands to lift its blockade of the airport and its campaign of civil disobedience. It would also be a first step towards easing a broader 18-month-long standoff between Siniora's government and opposition forces that has left Lebanon without a president since November.
At least 81 people have been killed since violence broke out on May 7 following the cabinet decisions against Hezbollah, which routed its rivals in six days of fighting and briefly seized control of parts of Beirut.
U.S. President George W. Bush, in Jerusalem to celebrate the anniversary of Israel's founding in 1948, accused Iran on Wednesday of using the Islamist Shi'ite Hezbollah to destabilise Lebanon. He said: "This is an Iranian effort to destabilise their young democracy." He said the United States stood by Lebanon, a parliamentary democracy since independence from France in 1943.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
ISRAELNN > ISRAEL'S NORTHERN BORDER TURNS IRANIAN AS ARAB LEAGUE ARRIVES; + REPORT: IRANIAN TERRORISTS FIGHTING IN LEBANON. Several Members of IRGC QUDS FORCE allegedly arrested, ala YA LIBNAN NEWS.
YNETNEWS/TOPIX > IRAN PITCHES ITS NUCLEAR PLAN, + IRAN NUCLEAR PLAN: NO HALT TO ENRICHMENT, FAVORS UN-WATCHED SET UP OF INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR CENTRES. Read - Legally Overtly spreading the Nuctech love to GLOBAL/WORLD ISLAMISM, sub-read ISLAMIST MILITANT-TERROR GROUPS.
#2
It seemed to me like a significant Hez victory at least in the tactical sense but a fair number of people at Totten's blog see it differently.
These folks see it in the strategic sense of making people dislike Hez (including a bunch of Shia), gaining support for partition and various other points of view.
Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix hammers world powers for their 'hypocritical' approach to the Islamic Republic's nuclear issue.
In a recent interview with Channel Four News, Blix said the West's approach to Tehran's nuclear standoff is in marked contrast to that of North Korea.
"The North Koreans have been offered guarantees against any attacks from outside, the Iranians have not been offered this as far as we know, nor have they been offered diplomatic relations which the North Koreans have been," said the former IAEA chief.
"When you see talks now with the North Korean and the Iranian, they sit there and are told by the US and other, who retain all these weapons, you should not have all these nuclear weapons, that it is a danger for you, it is not a danger for us, it is for the safety of the world that is very hypocritical," Blix affirmed.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
See also ASIA TIMES > INDIA BRACES FOR MORE TERROR; + CHINA'S WEAKNESS IS THE BIGGER/GREATER THREAT.
* WORLDNEWS > BLAIR'S CHRISTIAN CHALLENGE TO THE EAST. DEspite title, is it in reality the EAST that is challenging the WEST to LOOK UNTO ITSELF???, + THE LINES BETWEEN WEST AND EAST BECOME BLURRY.
#2
"The North Koreans have been offered guarantees against any attacks from outside, the Iranians have not been offered this as far as we know, nor have they been offered diplomatic relations which the North Koreans have been," said the former IAEA chief.
Doesn't that huge package of incentives/"lollipops" that Iran turned down count?
Outspoken British parliamentarian George Galloway says allegations that Iran is stoking the violence in Lebanon are unfounded.
In an interview with Jordanian paper al-Ghad, Galloway rejected accusations that the recent unrest in Lebanon is 'the product of an Iranian conspiracy in a bid to dominate the region'. "I consider spraying the sand in the public eye is aimed at misrepresenting the vision of reality that leaders of Arab countries support the US and imperialist forces," he said.
Galloway, a leading campaigner against the occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, was expelled from the Labor Party in October 2003 when his strong anti-war statements brought the party into 'disrepute'. The Respect Party parliamentarian went on to say that the Lebanese crisis has been conspired in a bid to weaken the country's resistance against Israel.
This article starring:
George Galloway
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm at a loss regarding why anyone would waste ink on this cretin....
#3
WORLDNEWS > KHALEEJ TIMES OP-ED - THIS [Lebanon Crisis] IS NOT ABOUT HEZBOLLAH. Author - Its about ISRAEL, ZIONISM, + ISRAELI DESIRES TO DOMINATE MIDDLE EAST. Muslim reactionism to same???
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.
BRUSSELS: Attacks by insurgents in eastern Afghanistan have risen sharply, NATO said Wednesday, expressing concerns that Pakistani agreements with the Taliban may be creating safe havens for militants.
GARMSER, Afghanistan (AP) U.S. Marines who once planned to be in this southern Afghan town for just a few days are extending their mission by several weeks after facing an influx of Taliban fighters.
Thousands of people on Wednesday demonstrated in Khartoum at a government-organised victory rally to denounce Darfur rebels who staged a daring attack on the capital as agents of Israel.
(IANS) The pending Nuremberg-type trial of an Afghan Canadian at Guantanamo Bay has led a senator to equate Canada and the US with Al-Qaeda for human rights violations. Appearing before a House of Commons committee on international human rights in Ottawa Tuesday, Canadian senator Romeo Dallaire said the US and his own country have sunk to the moral equivalent of Al-Qaeda terrorists in their maltreatment of child soldier Omar Khadr held at Guantanamo Bay.
Riyadh, May 15, (VOI) Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari on Thursday said that Iraq will not be another Lebanon, stressing the need to fight militia groups and not allowing the establishment of a state within state.
Baghdad, May 14, (VOI)- Sadrist lawmaker Zainab al-Kanani on Wednesday accused U.S. forces of attempting to violate the agreement signed between the bloc and the government to stop military operations in Sadr City, while the U.S. army said these accusations groundless.
WASHINGTON - The United States plans to speed up assistance to Lebanon's army but has no plans as yet to increase current military aid to deal with the latest crisis, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.
Former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix hammers world powers for their 'hypocritical' approach to the Islamic Republic's nuclear issue. 
Outspoken British parliamentarian 
