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Afghanistan
Suicide bomber kills scores in northern Afghanistan
2007-11-06
Scores of people were killed or wounded in a suicide attack on a group of legislators in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday, according to a parliamentarian who survived the attack.

Six parliamentarians were either killed or wounded in the attack, which occurred in Baghlan Province as the legislators were about to tour a sugar factory, parliamentarian Shukria Barakzai said.

She said most of the victims were schoolchildren who had gathered in the area to welcome the legislators.

Moustafa Kazimi, a former commerce minister and spokesman for the Northern Alliance that had fought against the Taliban, was among the parliamentarians who died, she said.

Reuters quoted a local hospital director as saying the attack killed 90 people, including five parliamentarians, and wounded 50.

The Associated Press quoted a government minister as saying there were two blasts that killed at least 64, including five legislators.
Posted by:anonymous5089

#22  But that is just the point. In Iraq today, non-local jihadis, especially those that stand out, will get turned in/on.
Its a good thing. The sore thumbs are not able to do the day to day intimidation. I'm thinking that the jihadis are rearing to go and have to end up somewhere. I'm looking for something along the lines of a falaise pocket.

Legislators as the targets at a sugar factory (the story does not say what kind - beets? Some other alternative to poppy?). Looks like an intimidation attack on the government, but says nothing about how the children and other victims were selected to die and live maimed for the taliban cause...
Posted by: swksvolFF   2007-11-06 23:38  

#21  Darrell tis you whom could be thought pathetic. Zen has a clue of the Kooran and the hadiths have ever ventured there?
Posted by: Beavis    2007-11-06 22:54  

#20  Zenster, you are more predictable than gravity:
a. Make yet another foolish genocidal statement (Mullah Zenster sermon).
b. Claim you actually advocate other things (Zenster Taqiyya).
c. Berate anyone who calls you on your foolishness (red herring).
d. Make token "ignore" statement -- even though you actually jump through hoops to have the last word.
Pathetic.
Posted by: Darrell   2007-11-06 21:53  

#19  Yeah, sure thing. That totally explains why I keep pushing for targeted killings that could entirely preclude the necessity for such drastic measures.

For someone without any strategy of your own you sure love to criticize others. When you begin to post some useful suggestions maybe I'll take you off "ignore".
Posted by: Zenster   2007-11-06 21:42  

#18  You ARE a genocidal maniac.
Posted by: Darrell   2007-11-06 21:27  

#17  Some city in the heart of whatever nation contributed the majority of attackers participating in the atrocity would be a good place to start.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-11-06 20:58  

#16  "made to understand that every single jihdist attack gets one hundred thousand of them killed"
And you'll select your one hundred thousand victims how?
Posted by: Darrell   2007-11-06 20:29  

#15  most of the victims were schoolchildren who had gathered in the area to welcome the legislators

And yet the Afghani people just cannot seem to wrap their minds around who's getting them killed.

back then the locals would have said, "it could not have been a muslim who did this."

now they know clearly that it could only have been a muslim who did this

and yet the point where muslims worldwide seriously engage in the 'what's wrong with islam' (instead of the 'its a tiny minority of extremists' pretense) hasn't yet been reached

This is why I keep advocating disproportionate retaliation for all further terrorist atrocities. When this world's Muslim population is finally made to understand that every single jihdist attack gets one hundred thousand of them killed, maybe then they'll start rooting out the extremists.

We simply cannot do it ourselves nor should we have to. Cleaning house is Islam's own responsibility and if they want a house left standing, they'd better hop to it damn soon.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-11-06 16:53  

#14  TW - As in Sudanese.

Thank you all. I was confused -- I though it was our guys. A back formation from black ops or something. But then, the ocean of my ignorance is so vast...
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-11-06 16:44  

#13  But that is just the point. In Iraq today, non-local jihadis, especially those that stand out, will get turned in/on.
Posted by: remoteman   2007-11-06 15:42  

#12  Thats the one A5089. It mentioned 'both black and Arab' so I took that as the darker complextion found in Africa proper - I get the feeling that those folk know more than the bi-color system found in the media. My guess also is that they would stand out not only in appearance but also in behavior. Although they would probably not be able to blend into the populace so well they could still be used in operations (so long as the locals don't/can't turn them in).
Posted by: swksvolFF   2007-11-06 14:32  

#11  I do not see the political will anywhere close to reaching maturity regarding burning the opium fields; that concept would bring the striped pants brigade to a full cardiac arrest. and there is not enough stabiity to bring in those that have the skills to explain there are better things to grow....
Posted by: USN,Ret.   2007-11-06 14:28  

#10  Bringing in the ranks from ME into the 'stans while the "black soldiers" (I forget the particular article and lack the time, it is from an article the other week) rotate over from the horn into Iraq as a rear guard action?

I take this is this one, with the black insurgents. Btw, black jihadists could be dark-skinned sudaneses, but couldn't they be actual blacks, like somalis, nigerians, or possibly kenyans or comorreans, or even south africans (IIUC, SA is home to a muslim population which includes some very hardcore ones? Or would they stand out too much, iraq doesn't seeming too multicultural and Diverse?
Posted by: anonymous5089   2007-11-06 14:20  

#9  Given the rejection of "foriegn Al Queada elements" in Iraq these days, I think any Sudanese that showed up would be taking dirt naps pretty quickly, and these mostly at the hands of local tribes. Hopefully, the pacification of Iraq will continue at an accelerating pace, which will permit reallocation of resources to Afghanistan. There is a whole lot of work to do there (esp buring the opium fields).
Posted by: remoteman   2007-11-06 13:41  

#8  TW - As in Sudanese.
Posted by: 3dc   2007-11-06 13:11  

#7  black soldiers? Do you mean Special Forces, swksvolFF? Or is this yet another term I need to add to my vocabulary?
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-11-06 12:54  

#6  Remoteman's comments work on something bouncing around in my head: Could events in the last couple of days be a sign of a mass redeployment? Bringing in the ranks from ME into the 'stans while the "black soldiers" (I forget the particular article and lack the time, it is from an article the other week) rotate over from the horn into Iraq as a rear guard action? If so a push from Ethiopia into the Eritrea area would be interesting...would want use Navy to block those 'refugee' barges crossing the Red Sea. Perhaps more to that Marine deployment into Afganistan than just rhetoric? Others with more info would know better how to do it than me but that is a way I would consider their 'counter surge'.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2007-11-06 12:47  

#5  one difference from 4 years ago

back then the locals would have said, "it could not have been a muslim who did this."

now they know clearly that it could only have been a muslim who did this

and yet the point where muslims worldwide seriously engage in the 'what's wrong with islam' (instead of the 'its a tiny minority of extremists' pretense) hasn't yet been reached
Posted by: mhw   2007-11-06 12:34  

#4  Snark as you will, but this is another in a long list of signs that the campaign in Afghanistan is not going well. The Taliban have two things clearly in their favor...big money from the drug trade and safe haven in the Paki tribal lands. The third thing they have in their favor is a largely illiterate, tribal populace that is a very long way from understanding or internalizing the concept of nationhood. Count on things getting worse as Pakistan continues its devolution.
Posted by: remoteman   2007-11-06 12:34  

#3  "Let me be in charge or I'll kill you" is not a moderate position.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2007-11-06 11:18  

#2  the moderate local Taliban

Not moderate, but at least local. "You can't beat up my little brother -- only I get to do that!"
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-11-06 10:51  

#1  This is definitely the result of foreign elements in management positions in the Taliban. This is the chance to get the moderate local Taliban to split with the foreigners.
Posted by: Penguin   2007-11-06 10:09  

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