The man behind the "surge" strategy in Iraq will take charge of US Central Command tasked with bringing fresh direction to an Afghan campaign that was seen as "marking time".
But he will face a tough battle to bring unity to the 40 nations and 53,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan that come under several different chiefs.
In a downbeat assessment of the current state of the campaign in Afghanistan, the officer said there was "100 per cent chance of success if we do it the right way but if we do it the wrong way there is a zero per cent chance".
That covers all the options, I think ...
He admitted that it was unlikely other nations such as Germany would get more involved in the fighting in southern Afghanistan. He also warned that like the British Army, the American military was suffering from the effects of continual operations over seven years. "At some point we have to refit, rest our force and retrain them before we redeploy them."
Gen Petraeus will look to unite commanders in Afghanistan and Iraq for "unity of purpose" so there could be "unity of effort," the military official told defence correspondents in London.
Adding to his concerns a district governor in southern Afghanistan allied to President Hamid Karzai has been killed in a "misunderstanding" between coalition and Afghan forces. Roozi Khan, the governor of Chora district in Uruzgan province, was shot dead at his home but no details were released.
Following comments made by Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, that Britain may increase its force next year the US officer said "force strength from elsewhere would be welcome".
American troops are expected to surge to Afghanistan in increasing numbers from 30,000 to 44,000 next year. "You will get more combat operations for a period of time," the officer said.
The US official said American military power was "finite" and that there was a "bottom line" on resources. Although he was not "despairing" it was up to the community of nations to "embrace the challenge" of Afghanistan and "honest leadership" was needed.
To resolve the problems of Afghanistan it would take a "long time" if not a couple of decades.
Iran was singled out as a "malign influence" for its "seepage" of weapons across the border. The officer said America would not tolerate the arrival of more armour piercing bombs, known as explosive formed projectiles, from Iran.
He said rogue elements of the Iranian regime, not necessarily connected to the government, were using "front companies" to fund the military operations in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan. The officer suggested that US forces would "selectively go after nodes of that network" but ruled out any "combat operations in Iran".
It is expected that Gen David McKiernan, the current US commander, will unite the commands of the International Security Assistance Force and the mainly US special forces of Operation Enduring Freedom under the banner of Commander Forces Afghanistan.
#2
The Pakistan military had better get its act together, because Petraeus WILL succeed in Afghanistan and on both sides of the Pakistan border, so the jihadis that survive will be infecting deeper into Pakistan. The more jihadis Pakistan kills now, the better off their country will be. Neither McCain nor Obama are going to back out of this one.
#4
Has a new general in command ever been told that it's ok if he fails? The task before the general is very difficult to succeed at, but this guy's been through all that in Iraq. He's better at these things than we are. Back off on the lecturing and just watch and learn. He may fail, but don't plant that in our minds. Bad luck.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 14:41 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Actually Richard they've interpreted directions in manners that indicated they understood they were to 'manage' the situation or to 'avoid defeat' which is not the same as 'winning'. The decades along our border with Mexico when Apaches raided into our country and then ran back behind 'sovereign' borders handed commanders a similar situation in which they were not permitted to 'solve' the issue with a pure military solution. It just wasn't the State Department wags in the way, but also a post Civil War Congress dominated by the Democrats who wouldn't give the military the means to carry any such operation out. [It took the vicious raids into Texas by the Apache, to convince enough Texas Democrats to actually get the Army's funding bill through one year. Otherwise, there was to be no funding at all. Payback for Reconstruction.]
Resurgent Taliban, according to a new report, "have turned much of Afghanistan into 'No Go' zones for aid workers and civilians".
The report, issued by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) this week, says the security situation in Afghanistan is assessed by most analysts as having deteriorated at a constant rate through 2007. Statistics show that although the numbers of incidents are higher than comparable periods in 2006, they show the same seasonal pattern.
The more significant change in 2007 is the shift from large-scale armed clashes in the field to asymmetric or terror-style attacks.
The nature of the incidents has, however, changed considerably since last year, with high numbers of armed clashes in the field giving way to a combination of armed clashes and asymmetric attacks countrywide. The Afghan National Police (ANP) has become a primary target of insurgents and intimidation of all kinds has increased against the civilian population, especially those perceived to be in support of the government, international military forces as well as the humanitarian and development community.
The more significant change in 2007 is the shift from large-scale armed clashes in the field to asymmetric or terror-style attacks. The former do still take place and as air support is often used, casualty figures are still high. On average, however, these clashes are fewer and smaller than in 2006.
Possible reasons include the high numbers of Taliban fighters killed during summer 2007, including many mid-level and senior commanders. Another reason must be the realisation that these types of attacks are futile against a modern conventionally equipped military force supported by a wide range of aircraft.
According to the CSIS report, insurgency within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has significantly evolved over 2007, being no longer a traditional rigid structure, operating in a top to bottom order, and more importantly, no longer a Taliban-dominant insurgent network.
Interacting networks including the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, and Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi drive the concept of the insurgency in Afghanistan. The interactions that occur between differing networks are governed by a set of internal rules, a basic ideology, which in turn generate state the entire insurgency.
Over 2007, the Taliban leadership in the south has been weakened as a result of the capture or killing of senior Taliban leaders. While the insurgency in the south remains Taliban-led, the once overarching influence of the Taliban over the insurgency in the east is diminishing. The insurgency in the east has become a conglomerate of disparate insurgent groups, operating independently from the once prevailing influence of the Taliban senior leadership in the south.
The report notes that 2007 has seen an unprecedented number of offensive actions taken by insurgent elements against the Government of Pakistan and security forces within FATA and the NWFP. To date, Pakistani security forces have been unsuccessful in mitigating insurgent presence, have sustained record losses, and have raised serious questions on the Pakistan military and Frontier Corps's capacity and capability to conduct effective military operations in FATA and the NWFP against militants and extremists.
The report notes that the GoP plans to reduce the military's presence within FATA and increase reliance on the less capable Frontier Corps. Under the plan, the military assumes a greater role in the border security mission while the Frontier Corps will have greater focus on security and stability missions within the general populace of FATA/NWFP.
This has the potential to allow for further insurgent gains in FATA and NWFP and embolden a stronger more viable insurgency. Due to the Government of Pakistan's failed policies and security initiatives within FATA, insurgent elements have been able to expand their influence in the settled areas of NWFP and further solidify greater portions of FATA as insurgent safe-havens.
The report states that the insurgency's objectives in 2008 have been to retain its sanctuary in FATA, enabling it to reconstitute fighters and plan and stage operations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and internationally. It also wants to destabilise the Government of Pakistan and to prevent Islamabad from focusing effective military operations in FATA, defeat the Afghanistan government and the International Security Assistance Force and make the latter pull out so that the Taliban can return to power.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Get the UN and NATO building some roads in talibanistan, then we'll see some very elevated taliban KIA numbers. Make you wonder why the first thing that should have been done hasn't even started? "No Go" zones. HA! They mean No Road zone.
#2
Don't believe anything CSIS says. They are rotten to the core, their primary membership includes Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter SECDEF draft-dodger Harold Brown, the slimy Richard Armitage, and other such luminaries.
North Korea said on Friday it did not wish to be taken off a US terrorism blacklist, a reward it would be given if it abided by a disarmament deal, indicating it was stepping away from the pact.
The North also said it had begun work to restore its Soviet-era nuclear Yongbyon plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium which was being taken apart under a disarmament-for-aid deal it reached with five regional powers, including the United States. "The DPRK (North Korea) neither wishes to be delisted as a 'state sponsor of terrorism' nor expects such a thing to happen," the North's official KCNA news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.
Analysts have said the North might be trying to pressure the outgoing Bush administration as it looks for diplomatic successes to bolster its legacy. The North might also be thinking it can wait for a new US president to try to get a better deal. Last month, North Korea said it planned to restart Yongbyon because it was angry at Washington for not taking it off a terrorism blacklist. In early September, it made minor but initial moves to restart the plant, US officials said.
Washington has said it will remove Pyongyang from the list once the state allows inspectors to verify claims it made about its nuclear arms production. Once removed, the North can better tap into international finance and expand its meagre trade. The disablement steps - mostly completed - were aimed at putting Yongbyon out of the plutonium production business for at least a year.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
HMMMMM.....
ION TOPIX > CHRISTIANITY SPREADING FAST IN MONGOLIA, + BEIJING REASSERTS DESIRE FOR MULTI-ETHNIC STABILITY IN MONGOLIA.
#2
the Czechs are a lovely, practical people. That, of course, is why so many congregated in Prague (was it called Stanislaus Square? I can't remember, but it's a very pretty place) singing the national anthem when they thought the Soviets were going to reprise 1968. They all had the impulse not to submit quietly to foreign tyranny.
Islamabad, Sept 20 (ANI): Several senior officers of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who are reported to be currently visiting Islamabad were the target of the blast at the Marriott Hotel which took place here tonight.
Well placed sources said that Marriott Hotel is usual hotel choice of the US officials and it seems that militants tipped off that certain high level US intelligence officers were currently staying at the hotel.
Try the Holiday Inn next time. Or bring the Pak delegation to New Delhi ...
While no confirmation was available but Pakistan sources said it was clear that the explosion was aimed at specific targets based on a tip off.
At least twenty people were killed, and scores others seriously injured, when an explosives laden truck rammed into Marriott Hotel here today. Over 50 people have been admitted in the local hospitals. The powerful explosion caused fire in many parts of the hotel besides damaging the buildings around the hotel.
Bhopal — A 150-year-old church in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur town was set on fire by two unidentified men, police said on Friday. The altar and statues inside the 150-year-old St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral in the cantonment area of Jabalpur, about 300 km from here, were burnt in the fire on Thursday night. The church was closed at the time.
Parish priests told police that the two entered by breaking the glass panes of the door and set fire to the cathedral altar. The altar, statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, and the carpet were damaged. However, fire fighters were alerted and the blaze was soon doused.
“The sisters staying in the building adjoining the boundary wall of the cathedral spotted the duo fleeing the spot on a motorcycle but could not see their faces since it was dark,” a police official said. “A complaint has been lodged against unidentified people in the cantonment police station and investigation is underway,” Jabalpur District Collector Hari Ranjan Rao told IANS on phone.
This is the third case of assault on Christian missionaries in the state in the past few weeks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown voiced opposition on Friday to US strikes against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan but said the two sides were close to reaching a deal on the issue. He was asked about US drones striking targets in the Tribal Areas. Brown told Sky news television, "We've made it absolutely clear that is not what we would do...I believe America and Pakistan will reach an agreement about the best way forward." He added, "We, of course respect the territorial integrity of Pakistan."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Between Brown and Gates I'm not sure what will come about.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh are expected to discuss cross-border terrorism in an upcoming meeting in New York.
In what will be their first meeting after Zardari's accession to the Presidency, the two leaders are also expected to discuss cross-Line of Control confidence building measures, including announcing the dates for lunching trade on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route.
Officials said Singh was likely to underline cross-border terrorism and infiltration needed to cease to ensure a conducive atmosphere for continuing the dialogue process. Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Friday emphasised that an environment free from terrorism was necessary for the normalisation of relations with Pakistan. "We want an end to cross-border terrorism and ceasefire violations, and would like Pakistan to abide by its commitments," he said.
Menon hoped that the upcoming meeting between Singh and President Zardari would help normalise relations. Singh is leaving for the United States on Monday to address the UN General Assembly in New York and to sign a nuclear agreement with George W Bush administration.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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The Qaumi Amn Jirga (National Peace Council) of Swat warned on Friday it will distance itself from a peace agreement that it claims to have brokered between the security forces and Taliban if the military does not vacate Kooza Bandai within days. But ISPR spokesman in Swat Colonel Nadeem, said the peace agreement was made between the Taliban and the Amn Jirga. "We are not involved," he said. Security forces continued pounding Taliban hideouts on Friday, but no casualties were reported. Later, unidentified men carrying weapons attacked a vehicle owned by a private security agency, killing two staffers, and fled with Rs 9.8 million.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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The fighting between the Pakistan Army and the Taliban and hostility towards vaccinating teams has led to a sharp increase in polio cases in Pakistan this year, health workers said on Friday. akistan has had 55 polio cases this year compared to 32 last year and 39 in 2006. Pakistan is one of the few countries where the disease still exists.
"We haven't been able immunise children for quite some time in parts of Swat and parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which means we have a build-up of susceptible children that haven't been immunised," said Melisa Corkum, a UNICEF communications officer. "Vaccinators are really putting themselves at risk in these areas."
Polio can be prevented with the use of vaccines that have eliminated the virus as a public health threat in most of the world. But apart from the fighting between the army and the Taliban fighters, vaccinating teams also have to contend with suspicion, and even hostility from people who believe the vaccination campaign against the highly infectious disease is a plot.
Some Muslim clerics in the conservative Tribal Areas have opposed anti-polio campaigns, saying it is a foreign-funded ploy to sterilise people.
Last year, a doctor and a health worker were killed in a roadside blast in Bajaur Agency, leading to the suspension of a vaccinating campaign. A Health Ministry official said vaccinators had even been attacked during brief peace pacts between the Taliban and government forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Be pure! and Islamic!.....and crippled!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 8:16 Comments ||
Top||
#2
As bad as this is, there is an email rumor going around that some Imam chopped the arm off a child who had been vaccinated. While not impossible, it was just a tad too much like the anecdote used in the movie Apocalypse Now!, so I am dubious.
However, it did make me think a bit about Col Kurtz: "We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig. Cow after cow. Village after village. Army after army. "
The successful operation leading to the gunning down of SIMI operative Bashir alias Atiq who was involved in Ahmedabad and New Delhi blasts has once again underlined the importance of co-ordination between intelligence and investigative agencies at the Centre and in states.
Sources put down the breakthrough to the coordination among cops of the Capital, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, with the Intelligence Bureau acting as the facilitator.
According to sources critical inputs came from the Gujarat police, which has extracted reams of crucial information from the SIMI/Indian Mujahideen activists being held for the Ahmedabad blasts and the failed attack on the diamond city of Surat.
The IB officials, after the input had been vetted by their units in Maharashtra and Gujarat, passed it on to Delhi Police which developed it with the help of scientific investigation before zeroing in on the hideout at L-18 at Batla House in Jamia Nagar.
Apparently the Ahmedabad crime branch which is probing the serial blast cases of July 26 in which 57 were killed, had collected phone call details of Mufti Abu Bashar and Sajid Mansuri, two important suspects in these blasts.
After the Delhi blasts, there was suspicion of the same persons being involved. "As the same module was behind both the blasts, we further questioned Bashar and Sajid Mansuri on the Delhi blasts", said a crime branch official. Delhi police took Bashar away on Thursday.
Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Ashish Bhatia, told TOI that Bashar's statement was vital for further investigation. "We got his call list and analysed it. We found some of the numbers from Delhi's certain areas, Jamia Nagar among them. We gave this list to central agencies," he said.
These agencies - Intelligence Bureau (IB) and National Security Guards (NSG), then further analysed and corroborated the location of the calls. The agencies were also given the statements of the accused recorded by Ahmedabad crime branch which also talked about Bashar's visits to Delhi.
"The Mufti was needed to identify the places we suspected. He took us to Jamia Nagar and we confirmed it was the same place mentioned in the statement. A local STD PCO booth was used to make calls to various places in India, which we identified. Then we kept these flats under surveillance," said a senior Delhi police official.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Israel is buying 28,000 U.S. M72A7 66mm one-shot anti-tank rockets. The 7.7 pound weapon has a range of 200 meters and is useful against structures as well as armored vehicles (although only the side armor of the latest tanks is vulnerable).
The two pound warhead is designed to have some anti-personnel effect. Also ordered are 60,000 training rockets (which are fired from a reusable version of the M72) for practice. The A7 model can be fired from inside a building. The $2,000 M72 is the cheapest weapon in this class, and light enough for infantrymen to carry several. The British military used gobs of these in the Falklands. They are the cat's pajamas for light infantry.
Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, on Friday accused Israel of reneging on offers made during the negotiations for the return of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.
In an interview with the Palestinian Ramatan News Agency, Al-Zahar claimed that Israel had offered to free 450 Palestinian prisoners once Shalit was returned to Israel, and then release an additional 550 Palestinians approximately two months later. Al-Zahar said that Israel is now offering to release only 450 prisoners in exchange for Shalit, and warned Israel that back-pedaling could lead to the negotiations being scrapped altogether.
Another senior Hamas official was also quoted on Friday as saying the group will not renew negotiations for Shalit's release unless Israel meets its preconditions, the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported.
According to the report, Hamas laid out three conditions for the renewal of negotiations with Israel: release of all Palestinian prisoners whose names appear on the list that had been given to Israel via Egyptian mediation; implementation of all Israeli commitments in the framework of the ceasefire agreement, including the reopening of Gaza Strip crossings for the passage of goods; the opening of the Rafah crossing.
The newspaper further states that Ofer Dekel, Israel's chief negotiator for securing the release of Shalit, has transferred an Egyptian-brokered list to Hamas of the 450 Palestinian prisoners that Israel would be willing to release in exchange for Shalit. However, the Hamas official stated his organization's insistence on the original list of names, which includes prisoners serving lengthy prison terms, members of the Hamas parliament, as well as women and children.
Hamas also demands the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Egypt, according to the report. "It doesn't make any sense that Egypt will moderate our prisoner exchange talks with Israel while it imprisons our members," the official said.
This article starring:
Mahmoud al-Zahar
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Interesting how that whole negotiating thingy works.
#2
This is bad news in that it definitely means that Shalit is dead (and probably has been since 45 mins after his capture).
Hamm-Ass is trying to get Israel to give them everything they want before negotiations even continue. Then of course they will break off again (has Hamas ever, in its entire existence, honored any deal?) and Israel will have to make even more concessions. Rinse, Repeat.
#3
he's dead, Jim. Dr. Steve first noted (and I jumped on that bandwagon like Amy Winehouse on a bowl of crack) that we should exchange like-for-like. A dead Shalit? 450 dead Paleos, or 1000 dead Paleos, or 1500? how many do you want?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 15:58 Comments ||
Top||
Prominent Sunni Muslim religious commentator Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi charged on Thursday that Shiite Muslims are "invading" Sunni societies.
"I stick to what I have said about an attempted Shiite invasion of Sunni societies," the Egyptian-born cleric, who is based in Qatar, said in a statement. "We must face up to it otherwise we will have betrayed our mission," Qaradawi added. He also described Shiites as "heretics".
Qaradawi said he was responding to recent criticism by two prominent Shiite clerics, Lebanon's Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah and Iran's Ayatollah Mohamad Ali Tashkiri, of earlier remarks he had made about a Shiite "invasion."
Sunnis represent the majority of Muslims in the Middle East, but Shiites form the majority in Iran and Iraq and have a substantial presence in Lebanon.
Sunni leaders in the region have voiced concern about a Shiite resurgence following sectarian strife between the two communities in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime in the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 and its replacement by a Shiite-led government.
This article starring:
Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
OH, NOES!
Anyway, this is kinda funny, this is tthe very same Holy Man who piously announces the upcoming conquest of Europe by islam, through dawa and as europeans will convert... seems like invasions of societies are a two-way street, and he doens't like it. Ah.
(AKI) - A sixteen-year-old teenager has been sentenced to five years in jail for political activism. Ebrahim Mehrnahad was sentenced by a court in Zahedan, capital of Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province for 'conspiracy against the central powers'.
Mehrnahad is the younger brother of Yaghoub Mehrnahad, a journalist and activist who was hanged on 4 August in Zahedan for alleged membership of Jundallah (Soldiers of Allah), an armed Baluchi group.
Ebrahim was also a member of a youth cultural association, founded by his late brother.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, the aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who said Iran was a friend of the Israeli people, but also urged an end to the war of words.
"Someone made a statement about people who live in Israel. It was an inaccurate statement," Khamenei said in his sermon on Friday prayers in Tehran. "To say that we are friends of the Israeli people like all the other people of the world is not fair comment, it is an illogical comment," he said in the sermon broadcast live on state television.
"Someone said something false and there were reactions. These should end," the leader said, calling on opponents of the government to end debate "on this minor question."
Khamenei said Israelis have "usurped the houses, land, fields and businesses" of Palestinians. "It is Israeli people who inhabit the settlements... and which the puppet Zionist government arms against the Palestinians," he said. "The Islamic republic's position is very clear. We have no problem with Jews, Christians or the faithful of other religions, but we have a problem with the usurpers of the land of Palestine," he said.
A few hours later Mashaie, a vice president in charge of the tourist board, issued a statement saying he fully respected the Khamenei's policies. "I act within the framework of the policies defined by the supreme leader," said his statement as carried by the official IRNA news agency.
"Please don't kill me!"
Later lawmaker Ali Motahari also announced that he was dropping plans to petition Ahmadinejad to address parliament on the issue.
Mashaie said in mid-July that Iran is a "friend of the Israeli people." He returned to the theme in August, saying he had "no hostility against the Israeli people." His remarks prompted fierce criticism from leading religious and political leaders, notably in his own conservative faction, which called for his dismissal.
On Thursday, Ahmadinejad, whose son is married to Mashaie's daughter, defended his associate by insisting that he had been misquoted by the media and never made the offending comments. Ahmadinejad also rejected the views of religious leaders on the topic.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Vice President in charge of tourism to Iran? Gotta be a pretty low bar for success there
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 8:19 Comments ||
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Iran and Syria, both under fire for allegedly engaging in clandestine nuclear activity, are two possible candidates for a seat on the board of the United Nations atomic watchdog, much to the consternation of Western states, diplomatic sources said on Friday. A seat is set to become free this year with the expiry of Pakistan's one-year term and will be allocated to another country within the so-called Middle East and South Asia (MESA) group. Diplomats close to the IAEA told AFP that there are four possible candidates: Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. MESA has until the end of the general conference to decide on a single candidate and the choice is normally adopted by consensus. The nomination of either Iran or Syria will almost certainly run into resistance, diplomats said, and a vote would have to be called at this year's General Conference, unprecedented in the IAEA's history. Western states were hoping that MESA would choose a candidate that would allow the nomination to be adopted by consensus, "that is to say, neither Syria nor Iran", one diplomat said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Why not bring back El Baredei? He was Iran's mole on the IAEA before. Now he could be back in full time pay.
The number of Muslims globally supporting suicide attacks and Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden has fallen sharply in the past six years, a survey by a US think-tank showed on Thursday.
The Pew Research Centre however warned in its Global Attitudes Project that significant Muslim minorities in eight countries continue to endorse suicide bombings and support the Al Qaeda chief.
In Lebanon, the number of Muslims who said suicide attacks can be justified often or sometimes in defence of Islam fell from 74 percent to 32 percent between 2002 and 2008, the study showed.
Suicide bombings: In Pakistan, support for suicide bombings has fallen by 28 percent to five percent in the past six years.
In Jordan, support has dropped 18 percent since 2002, but a quarter of Jordanian Muslims still support suicide attacks.
Even though numbers have fallen by 15 percent in six years in Indonesia, around 10 percent continue to support suicide attacks.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, where around half the population is Muslim, also saw a 15 percent decline in support, but that left nearly one-third still supporting suicide bombings.
Turkey and Tanzania saw declines in support for suicide bombings by 10 and six percent, respectively.
Support in Turkey was the lowest of any of the countries surveyed, with only three percent telling Pew pollsters in March and April that they back suicide bombings.
Large numbers of Muslims in the eight countries also said they had lost confidence in Bin Laden in terms of world affairs, although support for the Al Qaeda leader remained high in some countries.
In Nigeria, support for Bin Laden is at 60 percent, the same as it was five years ago.
Support for Bin Laden fell from nearly six in 10 Indonesian Muslims, and from nearly half in Pakistan in 2003 to one-third today.
The most dramatic drop in support for Bin Laden was seen in Jordan, where around 19 percent of Muslims expressed confidence in him this year, down from 60 percent just three years ago.
More than 24,000 people in 24 countries were surveyed this year for the project, including just under 8,000 in the eight countries asked for their views on suicide bombings and Bin Laden.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Not as trendy as it once was?
Not as much fun as they thought it would be?
After all, Osama is so 2001....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/20/2008 1:08 Comments ||
Top||
#2
New colors and fabrics this fall Barb, so watch out!
#3
Wonder if its confusion over names; there is that other guy in the news lately that has a similiar name and it appears increasing numbers of folks are not liking him, either........
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.
Bhopal — A 150-year-old church in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur town was set on fire by two unidentified men, police said on Friday. The altar and statues inside the 150-year-old St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral in the cantonment area of Jabalpur, about 300 km from here, were burnt in the fire on Thursday night. The church was closed at the time.
The fighting between the Pakistan Army and the Taliban and hostility towards vaccinating teams has led to a sharp increase in polio cases in Pakistan this year, health workers said on Friday. akistan has had 55 polio cases this year compared to 32 last year and 39 in 2006. Pakistan is one of the few countries where the disease still exists.
