I'm sorry, but I was wrong to support the war in Afghanistan
If he were to realize that war doesn't fix anything (never has, never will), then it could be said he had a truly epiphanous experience in his thinking.
Obama Administration Cooks Up Argument for Detaining Gitmo 12 yr old:
http://pubred.org/torture/2812/obama-admin-cooks-legal-argument [1]
"Faced with impending defeat in a US District Court habeus corpus case, the Obama administration devised a new strategy for continuing the detention of Mohamid Jawad, an Afghan who may have been as young as 12 in 2002 when he allegedly wounded two US soldiers..
"I'm not putting it off," Judge Huvelle said last week. "Jawad has been there seven years - seven years. He might have been there at the age of maybe 12, 13, 14, 15 years old. I don't know what he is doing there. Without his statements, I don't understand your case, I really don't..
"You'd better go consult real quick with the powers that be, because this is a case that's been screaming at everybody for years. This case is an outrage to me...I'm not going to sit up here and wait for you to come up with new evidence at this late hour. This case is in shambles.."
I'm sorry, but I was wrong to support the war in Afghanistan
If he were to realize that war doesn't fix anything (never has, never will), then it could be said he had a truly epiphanous experience in his thinking.
Here's a profile of the new commander of the Pakistani Taliban, Zulfiqar (aka Hakimullah) Mehsud:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8219223.stm
2009: Already NATO's deadliest year in Afghanistan.
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/25/2009-already-natos-deadliest-year-in-...
"It... lead[s] to questions about the viability of the Obama Administration's escalation of the war, which doesn't appear to be netting anything but failure and which commanders are already saying isn't big enough. It must likewise be damaging to the administration's 'new' strategy, which seems to be yielding the same old results: record breaking violence every month."
"President Obama is caught between two important constituencies as he recalibrates his policy in Afghanistan -- the generals who want more troops, and the base of his own party, whose tolerance for a worsening conflict is quickly evaporating."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/25/AR200908... [72]
I'm sorry, but I was wrong to support the war in Afghanistan
Sometimes intervention is the only option, often a lesser evil. Ultra-nationalist Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo would have successfully exterminated or driven out indigenous Muslims from those lands had NATO not intervened.
But certain NATO countries did intervene both before and after Balkanization of Yugoslavia. The Clinton regime helped transform Bosnia into a militant Islamic state. And if Muslim Kosovars were not the large majority before destabilization efforts began, they would be if Alija Izetbegovic had anything to do with it. His attitude toward radicalization and purification of Bosnia amounted to so much one people, one state, one fuhrer mentality. In fact, the New York times described Izetbegovic as having joined the Young Muslims in Ustashe ruled Croatia during WW II, which was a group torn between supoprting Tito's partisans and Handzars, a group which favoured working with the waffen SS. Alija supported the Handzars.
Non-Albanians and Serbs were suddenly considered undesirables in a part of Yugoslavia that was founded by Serbs over one-thousand years ago. There are several war criminals from the 1990's who the Hague Tribunal refused to acknowledge were guilty of ethnic cleansing and general all around crimes against humanity.
I'm sorry, but I was wrong to support the war in Afghanistan
Sometimes intervention is the only option, often a lesser evil. Ultra-nationalist Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo would have successfully exterminated or driven out indigenous Muslims from those lands had NATO not intervened.
"Myth 3: The NATO air attacks prevented even greater Serb atrocities, and thus had a positive effect on the human rights situation in Kosovo."
"In fact, the bombing campaign increased the scale of Serb atrocities. ...."
Read more at http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/jul_09_gibbs [75]
Any argument that is contrary to the fact that war is state organized murder is a fallacy.
A large blast made by five car bombs strung together rocked Kandahar city Tuesday night, killing at least 41 people, wounding 66 and damaging dozens of buildings, officials said.
Gunfire followed the explosion, which sent flames shooting into the Afghan sky. It targeted a Japanese construction company that mostly hires Pakistani engineers, said Haji Agha Lalai, a provincial council member.
He said the vehicles were filled with explosives and detonated together.
One Associated Press reporter estimated that the blast destroyed about 40 shops.
"Once again, they've killed children, women, innocent Afghans," said deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Sher Shah. "They are not human. They are animals. You can see for yourself the destruction of this enemy."
I call bullshit!
Since when does a vehicle, even 5, have enough power to destroy 40 shops and kill 40 people? And attack the Japanese?
This is more like a NATO bomb dropped on purpose to try and set up the Taliban. When will pople open their eyes.
A large blast made by five car bombs strung together rocked Kandahar city Tuesday night, killing at least 41 people, wounding 66 and damaging dozens of buildings, officials said.
Gunfire followed the explosion, which sent flames shooting into the Afghan sky. It targeted a Japanese construction company that mostly hires Pakistani engineers, said Haji Agha Lalai, a provincial council member.
He said the vehicles were filled with explosives and detonated together.
One Associated Press reporter estimated that the blast destroyed about 40 shops.
"Once again, they've killed children, women, innocent Afghans," said deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Sher Shah. "They are not human. They are animals. You can see for yourself the destruction of this enemy."
I call bullshit!
Since when does a vehicle, even 5, have enough power to destroy 40 shops and kill 40 people? And attack the Japanese?
This is more like a NATO bomb dropped on purpose to try and set up the Taliban. When will pople open their eyes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/world/asia/27kandahar.html?_r=1&ref=wo... [78]
"The bomb exploded with such force that it was felt even by people miles away outside the city. Not only was the scale unusual. but also the fact that the attack appeared to be aimed not at the police or coalition forces but at civilians."
Sounds like a clumsy attempt by the CIA to turn the Afghan people against the Taliban and/or Afghan insurgents.
"The bomb exploded with such force that it was felt even by people miles away outside the city. Not only was the scale unusual. but also the fact that the attack appeared to be aimed not at the police or coalition forces but at civilians."
Sounds like a clumsy attempt by the CIA to turn the Afghan people against the Taliban and/or Afghan insurgents.
Oh, the glad gang would never stoop so low so as to perpetrate a false flag op causing mass hysteria among the public in order to justify a repressive national security state or anything? It's not that something like this has ever happened before? At least, I don't think so. This is one of those run of the mill clean-dirty wars with straightforward objectives as usual. Has to be.
Oh, the glad gang would never stoop so low so as to perpetrate a false flag op causing mass hysteria among the public in order to justify a repressive national security state or anything? It's not that something like this has ever happened before? At least, I don't think so. This is one of those run of the mill clean-dirty wars with straightforward objectives as usual. Has to be.
Ha, ha, ha, ha! Yeah, just like Iraq.
Here's another straightforward objective in our clean-dirty little war:
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/27/us-copter-opens-fire-on-afghan-medica...
http://original.antiwar.com/pfaff/2009/08/27/alternative-to-victory-in-a...
"Please, President Obama:... Don't kill tens, or hundreds, of thousands more people in still another search for a useless American victory that ends in defeat, and ruins your presidency."
Taliban's growth in the north threatens to expand war:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/74543.html
The US Invades and Occupies Pakistan
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_56799.shtml
"We are watching it happen in the streets. The recurring nightmare has become a grim, new reality for the people of Pakistan.."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/taliban-claim-victory-over-vot...
I find it hard to blieve the Taliban were actually threatening to murder anyone who went to vote but lets just say they did. Why would they threaten to kill people for voting?
Isn't that what we want? Them to NOvote in an american puppet? If the people of Afghanistan support the Taliban, which they do, why not prove it? Threatenign to kill people doesn't seem conductive of a good relationship?
Isn't that what we want? Them to NOvote in an american puppet? If the people of Afghanistan support the Taliban, which they do, why not prove it? Threatenign to kill people doesn't seem conductive of a good relationship?
Afghanistan has a number of religious minorities who have been supported by larger religious power bases in surrounding countries. During the 1990's when all hell broke loose with in-fighting among US and Saudi backed fundamentalists, there were thousands of proxy fighters who poured in over the borders from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbekistan, Iran etc to defend the interests of their respective minorities living in Afghanistan then. So the Pahstuns, although they are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, are not the large majority of people living in that country at the same time.
I believe the Taliban are supported mainly by Pashtuns, who are about 42 percent of the population. If they were to rule Afghanistan again as they did when they were a proxy government of US, Britain, Pakistan etc, then that would be the equivalent of our phony majority governments elected by obsolete electoral rules here in North America. There are a number of political parties in Afghanistan that are not recognized in government, and it's because the US and Karzai(formerly pro mujahideen and now Northern Alliance), want to maintain the very undemocratic and unrepresentative system now in-place known as Single Non-transferrable Vote(SNTV). And violence and threats of violence are typical of US-managed elections around the "democratic" capitalist thirdworld and has been for a long time.
I call bullshit!
Since when does a vehicle, even 5, have enough power to destroy 40 shops and kill 40 people? And attack the Japanese?
This is more like a NATO bomb dropped on purpose to try and set up the Taliban. When will pople open their eyes.
Depends on the number of people who are around and the explosives they use.
I recall a few car bombings in Tehran during the fight between the Islamic govenment and its opponents in 1981-1982. One car bombing one night, a single car bomb, was so powerful that we heard it loud in our house that was some 15 kilometers from the blast centre. It killed over 150 people.
And a few years ago single suicide bomber in Iraq killed a shia Iraqi leader along with 180 people, near the shrine in karbala.
Are the Taliban surrounding NATO Armies and Cutting them Off?
http://www.juancole.com/2009/08/are-taliban-surrounding-nato-armies-and....
"The Taliban are obviously attempting to cut the supply routes that allow the US and NATO to keep their troops supplied with ammunition, arms and food.."
What 'IF' the US and NATO Decide to Leave..
http://www.countercurrents.org/maitra230809.htm [89]
"...there is every liklihood that when the Americans choose to leave, the Greater Pushtunistan movement may rear its head like never before. Neither the Taliban, nor the drug lords, nor even the powerful warlords, would be able to counter that storm.."
U.S. mulls increasing drone strikes in Pakistan. Pakistan escalation may come with Afghan escalation:
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/09/24/us-mulls-increasing-drone-strikes-in-...
Update
Not only may there be increased drone strikes in Pakistan, the U.S. is contemplating a ground attack on the Pakistani city of Quetta:
In fact, the attack on Quetta may turn out to be even more than lobbing a few missiles, as reportedly officials have discussed sending ground forces into the town to "capture or kill" any Taliban they find.
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/09/27/us-threatening-to-attack-major-pakist... [91]
Happy Junta Grounds:
http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1846-...
"Escalating the war in Pakistan--with ground troops no less--is, to put it bluntly, insane.."
Pakistan on the Edge of the Precipice
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_57043.shtml
Jirga Threatens to Support Afghan Taliban
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=24862
"A Tribal Jirga of North Waziristan on Sunday threatened to support the Afghanistan based anti-US groups, including the Taliban, if the US drone attacks were not stopped...The elders said they would send volunteers and suicide bombers to Afghanistan to intensify the attacks on the US troops if the Americans did not change their policy of using drones to target the tribal people..."
"The Maple Leaf Needs to be There"
http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=13294
"Eight years into a war that many commentators are now calling a quagmire from which NATO forces should extricate themselves as soon as possible, most Canadians are unaware of the link between the war and Canada's increasing involvment in the "Great Game" for the region's abundant natural resources.."
And when Uncle Sam gives the order to pull out, that's when our stooges in Ottawa will change their tune on Afghanistan. Aye-aye Uncle Sam whatever you say goes double for Liberal and Tory governments alike in Ottawa.
Troops disillusioned in Wardak
This reaction is entirely predictable. The US and its running-dog lackeys went into this (these) war(s) with no objective other than to get revenge for the WTC/Pentagon attacks, and inflict pain on someone else, no matter who.
The first rule in Military Theory 101 is to have a clearly-defined goal for a mission. The Afghan mission has no goal other than to create misery for those people The West holds responsible for Sept. 11. Unfortunately The West holds the swarthy Muslim races responsible, and so all Arabs and Muslims are considered enemies. To achieve success in the mission is therefore to kill Muslims, not to achieve any strategic goal. Thus, the mission cannot help but fail.
Encircling Kabul
By Lenin's Tomb
"... [The Afghan] insurgents are supposed to be ranged against almost 65,000 ISAF troops, 45,000 non-ISAF American troops, 9,000 British troops and purportedly 100,000 members of the Afghan National Army (most of whose troops are probably working for the ruling pro-US warlords). The implication is that a combined army of over 200k troops armed to the teeth and with godlike aerial power to back them up can't thwart an insurgency of an eight of the size with comparatively poor weapons and no air force. There must be a substantially larger hardcore of insurgents, and a very large periphery in the supporting population. This is what is so illogical about the continued pretense by US-led forces that their foes are an unpopular rump. They may once have been, but evidently now command the loyalty of broad social layers, perhaps comprising a majority in places such as Helmand. Still, if the figures nonetheless correctly identify a trend, then the insurgency has more than tripled in size since 2006."
Many North Americans still buy this lie because they believe the 9/11 attacks came directly from the Afghanistan-based al-Qaida and Taliban movements.
False. The 9/11 attacks were planned in Germany and Spain, and conducted mainly by U.S.-based Saudis to punish America for supporting Israel.
Taliban, a militant religious, anti-Communist movement of Pashtun tribesmen, was totally surprised by 9/11. Taliban received U.S. aid until May, 2001. The CIA was planning to use Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida to stir up Muslim Uighurs against Chinese rule, and Taliban against Russia's Central Asian allies.
Al-Qaida only numbered 300 members. Most have been killed. A handful escaped to Pakistan. Only a few remain in Afghanistan. Yet President Barack Obama insists 68,000 or more U.S. troops must stay in Afghanistan to fight al-Qaida and prevent extremists from re-acquiring "terrorist training camps."
This claim, like Saddam Hussein's non-existent weapons of mass destruction, is a handy slogan to market war to the public. Today, half of Afghanistan is under Taliban control. Anti-American militants could more easily use Somalia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, North and West Africa, or Sudan. They don't need remote Afghanistan. The 9/11 attacks were planned in apartments, not camps.
What Lies Beneath the War in Afghanistan
by Eric Margolis [100]
Many North Americans still buy this lie because they believe the 9/11 attacks came directly from the Afghanistan-based al-Qaida and Taliban movements.
False. The 9/11 attacks were planned in Germany and Spain, and conducted mainly by U.S.-based Saudis to punish America for supporting Israel.
Good article from EM. But I have to question his conclusion. The Americans and Brits have supported Israel for a long time. It's not like the Israelis have only just recently obtained nuclear weapons with western help. Israel's harsh treatment of Palestinians and surrounding Arab and Muslim countries is not a new phenomenon by any means. Someone should ask
Eric Margolis what he knows about certain US-based Saudis, as he refers to them, and why they were allowed to cross the Can-Am border so easily? Who is Ali Mohamed, and why was he working for the CIA and US military at the same time he was travelling back and forth from America to Central Asia, where Sibel Edmonds says the CIA and US government has been funding religious extremist schools for the indoctrinating militant Islam in the fertile young minds of Pakistani and Afghan youth as well as Uighurs attending those same Central Asian so-called schools? And Sibel Edmonds says it is no small amount of money flowing from the US to Asia in order to maintain them and build more. The CIA never broke ties with their militant Islamic friends in 1992. That is also a lie which nobody in the mainstream newz talks about and for obvious reasons.
Af-Pak: War on Two Fronts
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=15685
am posting also to the Afghan thread
The TTP is attacking police stations across the nation, even in Lahore which is far outside their usual tribal area dominion. Marketplaces in the Northwest Frontier Province have become a battlefield. Though Pakistanis are no strangers to internal strife[,] the Pashtun insurgency has largely been restricted to military offensives into Pashtun tribal areas... those days appear over.
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/10/15/pakistan-declares-taliban-guerrilla-w...
WASHINGTON - The recent spate of terrorist bombings in Pakistan is likely to figure in President Obama's ongoing review of Afghanistan policy with top advisers next week.
Discussions of the violence in Pakistan will underscore the interconnected nature of the challenges the US faces in Afghanistan and Pakistan, say South Asian analysts who have advised the administration on its policies...
... But Pakistan is also a critical part of the administration's deliberations, Mr. Riedel says, with this week's targeting of the Pakistani military only augmenting nervousness over the future US direction in Afghanistan...
... Others such as Mr. Biden say Pakistan should be the focus of a counterterrorist strategy that eschews higher troops levels in Afghanistan in favor of more surgical air strikes against terrorist targets in Pakistan.
In their view, the bombings in Pakistan underline the importance of targeting terrorist bases rather than fighting over territory in Afghanistan. "The Al Qaeda threat is not to be equated with control of a particular piece of real estate," says Paul Pillar, a former deputy director of the CIA's counterterrorism center who is now at Georgetown University in Washington.
according to Mr. Pillar, who participated in a Brookings event on Afghanistan Friday, Afghanistan's place in determining what happens in Pakistan has been largely overstated. "The course of events in Pakistan," he says, "will depend mostly on what happens in Pakistan."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1017/p02s01-usfp.html
Latest news as seen by the Frontier Post in Peshawar, which generally supports the Awami National Party government of the NWFP -- a progressive secular Pakhtun party with Gandhian traditions, which therefore sympathizes with Pakhtuns on both sides of the Durand line, and favours conciliation with anyone (even the Taliban) when possible, although politically opposing Islamists of all stripes. They gave up on conciliation some time in 2008 or early 2009, as I recall, yet they are anti-American enough to oppose American anti-Taliban conditions.
138 people killed in 13 terror incidents in 2009.
Thousands of Internally Displaced Persons in South Waziristan are deprived of basic necessities, said the UNHCR spokesperson Michelle Montas: about 80,000 people have gone to Dera Ismail Khan and Tank from South Waziristan. [108] "The UN is facing problems in carrying out support activities in Pakistan after the attacks on its offices, but it will continue its work."
Punjab Chief Minister, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that the entire nation is united to cope with the challenge of terrorism and we will jointly make the country a haven of peace after elimination of the menace of terrorism. [109] The significance here is that the province of Punjab is ruled by the main conservative opposition party, which would normally be criticizing the PPP national government.
Pakistan Peoples Party leaders Matloob Wariach, Abdul Qadir Shaheen and Muhammad Salim Mughal in a joint statement Saturday lauded the government for launching a military operation against terrorists in South Waziristan Agency. [110] They appreciated all political parties for supporting the government on the operation. (Is this a dog bites man story, PPP leaders supporting their govenment? But these three are leaders of the party's labour wing, and old Benazir Bhutto loyalists; it's good news that they are speaking out, apparently.)
Here's a fascinating story: some schools in the FATA tribal areas, which would be part of the NWFP except that they have never accepted that they are even part of Pakistan in the first place, are funded from the national government. The teachers of National Education Foundation Community Model Schools FATA staged protest demonstration demanding immediate release of their salaries for the last four months by the education departments. [112] "After seven months, the male and female students of the schools has yet to be provided with books, the protested said."
Border security officials from India and Pakistan exchanged sweets at the Attari-Wagah border joint checkpost Saturday to mark the festival of Diwali. [113] Border Security Force (BSF) personnel on the Indian side offered sweets to the officials of Pakistan Rangers. Border security officials had exchanged sweets during the Eid festival last month also. (Another dog bites man story? But the Awamis favour peace with India, although no one in Pakistan wants to stop supporting freedom for Kashmir.)
The Pak Army Offensive in South Waziristan
http://globalgeopolitics.net/wordpress/2009/10/17/the-pak-army-offensive...
"Pakistan's counter terrorism mechanism, is in a shambles. It does not know who is a friend or who is a foe in Punjab. It does not know who is a terrorist and who is a serving or retired serviceman. It does not know who is an ally against India and who is an adversary of the State of Pakistan."
this is also a war against Indigenous tribal peoples and their relatively autonomous jurisidiction over their lands - Pakistan's 'wild west' which is now being invaded, occupied and despoiled by Pakistan forces under US payment and control..
Yes, except for "indigenous." The various tribes in the tribal areas are still Pakhtuns, as are most residents of the North-West Frontier Province. The difference is historical, not ethnic: the NWFP was part of British territory, part of British India, and therefore became part of Pakistan.
The Tribal areas were never truly conquered by Britain, and in that respect resembled the Pakhtun provinces of Afghanistan, from which they differed only by being on the wrong side of the Durand line, a line they never really accepted although they allowed the British to appoint an "agent" in each of the tribal areas, who pretended to be in charge. There are a lot more Pakhtuns in Pakistan than in Afghanistan, mostly in NWFP, although quite a few have migrated to the more prosperous and multi-ethnic Karachi (or even to Dubai).
However, each of the tribal areas does now elect an MP to Pakistan's parliament, with decent turnouts, since Pakistan has been trying recently to provide some services to those areas. The NWFP wants to do so and to incorporate them into the province by agreement, which would be fine once peace is achieved.
Listening to the Canadian state media this morning they kept calling the area "ungovernable" which I gathered is a synonym for unconquerable.
Pakistan Military Launches Offensive into South Waziristan:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/oct2009/wazi-o19.shtml
"The unstated military objective of the current offensive is to slaughter the estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Taliban and Tribal fighters in the agency. As well as heavy combatant losses on both sides, there are likely to be large numbers of civilian casualties. While some 150,000 people have fled the area over the past several months, some 350,000 civilians, mainly impoverished tribal farmers have been trapped in the army dragnet.
The Pakistani government of President Asif Ali Zardari ['Mr. 10%'] has sought to ensure the army has a free hand to carry out a bloodbath...Since 2001, Islamabad has been prepared to wage a civil war against the Pashtun tribal communities in the north-west of the country who sympathize with and aid the anti-occupation fighters over the border in Afghanistan.
The Pakistan government's motive is to ensure that US political, military and financial aid continues to flow to the country's corrupt ruling elite.."
America's Phoney War in Afghanistan
According to author Erik Margolis [119], prior to the September 11,2001 attacks, US intelligence was giving aid and support both to the Taliban and to Al Qaeda. Margolis claims that "The CIA was planning to use Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda to stir up Muslim Uighurs against Chinese rule, and Taliban against Russia's Central Asian allies."
The US clearly found other means of stirring up Muslim Uighurs against Beijing last July via its support for the World Uighur Congress. But the Al Qaeda "threat" remains the lynchpin of Obama US justification for his Afghan war buildup.
Now, however, the National Security Adviser to President Obama, former Marine Gen. James Jones has made a statement, conveniently buried by the friendly US media, about the estimated size of the present Al Qaeda danger in Afghanistan. Jones told Congress, "The al-Qaeda presence is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies."
That means that Al-Qaeda, for all practical purposes, does not exist in Afghanistan. Oops...
Even in neighboring Pakistan, the remnants of Al-Qaeda are scarcely to be found. The Wall Street Journal reports, "Hunted by US drones, beset by money problems and finding it tougher to lure young Arabs to the bleak mountains of Pakistan, al Qaeda is seeing its role shrink there and in Afghanistan, according to intelligence reports and Pakistan and U.S. officials. For Arab youths who are al Qaeda's primary recruits, 'it's not romantic to be cold and hungry and hiding,' said a senior U.S. official in South Asia."
If we follow the statement to its logical consequence we must conclude then that the reason German soldiers are dying along with other NATO youth in the mountains of Afghanistan has nothing to do with "winning a war against terrorism." Conveniently most media chooses to forget the fact that Al Qaeda to the extent it ever existed, was a creation in the 1980's of the CIA, who recruited and trained radical muslims from across the Islamic world to wage war against Russian troops in Afghanistan as part of a strategy developed by Reagan's CIA head Bill Casey and others to create a "new Vietnam" for the Soviet Union which would lead to a humiliating defeat for the Red Army and the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union.
Now US NSC head Jones admits there is essentially no Al Qaeda anymore in Afghanistan. Perhaps it is time for a more honest debate from our political leaders about the true purpose of sending more young to die protecting the opium harvests of Afghanistan.
Pakistan: State of Chaos
http://www.swp.ie/index.php?page=469&dept=News&title=Pakistan%3A+state+o...
"Pakistan is in a state of chaos, the whole society has been damaged by the US's 'War on Terror'. Pakistan's rulers are divided and there is no civilian government. The military dominates, but it too is divided.."
U.S. use of drones questioned by UN:
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States must demonstrate that it is not randomly killing people in violation of international law through its use of drones on the Afghan border, a Uniited Nations rights investigator said Tuesday.
The investigator, Philip Alston, also said the American refusal to respond to United Nations concerns that the use of drones might result in illegal executions was an "untenable" position.
Mr. Alston, who is appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, said his concern over drones had grown in the past few months as the American military prominently used them in the rugged area along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/world/28nations.html
President Barack Obama must admit to certain hard realities says the Frontier Post, the voice of progressive secular Pashtuns in Pakistan:
Obama would do well to comprehend that what he is confronting in Afghanistan is not a Taliban insurgency but a boiling Pakhtun nationalism of a disgruntled community. And he would be better informed if he understands that it is not the corteges carrying bodies of soldiers wrapped in national flags that sadden American and European hearts and streets, but the Pakhtuns too mourn their dead and are filled with anger and revenge over their unnatural demise. For that, doomed is his commanders' planned strategy to concentrate holding on to major urban centres in Afghanistan, leaving the countryside untended. The Soviet occupiers did it too. Yet they kissed defeat. The Afghan resistance controlled the countryside where it assembled, trained, planned actions and from there launched their attacks on Soviet garrisons, encampments, ammunition depots and convoys. The stratagem did not work then, and it sure is not going to work now.
Even buying out of resistance loyalties would go the Soviet way. It was not uncommon that recipients of money would turn back on their Soviet paymasters at once. The Americans must have indeed learnt of this from their own experiences of this foray. Reports have surfaced in these recent days that American merchants of loyalties passed on money under the table to certain Pakhtun tribal chiefs but were then horrified seeing them leading the fight against their troops the next day. In fact, this device had helped not the Soviets in curbing the Afghan resistance; in all probability, it would be of not much avail to American occupiers either.
Even now Obama could rethink his entire Afghanistan policy afresh. Oscillating between the options of counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency would in the ultimate analysis come to naught, as neither can reasonably hope to deliver. Karzai too would turn out a paper tiger as has he been so far. At best, he would throw out, if at all, a few warlords from his counsels and sack some corrupt officials from his reeky administration to put the international pressures off his back. But of what effect could it be even if he packs his cabinet with spotless technocrats, when almost the whole of southern and eastern Afghanistan are out of Kabul's writ and the entire northern and western territories are in regional warlords' autocratic control?
Obama would really be well off if he seeks out a negotiated peace with Taliban leader Mullah Umar as also Gulbuddin Hikmatyar to pacify the restive Pakhtun territory and work for a grand reconciliation among Afghanistan's ethnic and tribal divides and then leave.
The Soviet occupiers did it too. Yet they kissed defeat. The Afghan resistance controlled the countryside where it assembled, trained, planned actions and from there launched their attacks on Soviet garrisons, encampments, ammunition depots and convoys. The stratagem did not work then, and it sure is not going to work now.
But what did this author do with real history in comparing the US occupation with the proxy war of the 1980's? The truth is that among many other progressive reforms, the PDPA imposed a ban on poppy growing in the country sides. The CIA openly admitted to propping up Afghan drug barons and war lords with billions of US taxpayer dollars delivered covertly to these characters via the Pakistani ISI and US-backed military dictatorship of General Zia at the time. And then when the Afghan government fell to the fundamentalists, the CIA began funding and arming the most ruthless of them directly.
Drug addiction from Kandahar to Lahore and Islamabad was described as "flat" until the CIA, the world's biggest dope delivery sevice, moved in.
And now Malalai Joya is asking where $36 billion in western world aid money has disappeared to? Into the pockets of the drug barons and war lords, says Malalai Joya. Naturally.
How U.S. destroyed progressive secular forces in Afghanistan [124] Deirdre Griswold
Salvador Option: Fomenting Civil War in Pakistan
http://www.countercurrents.org/ghazali050110.htm
"The tragic incident of Laki Marwat best reflects the outcome of the new government policy to pit tribes against tribes through bribes. The pro government tribes are being armed by the Pakistani government. More than 700 tribal elders have been killed in that strategy. A civil war is brewing in Pakistan, thanks to US policy adopted by a Washington installed government in Islamabad.."
Just another failed state that the American public has to bear the burden of helping out of their ignorance and on the road to democracy. Its not like they were ruled by the British for hundreds of years and have had the facade of a democracy for the last 50.
Given Pakistan has had years of British (centuries might be more accurate) and American training and 50 years of democracy and they apparently are still a failed state incapable of controlling anti-American activity; How long will we need to be in Afghanistan before they can reach the same level of failure as Pakistan?
According to the Geneva Conventions, we have no right to militarize human rights and then use that to justify war to defend and protect them. We have no justification for being in Afghanistan and waging war (this is called aggressive war by the Geneva Conventions) against Afghanistan and Pakistan.
We are engaging in a colonial and imperialist policy that is no different than that of Britain (and other colonial powers) of the past.
It's not colonialism. Their trespasses of today are a result of an advanced case of abused child syndrome dating from crazy George III through to George II of recent times. They're in between crazy Georges right now. Torture and merciful beheadings are still on with Bracket Obomba.
Someone asked earlier why journalists embed, rather than going out on their own to talk to the Taliban.
Here's an interesting story of what happened when David Rhode did so.
Secular nationalists sweep Swat by-election:
Not only did the governing Awami Party win convincingly in Swat, but the candidate of the previous Islamist government, former Science and Technology Minister, ran fourth.
Residents said Mr Kanju was popular because he had overseen a significant amount of development work in the constituency while in office.
Even his agents at polling station No23 said that they expected him to fare poorly because voters blamed the religious parties for allowing the Taliban threat to fester unchallenged until the outbreak of insurgency in August 2008.
Rehmat Ali secured 6,952 votes. [131]
“My two brothers, Shaukat Ali and Mohammad Ali, had sustained injuries in the bomb blast that killed Doctor Sahib (Shamsher) and I had no choice but to contest the polls,” the 35-year old Rehmat Ali told The News by phone. He said he had an edge over his opponents as the election campaign was carried out by those who had love for peace and hate for terrorism.
He said his family was not new to politics. “My father Abdur Rasheed had hoisted the ANP flag on his house when Swat was still a princely state and ruled by the Wali sahib,” he recalled.
Well it doesn't sound like the USA's former proxies in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 are very popular in Swat.
Yeah, they lost the election in Afghanistan too - not one single vote! Democracy is just around the corner.
Yeah, they lost the election in Afghanistan too - not one single vote! Democracy is just around the corner.
The Taliban's is not really their Islam in Afghanistan according to several web essays I've read. Nor has Pakistan been transformed into a purely ideologically driven state since the 1980's. Or at least, not to the extent that Iran has become since CIA meddling in that country began in the 1950's. According to Ahmed Rashid, the Taliban could not have swept through Afghanistan without funding from Washington through Islamabad. And Tariq Ali says the Taliban might have been more popular by 2000 if they'd offered the people peace and bread instead of the gross human rights violations and radical fundamentalism that they did project onto Afghans while US proxies in Kabul.
Long
Links:
[1] http://pubred.org/torture/2812/obama-admin-cooks-legal-argument
[2] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1042867
[3] http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/07/20097278348124813.html
[4] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1042871
[5] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1042876
[6] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1042880
[7] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1042883
[8] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1042889
[9] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1042903
[10] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1042927
[11] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1042955
[12] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1043013
[13] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1043155
[14] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1043171
[15] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1043218
[16] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1043298
[17] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1043491
[18] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1044410
[19] http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14583
[20] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1044422
[21] http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=149249
[22] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1044437
[23] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1044438
[24] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1044565
[25] http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/10/terror/main4437559.shtml
[26] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1044655
[27] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1044657
[28] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1044998
[29] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1045033
[30] http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/International/2009/8/72952/
[31] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1045062
[32] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1045072
[33] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1045595
[34] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1045598
[35] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1045672
[36] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1046033
[37] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1046048
[38] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1046362
[39] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1046374
[40] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1046411
[41] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1046419
[42] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1046421
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[46] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1046883
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[56] http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23802
[57] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1049299
[58] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1049642
[59] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1050554
[60] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1052109
[61] http://www.fas.org/irp/world/india/raw/index.html
[62] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1052346
[63] http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=104370&sectionid=351020604
[64] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1052361
[65] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1052467
[66] http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/afgh-a24.shtml
[67] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1052578
[68] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1052584
[69] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1052642
[70] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1052706
[71] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1053355
[72] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/25/AR2009082501312_pf.html
[73] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1053385
[74] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1053406
[75] http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/jul_09_gibbs
[76] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1053412
[77] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1053574
[78] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/world/asia/27kandahar.html?_r=1&ref=world
[79] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1053576
[80] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1053613
[81] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1053924
[82] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1053925
[83] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1054726
[84] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1054920
[85] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1055106
[86] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1055150
[87] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1055152
[88] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1055234
[89] http://www.countercurrents.org/maitra230809.htm
[90] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1065014
[91] http://news.antiwar.com/2009/09/27/us-threatening-to-attack-major-pakistani-city-of-quetta/
[92] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1065755
[93] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1066821
[94] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1069142
[95] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1071354
[96] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1071357
[97] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1071499
[98] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1071524
[99] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1072346
[100] http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/11-4
[101] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1072371
[102] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1072797
[103] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1073032
[104] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1073601
[105] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1073697
[106] http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ts&nid=2711
[107] http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ed&nid=187
[108] http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=hn&nid=2941
[109] http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ln&nid=2599
[110] http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ln&nid=2612
[111] http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=cn&nid=1290
[112] http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=cn&nid=1291
[113] http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ts&nid=2735
[114] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1073742
[115] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1073797
[116] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1073870
[117] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1074109
[118] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1075204
[119] http://www.ericmargolis.com/political_commentaries/afghanistan-a-war-of-lies.aspx
[120] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1075969
[121] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1076906
[122] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1083417
[123] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1084055
[124] http://www.workers.org/ww/2001/afghan0927.php
[125] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1098796
[126] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1098988
[127] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1099168
[128] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1099187
[129] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1099281
[130] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1106731
[131] http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=221508
[132] http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=221726
[133] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1106802
[134] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1106803
[135] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1106809
[136] http://rabble.ca/print/babble/international-news-and-politics/af-pak-war-9#comment-1106817
[137] http://rabble.ca/user
[138] http://rabble.ca/user/register
Corrected URL for Above:
http://pubrecord.org/torture/2812/obama-admin-cooks-legal-argument/
Taliban Issues Code of Conduct
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/07/20097278348124813.html [3]
"The Taliban in Afghanistan has issued a book laying down a code of conduct for it's fighters..."
Meanwhile the Afghan goverment and the Taliban have brokered a peace deal for the up coming elections.
And what is with the murder at the Trenton base?
"War in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Part 9"
Anybody got a link to "War in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Part 8" ?
I guess this is what the opening poster was referring to.
http://rabble.ca/babble/international-news-and-politics/afghan-people-ar...
thanks remind
I really don't like the re-inventing of this thread series which has been going on for so long, and gratuitously adding "Pakistan". Why not add Iraq and Chechnya while you're at it?
If you genuinely believe that, I'd like to sell you some lucrative shares in a Ponzi scheme. It's really not good to cite U.S.-UK-NATO propaganda as the truth, you know - it never is.
Unionist I guess my use of "meanwhile" was not enough of a hiint that I was being sarcastic. Or did you just take the opportunity to get one of your gratuitous slams in?
I really don't like the re-inventing of this thread series which has been going on for so long, and gratuitously adding "Pakistan". Why not add Iraq and Chechnya while you're at it?
I don't mind either way. The thought was that some kind of consolidation might be easier and minimize the proliferation of related, overlapping threads all over the place - and Af-Pak corresponds to the regional war which now ranges across several borders. If the wish is to hive off the Pakistan part and return to the original thread title - feel free obviously.
Movement of US, Nato Troops Worries Waziristan Tribes
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23487
"The movement of Afghanistan based US and Nato troops over the past few days close to North and South Waziristan Agencies has frightened tribesmen, who are already under stress due to the increasing number of drone attacks and a possible military operation...
Official and tribal sources informed The News from the border villages of North Waziristan about the unusual movement of what they termed huge numbers of US and NATO forces along the Pak - Afghan border..."
Unionist I guess my use of "meanwhile" was not enough of a hiint that I was being sarcastic. Or did you just take the opportunity to get one of your gratuitous slams in?
Sorry, remind, I missed that nuance. I retract my comment, with apologies.
Has Taliban Jack Layton been speaking to the Brits and the Yanks again?
Britain and US prepared to open talks with the Taliban
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/27/britain-us-talks-taliban-afg...
If you want an in depth analysis of the Mohamed Jawad case, go to this page:
http://original.antiwar.com/worthington/2009/07/12/former-insider-shatte...
Paranoia About the Pashtuns
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175100/juan_cole_empire_s_paranoia_about...
"Today, we are again hearing that the Waziris and the Mahsuds are dire threats to Western Civilization. The Tribal struggle for control of obscure villages in the foothills of the Himalayas is being depicted as a life-and-death matter for the North Atlantic world.
Despite being among the poorest people in the world, the inhabitants of the craggy northwest of what is now Pakistan have managed to throw a series of frights into distant foreign capitals for more than a century.
Winston Churchill warned of the Pashtun, "to the ferocity of the Zulu are added the craft of the Redskin and the marksmanship of the Boer.."
US BlackWater XE Mercenaries Spread Fear in Pakistani Town
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/features/article_149203...
"Who rules our streets, the Pakistan government or the Americans? They have created a state within a state. Repeated complaints to the authorities have been to no avail.."
Mourn on the Fourth of July
http://www.countercurrents.org/pilger270709.htm
"Having stacked his government with warmongers, Wall Street cronies and polluters from the Bush and Clinton eras, the 45th president is merely upholding traditions. The hearts and minds farce I witnessed in Vietnam is today repeated in villages in Afghanistan and, by proxy, Pakistan, which are Obama's wars..
The Winners are Grinners: US uses Afghan War to Besiege Russia at Ferocious Pace
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14592
"Under Obama, the US military presence on Russia's Central Asian flank is proceeding at a ferocious pace. The appointment of Richard Holbrooke, the former NATO Ambassador who orchestrated NATO's attack on Yugoslavia as envoy to the region is indicative of Obama's intentions. No area is more strategically important than the "Af-Pak" project which positions US troops within the zone fronting on Iran, China, and Russia's Central Asia."
Afghan War: NATO Troops near 100,000 and Climbing
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14583 [19]
"Here is a breakdown of current main national deployments in Afghanistan which totals around 96,500 troops as at the end of July.."
Bombshell: Bin Laden Worked for US Till 9/11
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23173.htm
"Former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, says that the US maintained 'intimate relations' with Bin Laden, and the Taliban "all the way until that day of September 11." These 'intimate relations' included using Bin Laden for 'operations' in Central Asia, including Xinjiang, China. These 'operations' involved using al Qaeda and the Taliban "as we did during the Afghan and Soviet conflict, that is, fighting 'enemies' via proxies.."
Pakistan Gives US, NATO Allies Proof of India's Covert links with Baitullah Mehsud
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=149249 [21]
deliberate destabilization of Pakistan
Fidel is vindicated. Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda are CIA gladios.
Double post.
Tariq Ali wrote last September:
When in doubt, escalate the war is an old imperial motto. The strikes against Pakistan represent -- like the decisions of President Richard Nixon and his National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger to bomb and then invade Cambodia (acts that, in the end, empowered Pol Pot and his monsters) -- a desperate bid to salvage a war that was never good, but has now gone badly wrong.
It is true that those resisting the NATO occupation cross the Pakistan-Afghan border with ease. However, the U.S. has often engaged in quiet negotiations with them. Several feelers have been put out to the Taliban in Pakistan, while U.S. intelligence experts regularly check into the Serena Hotel in Swat to discuss possibilities with Mullah Fazlullah, a local pro-Taliban leader. The same is true inside Afghanistan. . .
The key in Pakistan, as always, is the army. If the already heightened U.S. raids inside the country continue to escalate, the much-vaunted unity of the military High Command might come under real strain. At a meeting of corps commanders in Rawalpindi on September 12th, Pakistani Chief of Staff General Ashfaq Kayani received unanimous support for his relatively mild public denunciation of the recent U.S. strikes inside Pakistan in which he said [25] the country's borders and sovereignty would be defended "at all cost."
Saying, however, that the Army will safeguard the country's sovereignty is different from doing so in practice. This is the heart of the contradiction. Perhaps the attacks will cease on November 4th. Perhaps pigs (with or without lipstick) will fly. What is really required in the region is an American/NATO exit strategy from Afghanistan, which should entail a regional solution involving Pakistan, Iran, India, and Russia. These four states could guarantee a national government and massive social reconstruction in that country. No matter what, NATO and the Americans have failed abysmally.
Karzai, the Americans and NATO don't want to pursue an exit strategy. They want any excuse to prolong the military occupations reminiscent of the VietNam war which spread into Cambodia then. The Taliban and Northern Alliance(former mujahideen US proxies during the 1980's), are all creations of the US-CIA, Brits, and Saudi royals projecting their military power and "strategic depth" in Central Asia. Tariq Ali, Jack Layton and more are right in that the main principals in this war OF terror need dragging to the negotiation table witheveryone involved, including the leaders of Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran etc with violence perpetrated by religious radicals, drugs and weapons smuggling spilling over Afghan borders into their countries. UN mediated peace negotiations as per Afghan political opposition groups, the NDP etcetera. The killing must stop.
"When in doubt, escalate the war..."
Hello Fidel. It's good to have you back!
And that was an excellent post in the Omar Khadr thread, btw, FrmrSldr.
Civilian Death Toll Soars in Afghanistan
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/afgh-a03.shtml
Civilian Death Toll Soars in Afghanistan
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/afgh-a03.shtml
"...the number of civilian deaths has soared by 24 percent."
Afghanistan peace talks must be 'all-inclusive': Eide [30]
LONDON, Aug 2, 2009 (AFP) - Talks aimed at bringing about peace in Afghanistan must be "all-inclusive" to succeed, the top UN official to the country said in comments published here Sunday.
"If you engage partially you will have partial results," Kai Eide, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said in an interview with The Sunday Times. . .
There are more than 100,000 international troops in Afghanistan mainly deployed under NATO and a separate US-led coalition that is trying to tackle mounting violence from a Taliban-led insurgency.
The US and NATO's position seems to be to step up the killing of Afghans to a frenzied pace while, at the same time, carrying on backchannel talks with Taliban warlords. It's almost as if warfiteering and prospects for peace are two generally opposing themes. NATO, the Taliban, and those with conflicting interests in both the counterinsurgency as well as insurgency, will take some prodding toward legitimate peace talks and plans for NATO to exit the energy and mineral-rich, and militarily strategic region of Central Asia.
'Culturally Sensitive' Imperialism
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2009/08/02/culturally-sensitive-imper...
"the illusion that one is waging war in a "culturally sensitive" manner is bound to inspire war-crimes as yet undreamed of.."
It's a near perfect war for military-industrial complex and fundamentalist jehadis. Neither side can win, the death toll only rises, and protracted war and warfiteering are the only options they themselves have on the table until the rest of the world understands their true agendas.
U.S. officials protect Pakistan's military on aid to the Taliban:
http://original.antiwar.com/porter/2009/08/04/us-officials-protect-pak-m...
"In a March 29 [2009] interview with Fox News, [U.S. Defense Secretary Robert] Gates said the Pakistanis had ties with the Taliban 'partly as a hedge against what might happen in Afghanistan if we were to walk away or whatever.' The U.S. has to convince the Pakistanis that 'they can count on us and that they don't need that hedge,' Gates said."
Good article, FmrSldr. So the ISI has to stop doing what they were encouraged to do all along by the CIA and Brits since operation cyclone of 1979 - 200? , which has been to to aid and abet jehadi terrorists on behalf of America and Britain, Saudi Arabia etc. The Pakistanis must be very confused at this point - even to the point of wondering why in hell the Yanks demanded they round up hundreds of Pakistanis and Afghans for illegal imprisonment and torture since 9/11/01. And not one bit of legal evidence leading to prosecution of any of them. Here's another from antiwar.com:
US accuses Iran of aiding and abetting America's former proxies, the Taliban without any evidence whatsoever. It's certainly plausible, I guess. But like crazy Jorge Bush's WMD charge(and aiding and abetting "al-Qa'eda" as well) against Saddam, where's the beef? Is it another matter of "US national security", and that they could reveal all to the public, but then they'd have to live with it?
Pakistan: Destroying OUrselves with a little Help from the US
http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=191446
"With increasing information about the dangerous US presence in Pakistan, it is not difficult to connect the dots also - with our nuclear assets, the institutions of the military and the remaining strands of stability being the targets. Unless someone can stop the rot, it is only a matter of time before the US forces cross over physically on the ground from across Afghanistan. They may not get the triggers they plan on seizing but they can trigger a push toward total anarchy. Our rulers are certainly in self-destruct mode aided and abetted by the US"
Influx of Taliban to Pakistan:
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090805/FOREIGN/70...
"War is organized murder." - Harry Patch 1898-2009
"War is organized murder." - Harry Patch 1898-2009
Yes, Harry Patch! As a soldier, I can proudly say that Harry's stand on peace makes him one of my greatest heroes.
To be honest I'd never hear of him until today actually. A smart man was Harry.
Pakistan raises Swat militia to fight Taliban
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistan on Thursday showed off teenagers and hundreds of armed men from a private army who vowed Thursday to kick out the Taliban from the Swat valley, officials and witnesses said.
"We killed three Taliban and captured three others yesterday," Syed Badshah, head of the private militia, told reporters in Qalagai town in northern Swat, where Islamists have fought for two years to impose sharia law.
Pakistan's military invited journalists to visit the town and meet the lashkar, a tribal militia raised traditionally on a temporary basis, and show off bodies of purportedly slain militants. /.../
"The Taliban are creating chaos in the name of Islam, they are terrorists," Badshah told AFP by telephone.
"We have taken up arms in our defence. The lashkar has been raised because life became miserable in Swat with the daily slaughtering of innocent people."
Around 5,000 people have joined the lashkar, he claimed, urging the government to arm them quickly. He confirmed that members were aged 12 to 50 years.
"Taliban know only the language of guns, we will also speak to them in their language now," 19-year-old Salman Ahmed told AFP.
I'm not so sure about promoting andexpanding a violent conflict in this way now after reading about Harry Patch. What do you make of this, FrmrSldr?
It looks to me like the U.S. tactic of raising militias to fight America's "enemies". A tactic that was employed by the U.S. in Iraq. A tactic the U.S. is toying with in Afghanistan and now, it seems, in Pakistan. This is a tactic that the British either passed on to the Pentagon or the Pentagon discovered by studying the colonial policies of Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, etc. - Divide and conquer, then divide and rule. This is why when India gained its independence in 1947 (West) Pakistan and (East) Bangladesh broke away. This is why there is still tension between Pakistan and India today. This was the underlying cause of the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
These lashkar get their weapons and ammunition from the Pakistan Army and government. The Pakistani Army and government procure these weapons either indirectly from money given to them from the U.S. or they directly get the weapons from the CIA. These lashkars (or militias) seem like yet another bunch of Pentagon gladios.
I have a hunch that there is a conflict occurring among Pakistan's elite and the army and army intel, the ISI, and their US counterparts. US and western world elites want to neoliberalize Pakistan's economy and resources ie. globalization whereby land and resources are stolen from the public and sold off to the rich and influential global elite for peanuts. On the other side of things are theocratic feudalists who want to feudalize and create a puritanical religious state of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. And it looks bad for the half million man, nuclear powered Pakistani army that they can't put into check 11,000 or so Taliban fighters. And this is within the context of a NATO real estate grab in Central Asia on behalf of capital and the now stagnant globalizing economy in desperate need of expansion into new countries where the IMF and financial capitalists are looking to add tens of millions of new debtors to their unbalanced balance sheets and cooked books. But I could be wrong, so dont quote me.
That's a possibility I never considered. By what Ive read, the Yanks and NATO have relied on Pakistan to a large extent as a supply route. And now that the Pakustani army is outnumbered by the Taliban by something like 500,000 to 11,000, theyve been negotiating with Russia and stani nations to use their countries as supply routes for the occupation.
So I'm thinking that if NATO;s overland supply route needs are taken care of by surrounding countries who dont really want NATO in their backyards but the bribes/incentives are good, then the US and NATO and Pakistani army could, theoretically, let Pakistan go all to hell and still be in good shape to prolong the war for several more years while getting to know the terrain for an attack on Iran, and drawing Russia and China into a thermonuclear war whereby hundreds of millions are cleared from speculative real estate in those countries.
And that last meandering paragraph might sound crazy now. But lefties around the world are pomdering the collapse of financial capitalism with so many "I told us so's" and what in heck capitalists might do to fix things. And the financial system really is fubar right now and has been for a long time.
So I'm thinking that if NATO;s overland supply route needs are taken care of by surrounding countries who dont really want NATO in their backyards but the bribes/incentives are good, then the US and NATO and Pakistani army could, theoretically, let Pakistan go all to hell and still be in good shape to prolong the war for several more years while getting to know the terrain for an attack on Iran, and drawing Russia and China into a thermonuclear war whereby hundreds of millions are cleared from speculative real estate in those countries.
And that last meandering paragraph might sound crazy now. But lefties around the world are pomdering the collapse of financial capitalism with so many "I told us so's" and what in heck capitalists might do to fix things. And the financial system really is fubar right now and has been for a long time.
That's very interesting and quite possible. It's theoretical. Here's an article that focuses back on the reality of the U.S. creating instability in Pakistan:
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/06/us-claims-pakistani-taliban-leader-me...
Don't forget about the U.S. creating instability in India as well:
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\08\07\story_7-8-2009_pg7_17 [44]
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/world/asia/08mehsud.html?_r=1&partner=...
"Yet [Mehsud] survived two large-scale operations against his fighters by the Pakistani military. one in January 2008 and another in June 2009.
Both times the Pakistani military seemed to pull back before finishing off Mr. Mehsud and his forces, prompting suspicions that he was still regarded as an asset by the military establishment, which has long supported militant groups to fight proxy wars in Kashmir and Afghanistan."
Iran's role in Afghan Stability "Crucial" - Frattini
http://www.ilna.ir/fullStory.aspx?ID=69722
Just like bin Laden, these leaders never die. Its a good strategy, and keeps the morale high for the troops.--------------------------------
Pakistan Taliban chief not dead
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8191105.stm
So they werent kidding when they were talking about being on a permanent war footing. And we all know is that if either Ignatieff or Harper had a majority government Canada would be there for 40 years as well. In spite of that, we may be there for 40 years as well. War, dont like it, too bad. We have turned the page, and Canadians had better get used to it.
UK 'may have 40-year Afghan role'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8191018.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8191018.stm
He said it would take "a long time and considerable investment", adding: "We must remember, though, that we are not trying to turn Afghanistan into Switzerland."
No fear of that happening soon. This is Britannia's fourth war in Afghanistan since the 'great game' began, and so far very damn few colonial outposts of the vicious empires have been transformed into prosperous property-owning beacons of democracy.
It's a phony war. Capitalism's on its ass, and the property owners and parasites require millions of healthy new victims and real estate to prop up the big lie.
I would imagine that the Pentegon always knows where NATO is going next. They will probably be eating away at some former Soviet Union areas, and manouvering in on Iran as well. N Beltov probably knows whats coming down the pipes.
Sounds like the it has not been the best of weeks for rhe Taliban.
Pakistan Taliban leader's fate shrouded in claim and counter-claimAides of tribal chief deny he was killed in drone strike, while military says meeting to pick his successor turned into shootout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/09/pakistan-taliban
Sounds like the it has not been the best of weeks for rhe Taliban.
These are the best of times. These are the worst of times.
Sounds like the it has not been the best of weeks for rhe Taliban.
These are the best of times. These are the worst of times.
Earnings up 15% at DynCorp
Of course, they can't admit publicy that the Afghan "war" is a profit-driven enterprise. The US-led occupation of Afghanistan, we are told now and again, is about pursuing much more noble themes, like freedom and democracy and securing basic human rights. And we know this is true from glancing at the vicious empire's track record for achieving these noble ideals around the world, from the cold war era through to today's colder war.
Sounds like the it has not been the best of weeks for rhe Taliban.
Pakistan Taliban leader's fate shrouded in claim and counter-claim
Aides of tribal chief deny he was killed in drone strike, while military says meeting to pick his successor turned into shootout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/09/pakistan-taliban
http://news.antiwar.com/2009/08/09/pakistani-taliban-death-reports-spur-... [55]
There are allegations that Baitullah Mehsud was killed. There are allegations that Wali-ur Rehman and Hakimullah Mehsud may have been killed. There are allegations that these and other leaders attended the meetings. There are allegations these meetings took place.
"Baitullah rarely spends more than an hour at a single place, noting that US drones are 'continuously flying in the area' ... the TTP may ultimately decide to keep people guessing over who is alive and who isn't."
I doubt Baitullah Mehsud was there. I doubt the meetings took place. Mehsud is too smart for that. The Pakistani Taliban is too smart for that.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=23802 [56]
Ex ISI Chief: 'To Destabilize Pakistan'
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/08/12/ex-isi-chief-says-purpose...
"The US want to reach out to the Central Asian oil fields and open the door there which was a requirement of corporate America, because the Taliban had not complied with their desire to allow an oil and gas pipeline to pass through Afghanistan. Unocal is a case in point. They wanted to keep the Chinese out. They wanted to give a wider security shield to the state of Israel, and they want to include this region into that shield. And that's why they were talking at that time very hotly about a greater Middle East. They were redrawing the map.
Second, the war was to undo the Taliban regime because they had enforced Sharia or Islamic law, which in the spirit of that system, if it is implemented anywhere, would have an alternative socio-monetary system. And that they would never approve.
Third, it was to go for Pakistan's Nuclear capability, that used to be talked about under their breath but now they are openly talking about it. This was the reason the US signed their strategic deal with India and this was brokered by Israel. So there is now a nexus between Washington, Tel Aviv, and New Delhi.
While achieving some of these things there are many things which are still left undone because they are not winning on the battlefield. And no matter what maps you draw in your mind, no matter what plans you make, if you cannot win on the battlefield then it comes to naught. And that is what is happening to America.."
Ex ISI Chief: 'To Destabilize Pakistan'
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2009/08/12/ex-isi-chief-says-purpose-of-new-afghan-intelligence-agency-rama-is-%e2%80%99/
Retired Lieutenant General Hamid Gul was the Director General of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) from 1987 to 1989, during which time he worked closely with the CIA to provide support for the mujahedeen fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Though once deemed a close ally of the United States, in more recent years his name has been the subject of considerable controversy. He has been outspoken with the claim that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were an "inside job". He has been called "the most dangerous man in Pakistan", and the U.S. government has accused him of supporting the Taliban, even recommending him to the United Nations Security Council for inclusion on the list of international terrorists
Is this a job for Murder Inc or even "al-Qa'eda" ? I think Hamid Gul could be boots up by end of the year
Is the USA Funding the Taliban? Dave Markland for Rabble
Yes! Yes they are. In fact, investigative news journalist John Pilger described how the US was aiding and abetting the Khmer Rouge for years with CIA shipments of weapons(See John Kerry's statement about doing just that while on tour of Vietnam and Cambodia), and using various conduits for aid including the Red Cross in Thailand and bases in Laos at the time.
Yes, Uncle Sam is financing his own enemy, because this is a phony global war on terror. History repeats itself again.
Because this war is about the Pakhtuns on both sides of the Durand Line, who have never really recognized it.
TTP's (Taliban's) treasure leads to India's RAW (Research and Analysis Wing):
Money for the Pakistani Taliban was either buried in various caves in the tribal areas or it was stashed in various bank accounts in Pakistan and in some Gulf states. Baitullah's coffers expanded so much last year that he sent one of his cousins to Dubai for cash investment in various real estate projects; subsequently millions of dollars were remitted for adventurous business proposals in Gulf states. When a renowned Taliban commander informed Baitullah about huge monetary offers he was receiving from Pakistani officials to surrender, Baitullah's answer to this man was: "Money is not with the government of Pakistan. Money is with me, tell me how much you want." Officials concede Baitullah's money power was such that it was difficult for them to buy his key commanders, as he conveniently outbid them in case of a couple of important commanders.
Baitullah was convinced by al-Qaeda and Pakistan's foreign enemies that South Waziristan would soon emerge as an independent "Islamic Emirate" and he would be declared as its first Amir. Intelligence accounts speak of smooth flow of cash to Baitullah from enemy agents, posing as wealthy and highly motivated Arab Muslims, who had established direct connection with the reclusive Taliban commander. The Taliban sources close to Baitullah Mehsud say a strong cash flow was his most crucial need because his top priority remained an uninterrupted payment of monthly salaries to the families of each of his fighters. Baitullah was supervising a smooth system of cash deliveries ranging from Rs10,000 to Rs 20,000 at the doorsteps of his fighters all across Pakistan. Sustenance allowance reached the families of those killed in action.
Cash pipelines emanating from RAW and Afghan secret services headquarters were terminating in Baitullah-run accounts, besides cash and weapons infusion. Baitullah was paying about Rs 600 million in salaries to his fighters every year. While intelligence agencies see a direct hand of Indian and Afghan secret agencies in financing terror outfits in Pakistan, US officials have consistently accused wealthy individuals in unnamed Gulf countries of providing finances to the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
RAW is The Research and Analysis Wing, India's foreign intelligence agency [61]. Working directly under the Prime Minister, the structure and operations of the Research & Analysis Wing are kept secret from Parliament.
UPDATE
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE57L12B20090822
I hope Mr. Steinmeier wins in Germany's upcoming election next month.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=104370§ionid=351020604 [63]
(Sigh) "German Chancellor Angela Merkel has snubbed a promise by her rival in the upcoming elections to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, saying the mission there continues until its goals are met.
Merkel said she would bring home the Bundeswehr, Germany's military forces, 'as soon as possible' but only after their mission was complete.
By the end of this year, the parliamentary mandate which allows Germany to contribute up to 4,500 troops to the NATO mission in Afghanistan expires. It must be renewed if the troops are to remain in the country."
The Pakistani Air Force is now in the business of operating pilotless drones:
http://www.daily.pk/paf-starts-drone-production-9267
Afghanistan: Continuity Uber Alles
http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/1822-...
"Of course Obama's continuity in using the Bush-serving professional manipulaters only continues Bush's continuity with the Clinton Administration which also used the Rendon Group. Rendon's Job #1 is to make the destructive and expensive imperial wars appear palatable to the yokels back home, so the rubes will keep sending their sons and daughters off to die--and to kill, in vast numbers--for the profit and privilege of the small, bipartisan American elite.."
War to Escalate after Afghan Election
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/afgh-a24.shtml [66]
"the election itself has been a debacle for US imperialism and its NATO allies. The majority of people in the ethnic Pashtun southern and eastern provinces followed the direction of the Taliban and boycotted the ballot altogether. While fear may have been a factor, it cannot be denied that the insurgency has broad popular support. The Pashtun population hates both the foreign forces and the puppet regime in Kabul which has inflicted 8 years of repression, corrupt officials and police and ongoing economic deprivation.."
I'm sorry, but I was wrong to support the war in Afghanistan
TTP's (Taliban's) treasure leads to India's RAW (Research and Analysis Wing):
RAW is The Research and Analysis Wing, India's foreign intelligence agency [61]. Working directly under the Prime Minister, the structure and operations of the Research & Analysis Wing are kept secret from Parliament.
Exactly, Wilf. And today's imperialists are trying to carve up the region, once again. There needs to be a regional solution arrived at by UN mediated negotiations with those Gulf countries, and Pakistan, Russia, Iran etc. They must stop using Afghanistan as a battleground for proxy wars. We can hold our breaths demanding that foreign troops be withdrawn while more Afghans are sacrificed to cluster bombs, IEDs, air raids etc, But colder warriors seem to be oblivious to the fact that not only are the peace activists turning blue in the cheeks and becoming irrelevant in the larger scheme of things, Afghans are still dying and war and chaos reign merrily. The left needs to push everyone involved toward peace talks and exit strategy for NATO. NATO doesnt want an exit strategy, and that's the problem.