War in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Part 9

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Mon, 2009-07-27 11:52

NDPP

Obama Administration Cooks Up Argument for Detaining Gitmo 12 yr old:

http://pubred.org/torture/2812/obama-admin-cooks-legal-argument

"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.."

Issues Pages:

Afghanistan

Mon, 2009-07-27 11:50

NDPP

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

"The Taliban in Afghanistan has issued a book laying down a code of conduct for it's fighters..."

Mon, 2009-07-27 11:55

remind

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?

Mon, 2009-07-27 12:07

M. Spector M. Spector's picture

"War in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Part 9"
Anybody got a link to "War in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Part 8" ?

Mon, 2009-07-27 12:21

remind

I guess this is what the opening poster was referring to.

http://rabble.ca/babble/international-news-and-politics/afghan-people-ar...

Mon, 2009-07-27 12:29

NDPP

thanks remind

Mon, 2009-07-27 12:44

Unionist

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?

remind wrote:
Meanwhile the Afghan goverment and the Taliban have brokered a peace deal for the up coming elections.

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.

Mon, 2009-07-27 13:13

remind

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?

Mon, 2009-07-27 14:14

NDPP

Unionist wrote:

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?

NDPP

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.

Mon, 2009-07-27 14:51

#10

NDPP

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..."

Mon, 2009-07-27 16:57

#11

Unionist

remind wrote:

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.

Mon, 2009-07-27 22:20

#12

NorthReport

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...

Mon, 2009-07-27 23:14

#13

Frmrsldr

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-shatters/

Tue, 2009-07-28 04:05

#14

NDPP

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.."

Tue, 2009-07-28 14:11

#15

NDPP

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.."

Wed, 2009-07-29 06:18

#16

NDPP

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..

Sat, 2009-08-01 00:04

#17

NDPP

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

"Here is a breakdown of current main national deployments in Afghanistan which totals around 96,500 troops as at the end of July.."

Sat, 2009-08-01 00:51

#18

NDPP

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

deliberate destabilization of Pakistan

Sat, 2009-08-01 05:30

#19

Frmrsldr

Fidel is vindicated. Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda are CIA gladios.

Sat, 2009-08-01 05:48

#20

Frmrsldr

Double post.

Sat, 2009-08-01 16:04

#21

Fidel

[url=http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174977]Tariq Ali[/url] wrote last September:

Quote:

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 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.

Sat, 2009-08-01 21:07

#22

Frmrsldr

"When in doubt, escalate the war..."

Hello Fidel. It's good to have you back!

Sat, 2009-08-01 21:10

#23

Fidel

And that was an excellent post in the Omar Khadr thread, btw, FrmrSldr.

Mon, 2009-08-03 13:38

#24

NDPP

Civilian Death Toll Soars in Afghanistan

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/aug2009/afgh-a03.shtml

Mon, 2009-08-03 15:13

#25

Fidel

NoDifferencePartyPooper wrote:

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."

[url=http://www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/International/2009/8/72952/]Afghanistan peace talks must be 'all-inclusive': Eide[/url]

Quote:

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.

Mon, 2009-08-03 16:57

#26

NDPP

'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.."

Mon, 2009-08-03 17:30

#27

Fidel

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.

Wed, 2009-08-05 03:45

#28

Frmrsldr

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."

Wed, 2009-08-05 05:16

#29

Fidel

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:

[url=http://original.antiwar.com/porter/2009/07/02/us-uses-false-taliban-aid-... accuses Iran of aiding and abetting America's former proxies, the Taliban[/url] 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?

Wed, 2009-08-05 10:46

#30

M. Spector M. Spector's picture

[IMG]http://i31.tinypic.com/2wrlqua.gif[/IMG]

Thu, 2009-08-06 01:33

#31

NDPP

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"

Thu, 2009-08-06 04:19

#32

Frmrsldr

Influx of Taliban to Pakistan:

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090805/FOREIGN/70...

Thu, 2009-08-06 22:32

#33

Fidel

"War is organized murder." - Harry Patch 1898-2009

Thu, 2009-08-06 23:14

#34

Frmrsldr

Fidel wrote:

"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.

Fri, 2009-08-07 01:41

#35

Fidel

To be honest I'd never hear of him until today actually. A smart man was Harry.

[url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iRMO7ae0h77uw9TGhzgMd... raises Swat militia to fight Taliban[/url]

Quote:

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?

Fri, 2009-08-07 03:55

#36

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.

Fri, 2009-08-07 04:43

#37

Fidel

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.

FrmrSldr wrote:
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.

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.

Fri, 2009-08-07 05:01

#38

Frmrsldr

Fidel wrote:

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

Sat, 2009-08-08 04:59

#39

Frmrsldr

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."

Sat, 2009-08-08 09:26

#40

NDPP

Iran's role in Afghan Stability "Crucial" - Frattini

http://www.ilna.ir/fullStory.aspx?ID=69722

Sat, 2009-08-08 11:19

#41

NorthReport

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

Sat, 2009-08-08 19:48

#42

NorthReport

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

Sat, 2009-08-08 20:43

#43

Fidel

NorthReport wrote:

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.

Sat, 2009-08-08 20:46

#44

NorthReport

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.

Sun, 2009-08-09 19:20

#45

NorthReport

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

Sun, 2009-08-09 20:38

#46

Frmrsldr

NorthReport wrote:

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.

Sun, 2009-08-09 21:09

#47

Fidel

Frmrsldr wrote:

NorthReport wrote:

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.

[url=http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/08/03/daily52.html]Ea... up 15% at DynCorp[/url]

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.

Tue, 2009-08-11 04:20

#48

Frmrsldr

NorthReport wrote:

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-...

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

Fri, 2009-08-14 09:01

#49

NDPP

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.."

Fri, 2009-08-14 21:45

#50

Fidel

NoDifferencePartyPooper wrote:

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

Mon, 2009-08-17 20:16

#51

Fidel

[url=http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/davemarkland/2009/08/us-funding-taliban]Is the USA Funding the Taliban?[/url] 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.

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