Obama's Afghan decision:

Obama's Afghan decision:
By Gerald Internet Anthropologist Think Tank

The resignation of U.S. Senior Civilian Representative Matthew P. Hoh,

over the handling of the Afghan war.

Mr. HOH resigned Aug 19, "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end.”

And that is exactly what Obama is doing now.

Re-evaluating the Strategys.
It would seem Obama is having experts look
at exactly those concerns.

And is even waiting till the Afghan election
runoff is done to decide fully on the next step.

USA did abandon Afghan after their fight with the occupying Russians.
And the Taliban took over giving cover to al
Qaeda for the 911 attack.

I think a replay of that strategy is a bad idea.

Currently there is a disconnect between CIA and
Army doctrine on the Afgan War. CIA is running
counter Terrorism operation while the Army is moving to a counter insurgency effort.

Resulting in todays NYT lead story,
Brother of Afghan Leader Said to Be Paid by C.I.A.
The story has US Armys fingerprints all over it.
"General" says....

Seems the conflict between the CIA and Army is
coming into the open.
Army want 40,000 more troops to win hearts and minds ( counter insurgency ).
CIA doesn't need that to just kill Taliban, ( counter terrorism )

There in lies Obama's dilemma.

Question becomes how USA stays.

CIA and Army need to get on the same strategy page.

Seems CIA is working a counter Terrorism war and Army wants a counter insurgency effort.

Other point is about Afghanistan corruption.

The corruption in Afghanistan is so endemic, its population so poor and uneducated, and the solutions so complex, that even 40,000 troops might be vastly too few to turn the war's momentum.

Corruption may not be a problem, look to USA and the corruption between US Congress and

the Criminal banking Industry, and other than almost leading to a World financial credit melt down,

and the rape of the consumer by legalizing LOAN SHARKING, USA seems to be able to manage

the corruption even on a huge, massive scale, congress and the Federal Reserve gave the Banks

$2.7 TRILLION USD, and lets them cook their books.

So corruption, in and of its self, is not a prima facia evidence of inability to govern.

But the Taliban are at an advantage as there is no state.

They derive much power from the Pashtun area in border areas of

Afghan and Paki, and as we have posted before an Pashtun state

might make it easier to deal with the Taliban, they currently

enjoy a 'virual' state and a stealth border, the Durand Line.

Internet Anthropologist Think Tank: Durand Line, Talibans stealth border. Nov 17, 2007

Thomas P.M. Barnett's take on it.

Fear of a Pashtun state

ARTICLE: Pakistan's Pashtuns, looking for statehood, may look to Taliban, Christian Science Monitor, October 4, 2009

I don't think this pathway is bizarre in the least. As I've said earlier, I think some sort of soft border that allows for a Pashtun state is inevitable. The Durand Line is unsustainable because it's completely arbitrary.

If this is how we coop the Taliban, then I think we have a real chance.

Posted by Thomas P.M. Barnett on October 27, 2009 5:38 AM | Permalink

Question becomes how USA stays.

Gerald

.

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8 troops killed, HOW?

8 U.S. troops killed in battle with militants in Afghanistan - CNN.com

How this happen, where was the air support?

From our source from inside the beltway. G

We had air support there, the base was at the bottom of a deep valley and the enemy lit a number of very smokey fires that obscured the battlefield. Since the fighting was danger close we could not engage.

There was an Apache that blew up a truck full of explosives. The other problem is that the enemy was stationed well above the valley floor on the mountainsides and fired RPG's at any air support or reinforcement. LZ was just too hot until dark.

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Who picked this base?

G
Intelligence Anthropologist
.

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Paki decision time

Photo by Gerald

Paki decision time
By Gerald

Talibans political war. The Taliban has been waging a political war for six years.
They have been killing any tribal leaders that did not support them, there by ridding the
frontier areas of any opposition. At last count they had killed 110 tribal leaders.

This has been with ISI tacit approval and support, consolidating their power in Pashtoon tribal areas, on both sides of the Durand border.

ISI was not so much infiltrated as it was a parent birthing the Taliban.
The Taliban are a very bad wayward child still loved by some in ISI.
ISI also has close ties to al Qaeda.

The flip side is that the Taliban is a tool for ISI, of course the Taliban have
their own agenda but they are also used by the ISI.

Both ISI and the Taliban have learned that the death of opposition leaders
strengthens their position, and use assassination as a means of gaining power.
Taliban hit list 300 civilians.

Could Pakistan be taken over from with in?
Do the Taliban have enough suicide bombers to influence Paki Politics?

Can the Taliban bring in Sharia law across Pakistan thru assassination of the opposition?

Is the ISI assisting the Taliban in implementing Sharia law?

The ISI want the Taliban as an covert force in dealing with their fears about India.
And the Pakistani Government and politicians are all aware fo the Great Game and the
benefits of having the terrorist around and the $10 billion UDS Great Game. and how the GWOT has created an economic boom in Pakistan. Musharraf Era! Paki Economy BOOMING
The Game Pakistan is playing with the Taliban is very dangerous not only for Pakis, but
for the rest of the world.

Paki is a nuclear power, controlled by what ever government the people have elected.
The Taliban's wet dream is to be that government.

The Pakistani people are looking for the easy way out,
The current situation in Pakistan is a corrupt police and judicial system, bribes, abuse, and crooked police.
And most view Sharia law as less corrupt and more effective, even preferred.

But they haven't experienced Talibans version of Law, as was prevalent in Afghanistan.

After the Taliban were in control in Afghanistan, society reverted to the 1800's,
the economy shrank and the population were abused and persecuted for fanatical ends.

Either the Pakis get some intestinal fortitude and stand up to the Taliban for Paki rights or they will become the surfs of the Taliban and revert to a middle ages type culture.
And a end to the economic boom, Depression.

Gerald
IATT
Supplemental:

By Jeffrey Imm

In the capital of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan today, the widely read newspaper The Nation contained an article entitled "A wake-up call," by Tarik Jan, which should be required reading for American government policy makers to get an insight into the thinking of many Pakistanis today.In the August 4 article "A wake-up call," Tarik Jan clearly calls for Pakistan government support of the Taliban and calls for Sharia law as a basis for governing the Islamic Republic of Pakistan:
.

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Taliban gets results online, by default

Taliban gets results online

* Brendan Nicholson
* July 28, 2008

FOR all their old-fashioned ideas, the Taliban in Afghanistan are waging a dangerously effective information war using the internet and other modern communications systems to spread their message among tribes people and the international Muslim community.

A new report by Gareth Evans' International Crisis Group says the extraordinary information campaign being waged by the Taliban is driving a dangerous wedge between the Karzai Government, along with its international backers, and the Afghan people.

It warns that along with the traditional shabnamah — "night letters" in leaflets that usually contain threats and traditional nationalist songs and poems — the Taliban are using the full range of media to tap into strains of Afghan nationalism and to create the impression they are much stronger than they are.

Crisis Group analyst Joanna Nathan said the Taliban were adept at projecting themselves as stronger than they were in numbers and resources.

"The Taliban have created a sophisticated communications apparatus that projects an increasingly confident movement," Ms Nathan said. They tried to "wear out their opponents".

She said Kabul and its international supporters needed to respond in a more timely and co-ordinated manner if they were to effectively counter Taliban allegations.

Along with the internet, the Taliban were issuing DVDs, tape cassettes and mobile phone messages to create the impression they were a patriotic organisation defending Afghan traditions.

They also have their own website and statements from their leaders are put out in five languages, with regular updates.

The Crisis Group said the information campaign, complete with exaggerated battle reports, was having a big impact on the largely rural and illiterate population.

http://www.theage.com.au/world/taliban-gets-results-online-20080727-3lph.html

http://snipurl.com/36di3

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The Taliban PR campaign is so effective because they are using 5 languages on the Internet.

The USA is limited to two languages, English and Arabic, even the civilian sector is ham strung by Googles lack of translation capabilities for Urdu and Pashtoon.

The Taliban are lying and spinning the truth and winning the hearts and minds because USA can't even communicate with the indigenous, and if you can't communicate you can't win any hearts and minds.

Gareth Evans' International Crisis Group says the "extraordinary information campaign".
This is so much BS, it is not an "extraordinary information campaign", it is the only information campaign being run in Urdu and Pashto, they are winning by default, not by genius.

THE US MILITARY IS NOT ENGAGING THE ENEMY IN AN INFORMATION WAR ON THE WWW, the Taliban are winning by default.

Gerald
Internet Anthropologist

.

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"fifteen-six" (15-6)

Reference 9 US Troops killed.

In answer to my Q. where was over watch, Army has launched a 15-6.

Defense officials say commanders called for the formal investigation known in the military as a "fifteen-six" (15-6), to get answers to a series of critical questions: Just how did so many insurgent get so close to the outpost without being detected? Was security and surveillance surrounding the outpost inadequate or did those involved in security fall down on the job?.....

"There is no question that the absence of pressure on the Pakistani side of the border is creating an opportunity for more people to cross the border and to launch attacks." When asked if the U.S. military would launch unilateral strikes against the insurgent camps inside Pakistan, Gates would not rule it out.
Meanwhile, defense officials say Pentagon efforts to send more American troops and equipment to Afghanistan to counter the growing enemy threat there have kicked into "high gear."

http://deepbackground.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/17/1205357.aspx

http://snipurl.com/30iu0

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Speaking the Truth

USA AIRCRAFT CARRIER DEPLOYED TO SUPPORT AFGHAN.
DEPLOYED WHERE?


Image via Wikipedia

India attacks Pak for trying to enter peace deal with Taliban

Dharam Shourie
United Nations, July 10 (PTI) Vowing to redouble its efforts to help Afghanistan as a response to the bombing of its embassy in Kabul, India has attacked Pakistan for trying to strike a deal with the local Taliban, saying such bargains" were undermining efforts to defeat terrorists in the war-ravaged country.

"Those who perpetrated this act and those who train and protect them and enable them to commit horrific acts of violence are no better than the basest criminals," India's United Nations Ambassador Nirpuam Sen told the Security Council in a hard hitting address.

India, he said, would not yield to those who commit these "barbaric acts" and to those responsible for "greater villainy of sheltering and enabling terrorists.

Four Indians, including a brigadier-ranked defence attache and an IFS officer, were among 41 killed in the suicide terrorist bombing on Monday.

"While mourning their loss, we believe we can best honour our fallen colleagues by redoubling our commitments to working with Afghanistan to secure stability and development of that country and consequently, in the region," Sen said.

Events on the ground, Sen emphasised, make it clear that that any listing of challenges before the Afghan people must begin with security.

"We cannot afford to slacken our resolve or our efforts in combating the forces of terrorism, extremism a crime wherever and in whatever forms these groups may take." It must be a collective effort, he said and in a veiled attack on Pakistan warned against sending mixed signals through "bargains for temporary a local peace while the rest of us contend with the consequences of such a deal." PTI

SOURCE:

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The author is right Paki is enabling terrorism.

G

,

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US Moves Aircraft Carrier to Support Afghan Operation
By VOA News
08 July 2008


The U.S. military has moved an aircraft carrier from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea to further support its operations in Afghanistan.

Robert Gates, 26 Jun 2008
Robert Gates
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Tuesday the Acting Commander of U.S. Central Command, Lieutenant General Martin Dempsey, made the decision in terms of available assets and where they could be most useful.

Gates said the move is part of the U.S. commitment to ensure that commanders have the resources available to be successful in Afghanistan over the long term.

Also Tuesday, unnamed U.S. Navy officials said the shift away from Iraq comes after the number of foreign troop casualties in Afghanistan topped those in Iraq for two consecutive months.

June was the deadliest month for foreign forces in Afghanistan since 2001, with at least 45 of them killed, compared with 31 in Iraq.

Meanwhile, NATO says one of its soldiers was killed and four others wounded Tuesday when a roadside bomb struck a convoy in the eastern province of Kunar.

Separately, in the central province of Ghazni, officials say at least two Afghan policemen were killed in fighting with Taliban insurgents. Five insurgents are believed to have died.

Afghan and international forces frequently clash with militants loyal to the Taliban, an extremist Islamist group that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-08-voa44.cfm

http://snipurl.com/2wtg6

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Post by:

Jul 9th, 2008, 09:34 PM
GoldenAsif Cornered Tiger

....and more dead bodies for innocent families. More brain-washing in the name of 'jihad' - the most mis-used word in today's world after 'sorry'. May God give such twisted individuals some much-needed hidayat - Ameen.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\07\10\story_10-7-2008_pg1_5

ISLAMABAD: About 3,000 Islamist women gathered at the radical Lal Masjid in the capital on Wednesday and vowed to raise their children for jihad, days after a suicide bomber killed 19 people after a similar rally on July 6. Chanting slogans of "jihad is our way", burqa-clad women, some carrying babies, listened to fiery speeches from the daughter of the mosque's jailed cleric on the eve of the anniversary of a raid on the complex in which more than 100 people died. "Our mujahideen laid down their lives for the enforcement of the Islamic system in Pakistan. We are left behind to carry forward their mission," the daughter of cleric Abdul Aziz told the tightly guarded rally in the mosque compound. Several thousand men had attended a similar rally on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the commando raid that ended a weeklong siege that had begun when gunmen from the mosque clashed with police. Shortly after the Sunday rally ended, a suicide bomber attacked policemen who had been guarding the gathering killing 19 people, all but four of them policemen. But there was no trouble on Wednesday as the cleric's daughter, who did not identify herself, told the crowd to steel their families for jihad. "We should prepare our children and men for jihad," she said. The crowd responded with shrill chants of "We are ready" and "Al jihad". The women present demanded, amongst others, a court trial of President Pervez Musharraf, reconstruction of the Jamia Hafsa, reopening of the Jamia Fareedia, release of Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz and an end to the military operation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The organisers claimed around 5,000 women to have attended the five-hour conference but people present said the number did not exceed 3,000. The police had sealed off the area with barbed wire, roadblocks and pickets. Pedestrians had to go through several security checks to cross the area. reuters/jamila achakzai
SOURCE:
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/pakistan-affairs/290622-women-lal-masjid-vow-babies-jihad.html

http://snipurl.com/2wtj3

.

a Q $$$

More Evidence of the Criminal-Terrorist Nexus

By Douglas Farah

Those who are skeptical of the growing ties between drug trafficking organizations and terrorist groups-which I think will be the real war we will be fighting for many years, given the resources obtainable by drug trafficking organizations-should read the latest UN Office of Drugs and Crime report.

Among the many interesting findings is that the two areas of greatest increase in illicit production of drugs in the world are in the hands of designated terrorist groups: the Taliban in Afghanistan and the FARC in Colombia.

A third party involved in the expansion of drug production is Burma, a rogue criminal state. This bodes ill for the rest of the world.

As Antonio Maria Costa, director of the agency, told the AP:

"The explosion of narcotics in those areas is explained by their presence (the terrorist groups) and the protection they offer," Costa told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday.

"I believe that slowly these people, although politically motivated at the beginning, are becoming a kind of organized crime," he said. "Money tends to stick to fingers, and a big lump of money becomes very problematic."

The numbers should alarm policy makers and the intelligence and law enforcement communities. My full blog is here.

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What do they spend the money on?

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Al-Qaeda's Growing Online Offensive

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday June 29, @09:54AM
from the propaganda-made-easier dept.

andy1307 brings us a story from the Washington Post about al-Qaeda's technological capabilities and the methods they use to protect themselves and their networks from opposing military forces. Quoting: "U.S. and European intelligence officials attribute the al-Qaeda propaganda boom in part to the network's ability to establish a secure base in the ungoverned tribal areas of western Pakistan. Analysts said that as-Sahab (AQ's propaganda network) is outfitted with some of the best technology available. Editors and producers use ultralight Sony Vaio laptops and top-end video cameras. Files are protected using PGP, or Pretty Good Privacy, a virtually unbreakable form of encryption software that is also used by intelligence agencies around the world. [Al-Fajr, a propaganda distribution network] is heavily decentralized, with its webmasters generally unaware of one another's true identities for security reasons, intelligence analysts said. It also has separate 'brigades' devoted to hacking, multimedia, cybersecurity and distribution."

SOURCE:
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/29/1244235

g
al Qaeda hacking their own, for $$$

How to win the Info WAR

How to break the DRUGS/ TERROR connection.

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Pakistani military train Taliban

Ex-Taliban fighter tells of training, cash, orders from Pakistani military

7 hours ago

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A former Taliban fighter has provided a gripping first-hand account of being secretly trained by members of the Pakistani military, paid $500 a month and ordered to kill foreigners in Afghanistan.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5j1eTeol5Wd4eq2n1erM5e5ZKgA7w

http://snipurl.com/2pnf1

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Drug-Terrorist Link,

Image via Wikipedia

The Drug-Terrorist Link Means Wars can Last Indefinitely

By Douglas Farah

The Brits are finally willing to lay out some of the truths about the war in Afghanistan, truths that apply in many other parts of the world, in a pattern that we continue to see growing.

According to the Daily Telegraph, a confidential report to the prime minister concludes that the drug trade will prolong the Taliban insurgency idenfinitely:

"Growing links between the drugs trade and the insurgency in the South will provide longevity to the Taliban," the UK document says. "In the south, the drugs trade is fuelling the insurgency."

It adds: "This is compounded by government corruption. Karzai chooses to avoid rocking the boat with powerful narco figures and has not blocked their appointment as governors or other senior officials."

In turn, Mr Karzai's failure to tackle corruption and the drug lords "only increases popular disillusion," further boosting the insurgency, the paper says.

In fact, almost half (19 of 43) foreign terrorist organizations designated by the United States have clear ties to drug trafficking networks, according to law enforcement studies.

Once the initial ideological or theological obstacles have been overcome in participating in the drug trade, terrorist organizations tend to dominate the structure in short order. This is true with the FARC in Colombia, the Taliban in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Hezbollah in the heroin trade when it was massively involved there in the last decade, and elsewhere.

The reason is that the terrorist/military organization usually brings muscle that the traditional organizations can't dispute, and a clandestine, compartmentalized structure suited to moving the product successfully.

In the short term, the alliances tend to work well because, as the case with the Karzai government, the government corruption due to drug traffickers erodes faith in the government, while the money the terrorist/criminal organizations accrue can be use for social services, weapons, trainers and winning hearts and minds.

In addition, the terrorist/insurgent groups lose their dependency on outside forces. They generate their own money, rather than relying on donations from Saudi Arabia, the former Soviet bloc, Venezuela etc., freeing them from the constraints that having to factor in the effect of their actions on their patrons. My full blog is here.

June 11, 2008 10:00 AM Link

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Lets look at all the options. Outside the BOX.

OK supply/demand & risk/reward raitos, are only laws the narco boys live by.
The supply of drugs out of Afghan is at a record level and that translates
into cheaper prices in Afghan than S. America.

Risk/reward ratios, South America or Afghan?
About the same legal risks, and Afghan has some security benefits with
heavily armed terrorists.

So supply/demand & risk/reward ratios, are more favorable in Afghan for drug traffickers vs
S. America.

How can that be reversed?
USA is the biggest consumer of these drugs, USA is funding the terrorism thru criminal
channels in the purchase if illegal drugs. The war on drugs has had little effect and cost
billions of dollars.

A change of drug laws could bring the terrorist funding to a DEAD stop.
So Reversing the supply demand paradigm, Legalizing drugs
would end the profits in drug trafficking and funding of terrorism.
The war on drugs increases the profits for drug dealers, and thereby the motivation.

If drugs were legal and whiskey was illegal in USA the taliban would have huge stills operating in Afghan.

................................................

CIA wet ops against drug cartels dealing with Afghan narco terrorist will increase the risk in the risk reward ratio, making buying drugs in South America safer, thereby cutting off the terrorist funding ( Cartels would quit buying drugs in Afghan, it would be safer to buy from S America. ).
By defining drug cartels dealing with the Taliban as terrorists, we would have legal precedent
to use military force and WAR "rules of engagement " against those drug cartels.
ie Kill the drug cartel heads on sight.

That would rebalance the risk/reward ratio.
........................

Shift production, keep drugs illegal but making growing poppies legal in USA.
That would shift poppy production form Afghan to USA, and cut off terrorist funding
in Afghan.

USA does have options, I don't know what the correct balance is.
But the current drug paradigm works in favor of the drug cartels and terrorists.

Gerald
Anthropologist

.
Record drug haul unearthed in Taliban trenches

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Report Taliban, using kids

Taliban scared to death of Informants.

Report Taliban locations, names, phone numbers actions, future operations, email addys, IP,
connections here. SEE RIGHT COLUMN TOWARDS BOTTOM.
Complete secercy and condifential.
Gerald

(CBS) This story was written by CBS News producer Farhan Bokhari based in Islamabad, Pakistan, for CBSNews.com.
Amid cries of 'Allah o Akbar' (god is great), a young boy, barely 12 years old, lifts his machete and strikes at his victim who is lying on the ground, all tied up for the kill.

Waving a 'V' for victory sign with his right hand, the boy picks up the severed head and shows it around to the chants of applause from an audience gathered in a remote part of the region straddling the mountainous range which divides Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The performance in this chilling episode which may simply shock most people around the world, is the case of militant justice meted out to supposed traitors. It involves Al Qaeda and the Taliban slapping exemplary punishment to an individual suspected to be a spy for the government.

"This (boy) is a killing machine who has been indoctrinated from age nine and prepared for his act by the time he is 12" says a Pakistani intelligence official who showed the video clip to CBS News as just one piece of evidence of Al Qaeda and the Taliban training young boys to become accomplished killers, even before they become teen-agers.

This video has been captured by Pakistan's military troops during their operations in the country's semi autonomous tribal areas, as they went from village to village, searching for militant sanctuaries.

In the village of Spinkai-Roghzai where a group of journalists including CBS News were taken by Pakistan's military on Sunday in the Waziristan tribal region, officials showed debris of what is described as a suicide training 'nursery'. Under a pile of bricks lay the remains of an oil extracting factory which was a cover for training young boys to become ideologically charged up.

"There is no harm in taking 'jehad' (holy war) for the right cause" read the sign board in a training class, documented in yet another Pakistani intelligence video, secretly captured ahead of the operation, through the use of hidden cameras inserted around the front compound of the school. A teacher, who wrapped himself up to his face with a piece of cloth, pointed towards a list of "recommendations for students" while surrounded by teenagers, urging them to embrace virtues such as "accept the way forward through sacrifice" and "accept that laying down your life for the right cause is not a waste".
, shockwave-flash@http://www.cbs.com/thunder/swf/rcpHolderCbs-prod.swf#!flashvars#link=http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3799906n&releaseURL=http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=G8_ehHrch2xPoBSjD6BpKMgzMnQ03GOG&partner=newsembed&autoPlayVid=false&prevImg=http://thumbnails.cbsig.net/CBS_Production_News/612/460/evening_strassman0206_480x360.jpg" href="http://www.cbs.com/thunder/swf/rcpHolderCbs-prod.swf#%21flashvars#link=http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3799906n&releaseURL=http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=G8_ehHrch2xPoBSjD6BpKMgzMnQ03GOG&partner=newsembed&autoPlayVid=false&prevImg=http://thumbnails.cbsig.net/CBS_Production_News/612/460/evening_strassman0206_480x360.jpg" id="">

By Farhan Bokhari

( CBS EMBED FOR VIDEO FAILED )

.

Taliban Nukes

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Taliban cleric Faqir Mohammed is tall, thin, very serious and very religious. His eyes are hard and he speaks slowly. He never smiles.

And when you hear what he has to say, you won't be smiling either.

"If we get hold of nuclear weapons – which we hope to get very soon – then we will safeguard them until Allah Almighty guides us when and against whom to use them," he told NBC News in an interview at his mountain hideout.

These days, the 38-year-old cleric prefers to be called "Commander Faqir." He thinks it befits his new role as deputy leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the umbrella organization that was formed last December to try and unite Pakistani militants.

NBC News

Faqir Mohammed, left, speaks with NBC News Mushtaq Yusufzai, center, at his remote mountain top stronghold near the Pakistan/ Afghanistan border while Faqir's bodyguards standby in the rear.

SOURCE:
Hat tip to table Hand at Jawa, I saw ths there.

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U.S. Striking Al Qaeda Targets in Pakistan
James Joyner | Thursday, March 27, 2008

The United States is stepping up its attacks on al Qaeda targets in Pakistan, largely without coordination with that country's government.

The United States has escalated its unilateral strikes against al-Qaeda members and fighters operating in Pakistan's tribal areas, partly because of anxieties that Pakistan's new leaders will insist on scaling back military operations in that country, according to U.S. officials. Washington is worried that pro-Western President Pervez Musharraf, who has generally supported the U.S. strikes, will almost certainly have reduced powers in the months ahead, and so it wants to inflict as much damage as it can to al-Qaeda's network now, the officials said.

SOURCE:

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Under the current terms the Paki Gov has with the Taliban the Government has withdrawn troops from the border areas, allowing for the possibility of HOT pursuit of Taliban on the border areas.

Expect some good hits on HVT in border areas.

Time to crunch up some talbi.

G

.

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Leave Taliban alone, Afghan president

Image via Wikipedia

Leave Taliban alone, Afghan president tells West

Karzai says US and British troops are undermining his authority and stopping insurgents from laying down their arms

• Jason Burke
• The Observer,
• Sunday April 27 2008

About this article

Close

This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday April 27 2008 on p35 of the World news section. It was last updated at 00:00 on April 27 2008.

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has called on British and American troops to stop arresting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, saying that their operations undermined his government's authority and were counter-productive.

Well Gee I just don't know what to say? I just didn't expect him to defect to the Taliban.

The stinging attack, made in an interview with the New York Times published yesterday, is the latest in a series of rows between Western governments with troops in Afghanistan and the elected leader of the country. Western diplomats expressed surprise at the Afghan leader's criticism and the Foreign Office played down the row yesterday.

'We fully support the Afghan government and continue to work with it, President Karzai and the international community in the interests of the Afghan people and the long-term peace and stability of Afghanistan,' said a spokesman.

Karzai is facing re-election next year and may be hoping to bolster flagging support with a populist stance.

Is he playing for the Taliban vote? Is that a viable electorate?

However, in recent months relations have deteriorated seriously, with Western officials openly doubting the ability of the Afghan president, who was heavily backed by the US and the UK in 2001 after the fall of the Taliban regime, to manage rampant corruption and combat drug trafficking in the war-wracked southwest Asian state.

Karzai said he wanted American forces to stop arresting suspected Taliban members and their supporters, saying that fear of arrest and their past mistreatment were discouraging them from coming forward to lay down their arms.

Yes arrest offends their little beheading sensibilities.

'It has to happen,' he said. 'We have to make sure that when a Talib comes to Afghanistan ... he is safe from arrest by the coalition.'

'We have to make sure that when a Talib comes to Afghanistan ... he is safe from arrest by the coalition.' isn't that what they are doing in Paki?

So the Taliban will be safe from arrest in Afghan and Paki.

Both Afghan and Paki have taken a wild wolf into the house and hope they can train it before it eats them.

Karzai is the closest thing they have to a wolf trainer, born Pushtun, speaks Pushtun, Dari, Urdu,English and French.

Briefly supported the Taliban in 2000 before they went extreme fundamentalism then he turned against them.

His father, Abdul Ahad Karzai was killed by the Taliban in Quetta.

I want to give him the benefit of doubt but would like to know the Goal.

Does he know where this road leads. G

Efforts at winning over Taliban fighters or sympathisers are mired in confusion: Nato allies in Afghanistan are divided over the exact nature of the amnesty or 'reconciliation programme' for insurgents. British policy, despite official insistence that 'there are no negotiations with the Taliban', is to weaken the radical Islamic movement by splitting off foot soldiers tempted by money or misled by tribal chiefs, religious leaders and ideologues from a 'hardcore' of leaders.

'We fully support efforts to bring disaffected Afghans into society's mainstream, providing they renounce violence and accept Afghanistan's constitution,' said the Foreign Office spokesman. 'We have always said there is no military solution in Afghanistan - a fully comprehensive approach is needed ... and that will involve reconciliation of those Taliban prepared to integrate into the new Afghanistan.'

However, Washington is more sceptical of such efforts, and has been fiercely critical of some British tactics aimed at winning over key Taliban commanders in the past, as has Karzai himself.

Karzai also attacked the number of civilian deaths inflicted by the coalition. Although levels of 'collateral damage' inflicted by Nato operations have dropped substantially, deaths still continue. Two women and two children were killed recently in an air raid by Nato troops on a suspected Taliban position after a firefight. Up to 9,000 civilians have died since 2001.

'I want an end to civilian casualties,' the Afghan president said in the interview. 'And as much as one may argue it's difficult, I don't accept that argument.'

Relations between Karzai and London were strained last month by the Afghan premier's rejection of Lord Paddy Ashdown, the favoured candidate to take up a post as 'aid tsar' in Kabul with a brief to coordinate the international aid flowing into the country. Karzai blocked the appointment amid negative local press coverage, a historic popular distrust of the British and advisers' fears of a potential crackdown on corruption.

With casualties and costs mounting and little obvious progress, Western governments are looking increasingly for an exit from Afghanistan, where 94 British servicemen have been killed since 2001. 'Nato now wants a way out which is not failure,' said Mike Williams, of London's Royal United Services Institute. 'They need to redefine the situation which will allow them to leave without failing.'

A key problem for policymakers is 'battle fatigue' among Western populations. 'We are going to get bored of the war long before the Taliban are,' said one Nato official

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Karzai will loose the election, the average Afghan knows the Taliban for what it is, Karzai just removed himself from office, who is next in line?

What in hell is Karzai thinking?
The Taliban will come in and just lay down their arms if they feel no threat/power?
I don't understand his Taliban Paradigm.
Taliban will cut Karzai throat first chance they get.
DAY after I posted about Taliban willing to cut his throat,
Taliban attacked him.
Video: Karzai Escapes Unharmed After Taliban Attack


USA could accept the Taliban in Afghan and Paki if they
killed off al Qaeda, otherwise with a nuclear issue in the offing
USA will have no alternative that to go back to war in Paki and Afghan
to take out al Qaeda.

al Qaeda cannot have a safe haven any where in the world to launch attacks against the rest of the world.

The shape of this paradigm is a no brainer, the diplomats must see this.
Safe haven is a non starter.

al Qaeda's silence on these TALIBAN negotiations is DEAFENING.

USA force will continue to be applied against al Qaeda and the Taliban
unless the Taliban gives up al Qaeda.
Biny doesn't trust the Taliban, when he was in trouble in Tora Bora he split his forces, separating the Taliban off from himself.

al Qaeda's developing new Survival Paradigm.

al Qaeda continues to experience heavy losses and fears USA Military and are allowing the negotiations with their tacit silence/approval.
al Qaeda is concerned with survival, huge losses in Iraq and Afghan and
Paki, loss of key cadre.

Intel is on their tails, they know who is tracking them and their time is limited. Its a matter of time before their hide aways are visited by a rain of hellfire rockets.

al Qaeda is looking for a way out, breathing space, some R&R.
Top al Qaeda cadre have been in a very Black covert security operation for six years, and its getting heavy and they are short money, men and suicide bombers, and webmasters. And Biny is in terminal stages of his disease.

Olde Zee's load is too heavy and showed signs of desperation in his last
town hall meeting, with weak arguments that run counter to the Koran
and logic and reason. al Qaeda's killing of Moslems women children blowing up mosques and market places has roused Allah's anger.
Watch what happens.


Gerald
Anthropologist

Update: Is the Taliban evolving a new paradigm?

Negotiate PEACE with Afghan and Paki so the Taliban and al Qaeda have a safe base of operations, in these states to conduct terrorism?

WE quit suicide bombings in your countrys and WE don't get arrested, and get immunity for past acts. And a free hand to operate outside your borders.

G

.

Taliban suckers Paki Gov.

Taliban have become the FAT CAT in Paki.

Pakistan Taliban vows to fight on

Pakistani Taliban welcome release of militant chief: spokesman - AFP

Pakistan frees head of terrorist organisation


Paki just doesn't learn. They keep turning them loose.G

Pakistan Releases over 2,500 Taliban, al Qaeda

By Bill Roggio: September 15, 2006 4:46 PM

Pakistan follows the truce to the letter and releases thousands of Taliban and al Qaeda members captured since 2001

Maulana Sufi Mohammad, head of the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e- Shariat-e-Mohammed, freed from Pakistani prison.

The Pakistani government is living up to its commitments on the "Waziristan Accord," and has emptied the prisons of Taliban and al Qaeda who have been captured since the fall of 2001. The "Waziristan Accord" calls for the Pakistani government to "release prisoners held in military action and would not arrest them again," and that is exactly what is happening.

The Daily Telegraph discloses that Pakistan has released over 2,500 Taliban and al Qaeda, although an American military intelligence source estimates the number is higher. The Pakistani military has in the past put the number of al Qaeda and Taliban captured at around 500-700.

The Daily Telegraph then tracks down some of those released. The resultant interviews give the impression those released were somehow incorrectly identified as jihadis. A "young Tajik who entered Pakistan last year to study... at a madrassa in Peshawar... was shot in the side by Pakistani police as he tried to escape when the madrassa was raided." A "37-year-old Algerian... worked in the honey business when he was arrested last year." Al-Qaeda was deeply involved in the "honey business" and use this and other industries to mask their terror financing. A "Bangladeshi who has an American degree in engineering, admitted helping the Taliban against US-led forces in Afghanistan five years ago" was released to the al-Khidmat Foundation. The Daily Telegraph fails to recognize the al-Khidmat Foundation is in fact the Makhtab al-Khidmat, or the MAK, which was founded by Abdullah Azzam and Osama bin Laden in the 1980s and was used to funnel men and material into Afghanistan. The MAK is on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List.

But beyond the three low level operatives interviewed are a host of senior and mid level al Qaeda and Taliban operatives. A sample of those released included the following individuals, including the killers of journalist Daniel Pearl:

Ghulam Mustafa: "He was once close to Osama bin Laden, has intimate knowledge of al Qaeda's logistics and financing and its nexus with the military in Pakistan."

Maulana Sufi Mohammad: "Maulana Sufi Mohammad was Faqir Mohammed's first jihadi mentor who introduced him to militancy in Afghanistan in 1993. Sufi Mohammad was one of the active leaders of Jamat-e-Islami (JI) in the 1980s. He was the principal of the JI madrassa in Tamaergra, a town in the northwestern part of NWFP. He was an instinctive hardliner and in due course developed differences with JI and left them in 1992 to form Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammed [TNSM]." Sufi Mohammad organized Pakistanis to fight jihad in Afghanistan and along with the TNSM fought in Kunduz November of 2001.

Mohammad Khaled: A brigade leader who led the Taliban in against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. ""It is a difficult time for Islam and Muslims. We are in a test. Everybody should be ready to pass the test - and to sacrifice our lives," said Mohammad Khaled.

Fazl-e-Raziq: A senior aide to Osama bin Laden, and "an ethnic Pakhtoon resident of Swabi district of the North West Frontier Province."

Khairullah Kherkhawa: The former Taliban governor of Herat.

Khalid Khawaja: "Khalid Khawaja is a retired squadron leader of the Pakistan Air Force who was an official in Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI, in the mid 1980s. After he wrote a critical letter to General Zia ul-Haq, who ruled Pakistan from 1977 till 1988, in which he labeled Zia as hypocrite, he was removed from the ISI and forced to retire from the airforce. He then went straight to Afghanistan in 1987 and fought against the Soviets along side with Osama Bin Laden, developing a relationship of firm friendship and trust. Khalid Khawaja’s name resurfaced when US reporter Daniel Pearl was abducted and subsequently killed. Pearl had come to Pakistan and met Khalid Khawaja in order to investigate the jihadi network of revered sufi, Syed Mubarak Ali Gailani."

Mansour Hasnain: A member of the group that kidnapped and murdered Danny Pearl. He also was "a militant of the Harkat-al-Mujahedin group, is one of those who hijacked an Indian Airlines jet in December 1999 and forced New Delhi to release three militants -- including Omar and Azhar."

Mohammad Hashim Qadeer: "Suspected of being one of [Daniel] Pearl’s actual killers, was arrested in August 2005 and has notable al-Qaida links" and "ties with the banned extremist groups Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen and Jaish-e-Muhammad."

Mohammad Bashir: Another Pakistani complicit in the murder of Daniel Pearl.

Aamni Ahmad, Hala Ahmad and Nooran Abdu: Facilitators/couriers, and wives of al Qaeda members. "Pakistani authorities arrested 23 Arabs, including two children, suspected of links to Osama bin Laden, officials said Wednesday. All of them sneaked into the country from Afghanistan in recent weeks. The suspects include three women, identified as Aamni Ahmad, Hala Ahmad and Nooran Abdu, who are believed to be relatives of bin Laden. An interior ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the arrests were made in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, which borders Afghanistan."

Gul Ahmed Shami & Hamid Noor: Al-Qaeda foot soldiers who fought in Afghanistan. "I want to be the next Osama bin Laden," said Shami in 2001. "Allah is with us. The Americans have technology but they don't have the courage to face death, which we do. I will be there until my death if need be. I know I probably won't come back," said Hamid.

These “miscreants” and “foreigners” are said to be streaming back to al Qaeda's new safe haven of the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan, and reconstituting al Qaeda's organization.

As the Pakistani government lives up to their end of the “Waziristan Accord,” the Taliban and al Qaeda have broken it repeatedly. Anti-Taliban clerics and tribal leaders have been shot and beheaded in Waziristan. A government official was also kidnapped in Waziristan, and a reporter was murdered in Dera Ismail Khan. The Taliban flaunts the terms of the truce and expends into neighboring agencies, and the Pakistani government continues to look the other way.

SOURCE:

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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Govt won't be blackmailed by militants, says Gillani

* 'Parliament will strip Musharraf of his power to dissolve govt'

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The government will neither be "blackmailed" by militants nor will it listen to their "unrealistic" demands, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani has said. "We won't listen to their demands that are totally unrealistic. If they want us to hand over [jailed] terrorists as a [precondition] for talks, that will not happen," Gillani said in an interview with Newsweek, published on its website on Monday. Gillani said there would be no talks with militants "until our preconditions are met". "They should [put down] their arms first. Not only [Baitullah] Mehsud but also other [armed] tribes who are not militants," he added. He also ruled out any unilateral US military strikes into Pakistan, saying that they [the United States] have to have prior permission. Power: The premier also hinted that parliament would strip President Pervez Musharraf of his power to dissolve the government and would soon restore the judges sacked by Musharraf last year. "The 1973 Constitution of Pakistan is the only document that is acceptable to the people of Pakistan … amendments [which gave Musharraf extraordinary powers to dismiss the government] were made afterward. So we don't accept these amendments. We believe in balance of power between the parliament and the president," he said. Gillani said the resolution to restore the sacked judges "maybe" tabled in parliament this week. He said his priority would be to try to establish law and order in the country. "My priority would be to control the law-and-order situation in the country, so we have to discourage this extremism and terrorism," Gillani said. He said Pakistan wanted a three-pronged strategy to combat terrorism – improving people's well-being and giving them employment, overhauling the education system [without the] old madrassas, where the students are being groomed for the Taliban, and improving health and communication facilities. Gillani said he was confident he could work with Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Kayani, whom he praised as a good, highly professional soldier.

http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/Apr08/22/14.htm

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NOT?

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