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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Perv Pulls In the Welcome Mat |
| 2005-06-23 |
| Debka piece from June 11. This might be a contributing factor to the recent uptick in activity, besides the usual Fearsome Summer Offensive bluster. I was surprised by the large number of hadjis The biggest refugee repatriation operation in the world is underway. It is the cover for Pakistan's mass-export of al Qaeda operatives back to where they came from — Afghanistan. The UN refugee agency reports that from 2002, nearly 2.4 million Afghan refugees returned home from Pakistan. This week, General Pervez Musharraf gave the remaining estimated 400,000 until June 30 to leave the country or face expulsion. snip DEBKAfile's correspondent quotes diplomatic sources in the capital as referring to the belief of US intelligence agents that al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives who took shelter in Pakistan as refugees are now regrouping and moving back into Afghanistan. Their numbers are small but are expected to swell, posing fresh dangers to the Karzai government's stability in Kabul. American military strength in Afghanistan is not nearly large enough to deal with any major influx. Bah. Typical Debka doom and gloom. The remainder of the article is a strange hodgepodge of UNHCR stats and a list of difficulties for the Pak gov't. |
| Posted by:Rory B. Bellows |
| #3 In 2001 there were 6 million Afghan refugees. Since US and allies overthrew the Taliban, 4 million have returned. That was the largest refugge repatriation since WW2. And it has been voluntary. The remaining 2 million are about even split between Iran and Pakistan. Too bad the Afghans are too stupid to realize the Americans really came to rape and pillage them. I look at this as an opportunity. Instead of plotting, equiping, finding shelter, and chosing the time to attack from Pakistan, those Taliban sympathizers wanting to fight can be hunted down 24/7 in Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-06-23 16:58 |
| #2 Debka makes an all too common mistake. They do have a good grasp of how the Israelis see local issues, less of a grasp as to how the Arabs around them see things, even less capable at figuring out things in their region but far away; and they are totally in the dark about the US. In other words, the further away, the lower the quality of their news and opinion. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-06-23 16:41 |
| #1 The UN refugee agency reports that from 2002, nearly 2.4 million Afghan refugees returned home from Pakistan. Wow. Chimpy McHalliburton really screwed that country up, didn't he? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-06-23 15:28 |