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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistain protests may make US fly war cargo out |
| 2013-12-20 |
| [DAWN] US officials, frustrated that hundreds of military shipments heading out of Afghanistan have been stopped on the land route through Pakistain because of anti-American protests, face the possibility of flying out equipment at an additional cost of $1 billion. More than a week after Pak officials promised Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that they would take ''immediate action'' to resolve the problem, dozens of protesters are still gathering on the busy overland route, posing a security threat to convoys carrying US military equipment out of the war zone before combat ends a year from now. US officials said Wednesday they have seen no effort by the Paks to stop the protests, which prompted the US three weeks ago to halt NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... cargo shipments going through the Torkham border crossing and toward the port city of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... . A Pak official says the government is looking for a peaceful settlement but notes that citizens have the right to protest as long as they are not violent. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the planning, said flying the military equipment out of Afghanistan to a port will cost five to seven times as much as it does to truck it through Pakistain. About a hundred trucks are stacked up at the border, and hundreds more are loaded and stalled in compounds, waiting to leave Afghanistan. The shipments consist largely of military equipment that is no longer needed now that the Afghan war is ending. Sending the cargo out through the normal Pakistain routes will cost about $5 billion through the end of next year, said a defense official. Flying the heavy equipment, including armored vehicles, out of Afghanistan to ports in the Middle East, where it would be loaded onto ships, would cost about $6 billion if it continued through next year, said the official. A northern supply route, which runs through Uzbekistan and up to Russia, was used for about seven months last year when Pakistain shut down the southern passages after US That northern route, however, was used primarily to bring shipments into Afghanistan, and is much longer, more costly and often requires cargo to be transferred from trucks to rail. The deadlock, if not resolved, could also be costly for Pakistain. In private meetings in Islamabad early last week, Hagel warned Pak leaders that unless the military shipments resumed, political support could erode in Washington for an aid program that sends them billions of dollars. Hagel received assurances from Pakistain leaders during the meetings that they would resolve the problem, but no progress has been made. Pentagon front man Adm. John Kirby said Hagel is concerned about the issue and has talked with his top commanders in the region about it. ''He knows they (the commanders) are working the issue very hard,'' Kirby said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Walter I swear to hell I think it must have already been done. It would explain so much. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2013-12-20 16:06 |
| #4 If we have to fly munitions out, expend them on something on the way. Either side of the border. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2013-12-20 15:00 |
| #3 flying the military equipment out of Afghanistan to a port will cost five to seven times as much as it does to truck it through Pakistain Pull the needed funds from whatever monies the US gives to the Paks. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-12-20 10:28 |
| #2 Fill the rear of a C-130 up with fuel bladders full of LSD-25. Attach mister hose heads to bladders and large chutes. Push out a mile above protests and send in drones to take video.... Publish video of resulting orgy and mayhem.... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2013-12-20 10:18 |
| #1 Hope when we finally pull out we recognise that Pakistan is the enemy not Afghanistan! |
| Posted by: Voldemort Thranter2866 2013-12-20 09:08 |