[Dawn] The United States was not sincere about peace in Afghanistan when it signalled it would remain open to exploring a settlement that includes the Haqqani network, one of the group's senior commanders said on Thursday.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Tallyrand ... suggested in comments this week that Washington would not shut the door to the Haqqanis -- blamed for high-profile attacks in Afghanistan -- in any peace arrangement.
The Haqqanis saw the remarks as an attempt to divide Afghan krazed killer groups and believed only the top leaders of the Taliban should negotiate, said the commander.
"We had rejected many such offers from the United States in the past and reject this new offer as we are not authorised to decide the future of Afghanistan," he told Rooters.
The senior Haqqani commander denied that Jamil Haqqani, who was killed in a drone attack on Thursday, had links with the group.
However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... an intelligence officer said that Jamil was a highly trusted companion of Sirajuddin. He had been with the Haqqani group for a long time and was tasked with handling communications.
Jamil was Sirajuddin's cousin, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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If they were, they'd just fumigate the whole place.
MADRID: Spain will withdraw the four F-18s deployed as part of its contribution to the NATO operation over Libya now that the governing National Transitional Council (NTC) controls most of the country, Defense Minister Carme Chacon said on Wednesday.
Spain sent the four fighter jets to the Italian air base of Decimomannu on the island of Sardinia in March. The F-18s will return to Spain on Saturday but will be ready to leave again should there be a need for them to rejoin the NATO effort, Chacon said in a video conference with troops serving abroad to mark SpainÂ’s National Day.
Two refueling planes, a frigate and a sea patrol plane will remain as part of SpainÂ’s contribution, she said.
The decision to withdraw the F-18s has been agreed with the leaders of the NATO mission in Libya, and is based on the fact that airports which were closed there are now operational and the number of civilian flights are increasing, Chacon said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Guardian.co.uk] The two men are singing in the back of a pick-up truck, sitting on the rails, their legs resting on a blanket that seems oddly lumpy. Sticking out from beneath it are two pairs of feet, one bare, one wearing socks. They are the feet of two pro-Qadaffy ...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years... fighters killed in the fighting in the coastal city of Sirte.
Thursday was a day of deaths on both sides. Government forces trying to enter the last pocket of Sirte held by pro-Qadaffy fighters were bogged down in a narrow street flooded with sewage and water.
Sirte is an unremarkable town, its importance inflated by the fact that the deposed Libyan leader was born nearby and counts its main tribe among his staunchest supporters.
But its fate is now being keenly watched around the world. The rebel government in Tripoli has declared -- as foreign secretary William Hague told MPs in London -- that its fall will mean the liberation of the entire country and trigger the start of a political process to build a new democracy.
A street corner where, on Wednesday, it had been possible to walk and stare into a narrow canyon of shattered buildings, was at the centre of the battle. Instead of walking, one had to crawl as the pockets of defenders fired RPGs into buildings and at cars.
In response government fighters pulled back a little and brought in tanks, placing them on a low, grassy rise crowned with a shattered white pavilion from where they could blast directly into the rooftop positions, setting fires, nibbling away at the concrete, filling the air with noise and dust.
For the pro-Qadaffy fighters it is a hopeless situation. There is nowhere to go except deeper into an area of the city 750 metres wide by 500 metres deep that runs along the coast from the television station -- with its pair of wrecked and punctured dishes -- to the edge of District Two, overlooked by the pavilion and its sagging roof.
The choices faced by Qadaffy's loyalists are stark: to fight on and end up dead under a blanket like the men in the pick-up truck, or to come out, as one fighter in uniform did on Thursday morning.
"You see that captive?" asked Ismail Taweel, a middle-aged fighter from the Harbus Katiba, a unit famous in Libya from the siege of Misrata, most of whose colleagues are in the desert near Bani Walid. He indicated a burly, bearded man with a face bruised from beating, crying with fear.
"I want to ask him how many of them are left. I've just come from speaking to another captive. A Sudanese. He said there were few left and most were wearing green uniforms. We're fighting the real soldiers now, not the mercenaries. He said some were trying to escape."
"They have one and a half square kilometres at most," explained Dr Salah al-Obeidi, a commander from Benghazi who was a dentist before the war. "There are a hundred fighters, maybe a little more, holding us up. That is all."
Others put the number at 200. "They are finished. All they can do is surrender. There has been no attempt to negotiate with them," Obeidi said. "We don't negotiate with terrorists. We hear them talking on their radios. Talking about 'rats' and killing infidels." Obeidi had a sheep in the back of his truck, ready to be slaughtered for the victory feast. When victory finally comes.
On the roof of an unfinished building with a yellow water tank on top and the green flag of the Qadaffy troops, muzzle flashes were visible. Later the tanks tried to land their shells on top of it.
Matthew VanDyke, the film-maker turned fighter who spent months in a Qadaffy jail, was at the front again on Thursday. "I was at the opening of the street yesterday fighting in my vehicle. Then we forced them back to the last buildings in the street, but now they have moved forward to the middle of the street again. The water comes up to the running boards. It is thigh deep when you go in and you can see the bullets hitting it.
"A lot of the Qadaffy fighters have slipped out with the families escaping -- guys you see of military age."
The Qadaffy forces left in Sirte cannot break out: there is no one to join. They cannot retake a town vast areas of which are now under government control.
Why they fight on seems baffling to many of those facing them in these last days and hours of the battle for Sirte and indeed the war for Libya.
As evening approached the dynamic of the stalled fighting seemed to change. An advance by government forces through an area of houses on the coast pushed from east to west beyond a tall aerial. Out of sight beyond a flooded series of streets it was possible to measure the progress only by smoke and by the sounds of the truck-mounted anti-aircraft guns and the kabooms of tank fire and the recoilless rifles moving -- it appeared -- inexorably into the pocket.
This is a battle that the government fighters now cannot lose. The only question is how many more must die before their victory is complete.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The only question is how many more must die before their victory is complete.
ALMATY: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a tough religion law on Thursday banning prayer rooms in state buildings, a measure aimed at stamping out Islamist militancy but criticized by KazakhstanÂ’s top Muslim cleric and the West.
Nazarbayev, 71, has ruled Kazakhstan for more than 20 years as a secularist autocrat. Until this year, the 70 percent Muslim country largely avoided the Islamist violence seen in other central Asian ex-Soviet states like Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
But a suicide bombing in May and the arrest in August of a group accused of a terrorist plot raised fears of a surge in militancy, prompting Nazarbayev to call for the new law to help curb extremism.
The law, swiftly approved by the compliant legislature, has caused heated debate. Article 7 bans prayer rooms in all state institutions. KazakhstanÂ’s Supreme Mufti, Absattar Derbisali, said this could anger pious Muslims and spur extremism.
The law also requires all missionaries in the country to register with the authorities every year.
Rights groups in the West, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, have raised concern that it may restrict religious freedom.
Among recent measures to fight Islamist militancy, Kazakhstan temporarily blocked access to a number of foreign Internet sites in August after a court ruled they were propagating terrorism and inciting religious hatred.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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It really is John King of CNN that has ratted this out! Congressman Cummings is on Issa's committee and during the hearings, always bring the subject back to more gun control. Issa reels him in pretty good.
CNN's John King plays Holder's testimony to Congress on MAY 3, 2011, where he said he had only just recently heard about the Fast & Furious gunrunning program. "I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks," Attorney General Eric Holder said.
Then CNN compares Holder's testimony to what President Obama said in MARCH to CNN Espanol about the operation. "I heard on the news about this story that -- Fast and Furious, where allegedly guns were being run into Mexico, and ATF knew about it, but didn't apprehend those who had sent it." Transcript of the segment that aired on "John King USA" below:
KING: Well, Congressman Cummings, let's get to one of the questions here. Let's first listen to the attorney general. He came before this committee back in May. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISSA: When did you first know about the program officially I believe called Fast and Furious? To the best of your knowledge, what date?
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: He says over the last few weeks.
That is on May 3, 2011. Listen to this interview the president of the United States, not the attorney general, the president of the United States, had with CNN Espanol back in March.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There have been problems, you know. I heard on the news about this story that -- Fast and Furious, where allegedly guns were being run into Mexico, and ATF knew about it, but didn't apprehend those who had sent it.
Eric Holder has -- the attorney general has been very clear that he knew nothing about this. We had assigned an I.G., inspector general, to investigate it. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: It begs the question, how did the president know about this in March, and how did the president know the attorney general knew nothing about this in march, when the attorney general says in May he just learned about it a couple weeks ago?
[Dawn] In what is seen here as a serious attempt to repair the dent in relations caused by serious allegations emanating from Washington, America's special envoy Marc Grossman said here after wide-ranging talks with political and military leadership on Thursday that US-Pakistain relations were important for both the countries and served their best interests.
The United States wanted strong and cordial relations with Pakistain, he said at a joint presser with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
But during a meeting with Mr Grossman, President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... told him bluntly that restraint should be exercised in public pronouncements for the sake of developing a cooperative roadmap to overcome trust deficit. He stressed that relations between the two countries should not be transactional, but based on long-term partnership, mutual respect and shared interests.
Any public messaging tending to undermine this bedrock of relationship shrank political space for a democratic government, the president said.
He called for following clearly defined, well-documented and mutually agreed terms of engagement to avoid operational irritants hampering the relationship. He emphasised that a long-term, sustainable and multi-dimensional relationship with the US should be based on mutual interest, trust and respect.
Mr Zardari said no country had made greater contributions and sacrifices in the fight against terrorism than Pakistain, adding that the international community should acknowledge it and help the country in its efforts.
Enemies of peace, he said, would continue to sabotage the grinding of the peace processor, but these non-state actors must not be allowed to hold governments in the region hostage.
"Ironically, snuffies and snuffies gained the most from verbal assaults and finger-pointing at Pakistain or questioning commitment to fighting Death Eaters," the president was quoted as saying by his front man Farhatullah Babar.
Mr Zardari said: "Despite negative propaganda against Pakistain, we are committed to regional peace and have decided to attend the forthcoming trilateral summit of Afghanistan, Pakistain and Turkey in Istanbul next month for peace and stability in
the region."
At a separate meeting, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... told Mr Grossman that Pakistain-US relations must go beyond coordination in counter-terrorism. He said the government and people of Pakistain were determined to combat extremism and terrorism.
At the presser with Ms Khar, Mr Grossman said the two countries had agreed to carry forward the dialogue process. Technical working groups formed by the two countries would continue to hold meetings in future to further enhance cooperation in these fields.
He said efforts were under way to identify interests of the two countries in the relationship and expressed the hope that they would work together and coordinate with each other through the strategic dialogue process.
He said he had also discussed with Ms Khar the upcoming peace conferences in Istanbul and Bonn, adding that Pakistain should be included in the grinding of the peace processor because it was an important country to play a role in peace and security in the region. He said the success of these two conferences would be helpful in ensuring peace and security in Afghanistan, the region and the world.
Mr Grossman said he had visited Central Asian states, Afghanistan, China and India before coming to Pakistain and brought a message of hope and support from the countries for peace and security in the region.
Ms Khar said the two sides vowed to carry forward the strategic dialogue process and decided that working groups would continue to meet in future.
The two sides discussed bilateral ties with special reference to Afghanistan and current regional and international issues and the forthcoming meetings in Istanbul on Nov 2 and in Bonn on Dec 5 on peace and security in the region. They also agreed to
pursue bilateral cooperation in different fields for which working groups had been formed.
The foreign minister said: "Pakistain-US relations are very important at the bilateral level and now these are more important at global level because of the war against terrorism."
Mr Grossman also met Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... . According to the ISPR, matters relating to Pak-US ties and cooperative framework for peace in the region were discussed.
General John Allen, Commander of ISAF, also called on Gen Kayani and discussed with him measures aimed at improving cross-border coordination and procedures between Pakistain army, ISAF and Afghan forces along the Pak-Afghan border.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
General John Allen, Commander of ISAF, also called on Gen Kayani and discussed with him measures aimed at improving cross-border coordination and procedures between Pakistain army, ISAF and Afghan forces along the Pak-Afghan border.
Here's a suggestion General. We currenty provide certain levels of information and permit Pakistan military liaison personnel access within in Afghanistan. Could we not have US liaison personnel in Pakistan? Just a few brave souls possibly in key border command headquarters.
#4
Se malso DEFENCE.PKS/FORUMS > [Independent UN Expert = Philip ALston] DRONE ATTACKS MAY BE WAR CRIMES, i.e. crime agz humanity + related as per UN definitions.
[Dawn] The National Assembly turned into a virtual battleground on Thursday when members from the Pakistain Mohammedan League-N and Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... lunged at each other after exchanging harsh words and abuses.
Some of the members were seen throwing books and documents at each other and were about to indulge in a physical fight when senior politicians from the PPP and PML-N intervened and stopped the situation from deteriorating.
It all started when Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who had initially taken the floor to oppose the government's move to present the controversial Defence Housing Authority Bill, 2007, started heaping scorn on the MQM terming it a "fascist and terrorist party with a bully boy wing and involved in extortion". He said there had been no-go areas in Bloody Karachi.
"We will not let anyone bully us and will expose MQM's true face not only in the assembly, but outside parliament and even in Bloody Karachi," Chaudhry Nisar said while referring to the Supreme Court's Oct 6 verdict in the suo motu case on the law and order situation in Bloody Karachi and allegations levelled against the MQM by former provincial home minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza. He said after the SC verdict the MQM owed a reply to the nation about its involvement in terrorism and extortion.
The session was presided over by Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi in the absence of Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza, who left for Albania as head of a parliamentary delegation.
Chaudhry Nisar harshly criticised MQM's leaders for using "derogatory and abusive" language in their speeches in the assembly on Monday without caring that the house was being presided over by the wife of Dr Mirza. "I must appreciate the speaker for tolerating all such things against her husband," he said.
The house turned into a fish market when MQM's members who had been taking a verbal attack from the PML-N leader for up to 25 minutes got infuriated and stood up as soon as he threatened to tackle them physically.
"They blurt out whatever comes in their minds. If they cross the line again and use unparliamentary language then our hands will be around their necks," he said, only to invite the wrath of MQM's members sitting to his right.
An exchange of harsh words took place between MQM's MNA Sajid Ahmed and PML-N's Chaudhry Abid Sher Ali after which a number of members from both sides started raising slogans. Sensing that the members could indulge in a physical fight when MQM's Waseem Akhtar, Asif Hasnain and Sajid Ahmed charged towards Abid Sher Ali and Hanif Abbasi, senior PPP members, including Ministers Syed Khursheed Shah and Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. and PML-N's Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Ahsan Iqbal intervened and disengaged the enraged politicians.
It took several MNAs to hold a furious Abid Sher Ali back after he had climbed onto a desk apparently to hurl himself on Sajid Ahmad.
After a brief interruption, the deputy speaker again gave the floor to Chaudhry Nisar. He alleged that the MQM had used parliament for political point scoring and passed derogatory remarks against Zulfikar Mirza instead of replying to the serious allegations levelled by the former minister against it.
He asked the deputy speaker to hold a debate on the allegations and give an opportunity to the former Sindh minister to prove his charges in the house. "Zulfikar Mirza's oath on the holy Koran obliges us at least to listen to the charges he has levelled."
Chaudhry Nisar said the people of Bloody Karachi could not be fooled by "gimmicks like singing songs on TV".
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... on Thursday said the coalition of religious parties was the need of the hour and its only them that can stop US from its 'nefarious designs,' DawnNews reported.
Speaking at the Mufti Mehmood Conference, Maulana said conspirers were at work to create a Fata and Wazoo like situation in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... The party chief further said the US was trying to blame Pakistain for its defeat in Afghanistan.
Opening up a US consulate in Balochistan would increase bloodshed in the region, he said.
Maulana informed that his party was trying to revive the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA).
Commenting on Balochistan situation, Maulana said faithful of the 'establishment' were trying to become 'Nawab' and 'Sardar' by accepting benefits, whereas his party was struggling against landlords and feudals.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
You would look SO GOOD with a .30 hole in your head.
Sooner, not later.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/14/2011 0:17 Comments ||
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#2
can stop US from its 'nefarious designs,'
You mean like dragging a screaming Pakland into the late 20th Century. Heaven forbid they'd actually walk into the 18th Century [a little Rousseau there, a little Kant there, maybe]. You can skip the 19th and its little gift of Marx and Hegel.
[Dawn] President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... on Thursday said relations between Pakistain and United States must not be transactional, and stressed for a long-term partnership based on mutual respect and shared interests.
He was talking to Marc Grossman, US Special Representative for Pakistain and Afghanistan who called on him at the Presidency.
Briefing media about the meeting, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that matters relating to Pak-US bilateral relations, regional security situation, emerging situation in Afghanistan and the fight against militancy were discussed during the meeting.
The president said Pakistain supports all efforts for regional peace, prosperity and connectivity, based on existing realities of the region.
He stressed on following the clearly defined, well-documented and mutually agreed terms of engagement between the two countries, which he said was necessary to avoid operational irritants that hamper the relationship.
He said no country had made greater contributions and sacrifices in fighting terrorism than Pakistain.
The President said Pakistain was committed to pursue fight against hard boyz till its logical conclusion. He said the enemies of peace would continue to sabotage grinding of the peace processor but "we should not let the non-state actors hold hostage the governments in the region."
The President also emphasized on socio-economic development and imparting education to the youth of the militancy-hit areas to permanently change the thug mindset and sought international community's support and cooperation in this regard.
Pakistain supports Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process, he said.
The President said Prof. Rabbani was a friend of Pakistain and an honest and serious interlocutor. He termed his liquidation as an attempt to sabotage the peace and reconciliation process.
He however, expressed surprise over the reaction in the wake of Prof. Rabbani's liquidation.
The President said, "Despite negative propaganda against Pakistain, we are committed to the regional peace and have decided to attend the forthcoming trilateral summit of Afghanistan, Pakistain and Turkey in Istanbul next month aimed at peace and stability in the region."
Grossman appreciated Pakistain's struggle against militancy. He also assured US governments continued support for peace and stability in the region.
US Ambassador in Islamabad Cameron P. Munter, Rear Admiral Philip Davidson, senior military advisor to ambassador Grossman and other bigwigs of the US embassy were present during the meeting.
Ch. Ahmad Mukhtar, Minister for Defence, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Federal Minister for Finance, Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Näwaz Shärif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. , Federal Minister for Interior, Salman Faruqui, Secretary General to the President, Salman Bashir, Foreign Secretary and spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar also attended the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Respect? Right, it's like trying to equate Pop Warner football with the NFL. Mr. Zardani, you have a long way to go.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
10/14/2011 9:17 Comments ||
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[Dawn] When Pakistain Army Sergeant Abdur Rehman hears America's oft-repeated demand that Pakistain do more to fight jihad boys, he glances down at the stumps of his legs and wonders what more it wants from him.
A mortar bomb shredded him from the waist down as he led an advance against Taliban fighters in 2007 in Pakistain's unruly northwestern tribal areas on the Afghan border.
Instead of enjoying full retirement benefits, he underwent rehabilitation, was given artificial limbs and returned as a commander to a desk job in the jihad boy-infested region where he was maimed.
"What more can Paks do?," asked Rehman, 35. That question has often strained ties between Washington and Islamabad, but it has been posed far more frequently since US special forces killed the late Osama bin Laden ... who had a brief but splitting headache... in May in a Pak town, where he had apparently been living for years.
Admiral Mike Mullen said before retiring as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last month that a jihad boy group that had attacked US targets in Afghanistan was a "veritable arm" of Pak intelligence.
Then President Barack B.O. Obama put Pakistain on notice that it must go after Islamic fascistior risk severing ties to the United States, the source of billions of dollars in aid.
Pakistain denies links with jihad boy groups and says it has sacrificed more than any other country that joined the US "war on terror" after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Officials say more than 3,000 Pak soldiers have been killed, greater than the combined corpse count among NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces in Afghanistan. Nearly 10,000 have been maimed.
"Imagine how the US would react if such a number had bit the dust and then comments would come from other countries, which said that, 'You are the problem, you are part of the problem'," Pak Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said in an interview with an American radio programme.
For the relatives of soldiers killed in battles against the jihad boys, the charges are especially outrageous.
Living on memories
Captain Omerzeb Afzal Baig and two other soldiers died in the prime of their lives when their vehicle was blown apart in May 2009 by a remote-controlled roadside kaboom planted by the Taliban.
His father sits proudly in the family living room beside a large photograph of Omerzeb in military gear, taken two hours before his death in a quick reactionary force mission he had volunteered to lead.
"Look at his smartness, look at the way he is smiling, right in the battlefield area. Look at the way that he is all prepared," said Muhammad Afzal Baig, himself a retired colonel.
"Do you see anything like worries on his face? Not a single wrinkle. He is all prepared; he is fully charged, and that is what a Pak soldier is made of."
The United States wants Pakistain to crack down on Islamic fascistiwho cross its border to attack Western forces in Afghanistan.
But although it has one of the largest militaries in the world, Islamabad says its hands are full fighting Islamic fascistiwho attack government and civilian targets in Pakistain.
At a military rehabilitation hospital in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, amputees are surprisingly frank about how vulnerable troops have become to the Talibs, described as masters of guerrilla warfare, with plenty of firepower and precision.
"You just don't know what to expect. When you launch an attack they can hit you from any side," said wheelchair-bound private Zaheer Abbas, recalling how he flew up in the air after stepping on a home-made Taliban bomb.
"Everyday, they are growing in number. The situation is getting worse."
Paralysis
Critics say Pakistain is partly to blame for the chaos because it nurtured jihad boy groups for years and used them as proxies in Afghanistan or against rival India -- creating a Frankenstein in its own back yard.
Pak officials blame US policies -- such as the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan -- for the instability. Thousands of Islamic fascistifled from Afghanistan to northwest Pakistain at that time and formed alliances with other fighters.
Nowadays, Islamabad complains that Washington is ungrateful no matter how many losses Pakistain suffers battling Islamic fascistiin the border region. Many of its soldiers are determined to see the battle through.
Ansar Javed for instance. During a three-hour battle to reach a Taliban position in May, the 24-year-old slowly made his way up a mountain, dodging incoming rockets and grenades.
Then, in an instant, a sniper's bullet struck the front of his neck, causing paralysis from the waist down. He is barely able to move his arms and has no control over his bowels.
"We are doing everything we can. We have to finish them off," he said, speaking from a hospital bed.
"We don't need anyone's help," he added bitterly.
The tense alliance between the two nations is likely to come under more stress, with stepped up demands from the United States for Pakistain to take decisive action against jihad boys.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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I believe I am owed an apology in reference to last evening's adhominum post. Furthermore, the writer should be permanently banned as should anyone who levies such personal attacks. Your opinoin please. I welcome and look forward to seeing your comments.
#5
We'll see what happens g(r)om. This is the second time this sort of attack has taken place of late. It was posted at 2209 EST last evening and has still not been deleted or "sinktrapped." If a deletion and apology is not forthcoming, one can only conclude that the management agrees with the disturbing commentary.
#8
Thanks, lotp -- you really brought into perspective why our guys have PTSD and in later years, "awake to ghost." Thanks for telling us, how the military trains our "warriors." The "least wrong option" WOW
Thank you for your comments, but frankly, all I see is a continued personal attack. With regard to the following:
Because not once in your postings here at the Burg have you ever shown that you are a true warrior who has internalized that critical standard: "be willing to kill people and break things if need be, but do not ever ever ever take it lightly.”
Nor will you ever be "shown" those things. I am quite comfortable with my un-extraordinary accomoplishments, service, on-going current contribution albeit limited, and... "internalizations" which by the way, are and will remain private. Gratuitous tail-sniffing, references to "strategic assignments" and bonifides checks are really not my cup of tea. Activities such as these fall into the same league as the ad hominem personal attacks that appear to have become the approved domain of a few in this forum.
Thank you once again for your comments, and have a pleasant week end.
You regularly try to push the limit here at the Burg - with not-so-sly racial references from time to time, by calling for our military to commit atrocities recently.
From time to time the mods have imposed a vacation from posting for that reason.
This time around you were called on it.
You don't take it well when you're called on it, as OldSpook did angrily last night and as I did today with a different tone.
#17
Race card down is it? If my word count is correct, that took no fewer that 200 written words. My compliments! UHDS has a spot for you as a guest lecturer next summer I am certain.
Seriously, please do not confuse my urging of a win by annihilation one's enemy as racial genocide. That really is a bit twisted. My desire is simply to win or withdraw and end the bloodshed. All indications are the Muslim world initiated this ugly affair. I still hold hope that we may finish it with some degree of aplomb and dignity. Failing that, cut losses and get out!
No, I've never had the honour of being banned on the Burg. Sink vaulted a few times, but never banned. My absences have been due to work or travel, and I've certainly missed you as well.
Again, have a most pleasant week end, and send Herman Cain a few dollars as you can. He needs your support.
#19
Yes! Yes! In fact I do. I have for years sought that coveted office, but alas, have failed quite miserably. One of my lesser failures mind you. You, among all men and wymin, have been bestowed with inerrant memory, great knowledge, and unparalleled character descernment. It enables you and selected others to say anything you please to the.... little people. To include critiquing their free-rants, bashing them in anonymity, referring to them as racists, warmongers, sofa-warriors, feminine hygene cleansing devices, and worse. I congratulate you on your accomplishment and strongly encourage you to tell others, for a union, wear a button, an arm band, or other distinctive symbol.
Once again, have a safe and most enjoyable week end.
#21
My thanks and 'cap tip' to Scooter. Sadly, others could have seen the inappropriateness of the comments, and done the same much earlier. For whatever reason, they failed.
With regard to "respect" a short comment if I may. I have on occasion in years past, been extended the "respect" of both greater and lesser men. Many of which still correspond after several decades. When I requires yours, be sure, I'll ring you up. Our short debate has been both stimulating and therapeutic. Ms. Besoeker always thought I was too easily entertained. Oh well, animal lover that I am, just call me a pig in the mud, I love it! Thank you! It has been a very slow night here and I am out of Keurig K-Cups dimmit. But you have made it all worthwhile.
If I failed to mention it earlier, please don't forget candidate Herman Cain and a nice campaign contribution. We've completely worn poor old Barry out, and we certainly don't need any Mittens.
I regarded OS's comments as... crusty. Not necessarily over the top, but way short of what I'd call inappropriate.
Let's face it the man can lay in a string of taunts if his buttons are pushed. I know. I've pushed them.
However, to use a baseball metaphor:
I would not have sink trapped him, but that's like a called strike. If Besoeker doesn't like where the ball is called a strike, he's better be prepared to bunt.
#24
Sadly,others could have seen the inappropriateness of the comments, and done the same much earlier. For whatever reason, they failed.
I've heard worse here.
It's a good thing you weren't around in the early days of Rantburg; your sensibilities would have ended up in bloody heaps. Come to think of it, sort of like your metaphorical Afghan villagers.
But do have a good weekend, Meneer. And remember, the door to Rantburg is always open. You know, the one marked 'Entrance'... and 'Exit'.
Kind Regards,
Pappy
(as a private citizen, since it seems to have to be mentioned.)
#25
.com would've served you your sensitivities marinated in false sympathies. Tighten up. A little less sensitivity in Mod reaction might be appropriate...
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/14/2011 22:32 Comments ||
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#26
I'm coming late to the party since I worked late at the clinic today, but since Besoeker called on me by name.
I personally would not have sink trapped Old Spook's comment, since I agree with just about every word of it.
OS can be quite crusty, as moderator badanov points out, and perhaps he was exhibiting some poor taste, as moderator Scooter points out. However, OS is also correct in making clear that the US military lives by a code. Some of our people occasionally forget that code, and when they do and they're caught, they're punished.
WWII was eons ago. We don't fight like that anymore, least because we haven't yet been put into an existential conflict -- kill or be killed. Al Qaeda tried that on 9/11, and since 9/12 they've done the vast majority of the dying. We've managed to put them into that situation without having to commit horrific atrocities. That's good.
I agree with OS: the United States should not and cannot "kill them all". That way leads to the destruction of our souls. Why live if we have to live like that?
I agree with moderator lotp, who pretty much says the same thing.
Finally, I agree with moderator Pappy (who I note doesn't always agree with OS), who points out the clearly marked 'Exit' sign.
You've been around here a while, Besoeker, and you've also pushed a lot of buttons. Without offering any apologies yourself, if I recall correctly. Not that I'm calling it on you tonight; no, not me.
Grow a thicker skin. It's a sandpaper world out there.
AoS
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/14/2011 22:49 Comments ||
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#27
A little less sensitivity in Mod reaction might be appropriate...
Especially when what's at stake are the allegedly hurt feelings of a man who has called for an official policy of military atrocities against Afghan villagers.
What was I thinking?
Sorry, Frank - there are only a few things that I will be publicly and deeply angry about. Calls to set aside a difficult military ethical standard that was hard won is one of those things.
Especially when it comes from someone who once claimed, IIRC, to have been a noncom in VietNam.
You know - that unpleasant affair in a little country with villages like My Lai.
What pisses me off deeply is not only what he proposed be done to women, children, noncombatants.
It's what doing such things would in turn do to the people who are serving in uniform today, and to us as a people.
[Dawn] Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Senior Minister and Awami National Party leader Bashir Ahmad Bilour on Wednesday regretted the repeated demands by head of certain political party for holding negotiations with Taliban and said that such statements could be given by politicians lacking sagacity.
He was talking to a group of journalists here. Apparently referring to Pakistain Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan ... who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... , the minister said that making such demands after exposure to the nefarious designs of Taliban put a question mark on the political maturity of the politician.
He said that Taliban had been involved in terrorist activities, killing of innocent people in suicide kabooms and destabilising the country.
Mr Bilour said that the former player advocating dialogue with those who had killed women and kiddies and targeted security forces must know that politics was not a playground where every technique could be tried.
"Politics is a delicate business specially when related to defence of the country and security of its people," he said and added that the present ANP-led provincial government believed in philosophy of non-violence and had held prolonged parleys with Taliban, inked a peace agreement and showed much leniency.
The minister said that the soft gesture of the government was not only misused, but the Taliban used the situation to strengthen themselves and breached the peace agreement and again started destroying schools and public buildings and killing people in suicide kabooms. The Taliban even gave a deadline to the provincial government for resignation, he said.
He said that that the government had eliminated subversive elements from Malakand.
The senior minister said that even laymen would not support parleys with Taliban who even did not spare to kill people in mosques and Eidgahs. He said that it was need of the hour to crush all terrorist elements with a spirit of national cohesion and unity.
In reply to a question, he said that the nation was in a state of war and this war could be won only by taking part with the same spirit as demonstrated by our forefathers in the war of independence.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday that an alleged Iranian-backed plot to kill the Saudi envoy to the United States is a "major escalation in Iran's sponsorship of terrorism."
Hague said London was in "close touch" with U.S. authorities and would work to agree an international response along with the United States, European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and Soddy Arabia to the U.S. charges, which Tehran denies.
"There are indications that this deplorable plot was directed by elements of the Iranian regime with the involvement of senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force," Hague told the House of Commons.
"This would appear to constitute a major escalation in Iran's sponsorship of terrorism outside its borders," he added.
"We are in close touch with the U.S. authorities and will work to agree an international response, along with the U.S., the rest of the EU and Soddy Arabia."
Iran has strongly denied No, no! Certainly not! any involvement in an alleged plot by the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force to kill the Saudi ambassador by hiring assassins from a Mexican narco mob for $1.5 million.
U.S. authorities on Tuesday named two principal suspects: Mansuor Arbabsiar, a used-car salesman who is a naturalized U.S. citizen and is now under arrest, and Gholam Shakuri, said to be an Iran-based member of the Quds Force believed to be in Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Sponsoring Terrorists/ Terrorism is YOUR job Islam.
NOY AMERICA'S, watch your lying mouth.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/14/2011 0:24 Comments ||
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#2
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday that an alleged Iranian-backed plot to kill the Saudi envoy to the United States is a "major escalation in Iran's sponsorship of terrorism."
#3
FYI as per FREEREPUBLIC > NORTH KOREA MOVES ARMS TO THE BORDER.
Unlike Islamist Iran, whom prefers to stay on the Military + Diplomatic defensive, + wait to be attacked + invaded, KIMMIE + REGIME/BOYZ have no fear striking first.
[An Nahar] Two people were killed in a clash between Jaafar and Rifai Families in Sharawineh Neighborhood in Baalbak on Thursday.
According to NNA, a person from Jaafar family was rubbed out as youths from his family were trying to kidnap a youth from Rifai family in Sharawinah neighborhood in Baalbek, while a ten year old child was killed by stray bullets.
" A Paleostinian Child was killed by stray bullets in the armed festivities," MTV reported, adding that "the army intervened to control the situation."
PM Najib Miqati followed-up on the clash and contacted Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and the Lebanese army Chief of Staff Gen. Walid Suleiman, demanding radical measures to contain the situation.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The West is trying but failing to instill "Iranophobia," Iran's supreme leader said Thursday in remarks that appeared to be prompted by, but did not directly address, U.S. allegations of a thwarted Tehran-sponsored liquidation plot.
"The repeat of ineffective and stupid methods by hapless and distracted policymakers in the West (to spread) Iranophobia will again bear no result," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in an army base in the western city of Kermanshah, the official IRNA news agency reported.
"They will once again taste failure's bitterness," he said.
Khamenei added that Iran's arch-foe, the United States, was caught in a "quagmire" of its own creation because of its "wrong policies and performance."
The all-powerful leader did not explicitly respond to U.S. allegations that Iranian government officials were behind a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington.
His remarks were made just before US President Barack B.O. Obama demanded accountability from the top levels of the Iranian government over the alleged plot.
In separate comments, the commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards -- whose Quds Force special operations unit was implicated in the alleged plot -- said Western animosity towards the Islamic republic was only "natural" because of his country's achievements.
"Today Iran faces foreign and domestic enemies.... But these animosities are natural... because of the Islamic revolution's achievements in various fields," Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said in the city of Khoramabad, Mehr news agency reported.
Like Khamenei, Ali Jafari did not directly address the U.S. accusations leveled at Iran.
U.S. officials on Tuesday said they had charged two Iranians, one of them a dual US citizen, with preparing to carry out a kaboom on the Saudi envoy under a plan "conceived, sponsored and directed fromIran."
The U.S. Justice Department accused the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force of being involved based on testimony given by one of the Iranians who was in U.S. custody.
The other Iranian, said to be a member of the Quds Force, was on the lam and believed to have left the United States, according to U.S. authorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/14/2011 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Hillary Clinton
MADRID: Spain will withdraw the four F-18s deployed as part of its contribution to the NATO operation over Libya now that the governing National Transitional Council (NTC) controls most of the country, Defense Minister Carme Chacon said on Wednesday.
Asif Ali 
[Dawn] The National Assembly turned into a virtual battleground on Thursday when members from the Pakistain 
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
