Attacks on ISAF Supply Convoys

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

From the above article, the abysmal lack of capability and desire in local law enforcement to engage the militants (and given their meager capabilities perhaps a wise move on their part), is apparent.

Bloody joke is what the reasons for the cops not doing anything are, "busy investigating the Peshawar bombing".

What, the entire police department is investigating the bombing, during the wee hours of the night?

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

But because you have accepted the western propaganda and even local propaganda that all the Taliban are bad you label them all as bad.

The 'good local Taliban', said that they woudl attack the settled areas of Pakistan and the security forces, if US drone strikes do not stop.

Explain the logic to me on that. These 'good taliban' attack ISAF and the ANA across the border, and then complain when the US does the same to them, and on top of it, threaten to bomb Pakistan instead of taking it up with NATO!

 

[fatman17]

But everything I said is true,

then i think the army should hire you as a advisor since you r so ccok-sure of yourself!

 

[Kharian_Beast]

"Well, now that we've had the dumb side thoroughly represented"

What? Are you representing the DUMBER side?

I was speaking out against supporting this incident. The rest of thy dribble shall not be my kibble.

 

[S-2]

"I was speaking out against supporting this incident."

Whatever. You were also speaking out in support of usurping the sovereignty of Afghanistan when your nation can barely assert it's writ over itself. Don't be dissembling...and wipe your chin.

 

[Kharian_Beast]

"I was speaking out against supporting this incident."

Whatever. You were also speaking out in support of usurping the sovereignty of Afghanistan when your nation can barely assert it's writ over itself. Don't be dissembling...and wipe your chin.

Look who's telling me about usurping Afghanistan's sovereignty.

You act as if Pakistan was never at peace in it's tribal areas. Should I make you a time line of events or will that prove too embarrassing for you?

Anyways I am a proponent of Pashtun parts of Afghanistan joining with Pakistan in a loose federation like AM pointed out so that your nation's ability to execute operation Blood Border becomes futile.

 

[Silverfalcon]

Whatever. You were also speaking out in support of usurping the sovereignty of Afghanistan when your nation can barely assert it's writ over itself. Don't be dissembling...and wipe your chin.

That’s not true. I think that Pakistan does have legitimate interests and concerns in Afghanistan, more so than the US/NATO anyway given the fact that we share such a long unruly border, tribes, ethnic population and the fact that when the Pakistani FC stops smuggling of wheat into Afghanistan, Afghan children die and drugs produced with the good graces of the warlords (who basically rule the place) is pumped into Pakistan at an unbelievable rate...and lastly the fact that ALL of the Afghan War/Drug Lords have territorial designs and ambitions against Pakistan. If that doesn't warrant concern in Pakistan then I don't know what does, our ability to extend some kind of control over Afghanistan is not relevant. It might have been there yesterday, it might not be here today but it might be there tomorrow. Pakistan should have more say in Afghanistan, and it’s long term concerns should be legitimately addressed if we need a permanent solution to the Afghanistan problem.

I think it is healthy to realize that we should address the other person’s point of view without having to belittle or ridicule into order to make our point. Not everyone is going to agree with everyone’s suggestions, but being mean won’t help.

 

[S-2]

"Afghan children die and drugs produced with the good graces of the warlords (who basically rule the place) is pumped into Pakistan at an unbelievable rate"

Old story in Afghanistan. Care to guess how much opium was produced under the taliban regime? Care to speculate how much opium pays their bills now?

"...the fact that ALL of the Afghan War/Drug Lords have territorial designs and ambitions against Pakistan."

I look forward to your itemized list of Afghan War/Drug Lords. Completeness will be particularly fascinating. THEN I look forward to your itemized case against each and their irridentist designs. Your comment is absolute. I hope your evidence is as precise.

"...it might be there tomorrow."

That the ambition is even harbored points to Afghanistan's long term malaise. Given your immediate and near-term issues within your immediate locale, I'd focus on baby-steps designed to transform your own digs into something more habitable.

"...it’s long term concerns should be legitimately addressed ..."

Nice. Legitimate starts when you scour the notion of strategic space from the agenda. Then the GoA and you can discuss the Durand Line. Given your inability to move that forward while Afghanistan lay under the benevolent gaze of the taliban, I hold little hope there. Still, you must start somewhere. Perhaps a forthright willingness to DISCUSS the issue absent ISI meddling with proxies inside their borders might assist matters. Still, as you said, it's a long-term issue. Long-standing certainly. Long-term suggests dealing with more immediate concerns much closer within your home- and you've a plateful and one-half there.

"...being mean won’t help."

Consider that when next applauding the destruction of a bunch of vehicles and the death of a minimum wage night watchman for no damn reason. PRAY he left nobody behind whom needed his income.

You and I are nothing. Applause for his killers is everything...and mean.

 

[Awesome]

Of course Pakistanis are human. I guess what is going on is a low grade civil war and we, the US, is exacerbating it with our pressure and drone strikes. Did we cause the civil war? I think US public opinion would cause the US to back off if bin Laden and Zawahari were captured and/or killed. Can't the jihadi supporting politicians be convinced to make a bargain to give these guys up in exchange for an end to drone strikes and other pressures?

Politicians in Pak are not supporting Bin Laden. Some religious nutjobs came to power in the previous government, they are out of parliament now.

The Pakistani government WANTS to arrest Bin Laden and Zwahiri and wants to end the US incursions. They both just aren't ours to give, we don't have them. It is really not established that either of them are even alive or are even in Pakistan.

 

[dr.umer]

Old story in Afghanistan. Care to guess how much opium was produced under the taliban regime? Care to speculate how much opium pays their bills now?

Things were suppose to get improved with the presence of NATO forces in the region. But it seems quite opposite.

Afghanistan drug production up 150% since 2001

 

[Silverfalcon]

Care to speculate how much opium pays their bills now?

Well, I don't have statistics at the moment but I know that the amount of drugs being pumped into my nation today far exceeds the levels when the Taliban were in charge. Also the fact that the Taliban's insistence on cutting down of the 'Un-Islamic' drug business was a major contributing factor to their unpopularity and consequentially easy overthrowal by the Americans.

I look forward to your itemized list of Afghan War/Drug Lords.

Please don't do that, such information is not available. But I can certainly provide you with loads of text declaring that the relatively secular minded forces in control of Afghanistan do not consider the Durrand Line legitimate contrary to international law. I believe this was reasoning behind GoA venomous reaction to suggestions by Pakistan of mining the Durrand Line.

That the ambition is even harbored points to Afghanistan's long term malaise. Given your immediate and near-term issues within your immediate locale, I'd focus on baby-steps designed to transform your own digs into something more habitable.

Your suggestion is noted, but I hope you understand that Pakistan has to look at the larger and longer picture as well...because we and our children DO live here after all.

Legitimate starts when you scour the notion of strategic space from the agenda. Then the GoA and you can discuss the Durand Line.

Now you're just being presumptuous. Also I don't think there is anything to discuss about the Durrand Line...just because Pakistan was inherited from the British doesn't mean that old territorial agreements don’t stand. There is no legal way for Afghans to dispute Pakistan's sovereignty, like there is for instance with Kashmir being a UN Recognized Disputed Territory. So Afghans should be told that they are obliged to respect it, which no one seems to bother about.

to DISCUSS the issue absent ISI meddling with proxies inside their borders might assist matters.

There now, that's hardly fair. Everyone from the CIA to the Indians and Iranians have been 'meddling' in Afghanistan over the decades and probably still are. Why is only Pakistan's ISI crucified as the "villain" here. Americans were pretty 'enthusiastic' when the Taliban came around too. Besides need I remind you that technically, Pakistanis should be the ones in Afghanistan with the deepest concerns. If everyone else can jump for their sake of their 'national interests', why is it such a problem with Pakistan ties to hold the line?

Consider that when next applauding the destruction of a bunch of vehicles and the death of a minimum wage night watchman for no damn reason

Well, actually I wasn't talking about myself. But I just noted you have tendency to be rude with others when things don't go your way, which you would note if you went over your posts in this thread. Just a friendly bit of advice there, if you don't mind.

 

[Neo]

Sir I am appalled at your language calling our brothers in the region who are victims of American Terrorism "Terrorist."

Most Likely If the United States bombs a village of innocent people, that is terrorism. If the victims of that attack become orphans and decide they want to kill Americans that is not terrorism!!! They are fighting back, "Orphans of todays will be tomorrow's terrorist"-Neo , let me inform you Neo, terrorism is killing and targeting innocent civilians, hence if the orphans who are victims of American bombings and American terrorism decide to kill and slaughter US soldiers or perhaps those who have empowered Bush and Cheney in the States that isn't terrorism because those guys are NOT INNOCENT!!!

Trust me If Muslims bombed American "villages" or towns and used the same excuse as the Americans use today, they would still be calling us terrorist. Understand this truth.

SNIPER ON THE ROOF!!!

The word "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged, and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. But killing innocent civilians for revenge to me is wrong and two wrongs don't make a right.

 

[S-2]

"Things were suppose to get improved with the presence of NATO forces in the region. But it seems quite opposite."

Yeah. Interesting problem. The taliban eliminated theirs in 2001 to damned near zero by everybody's consensus. Of course, burning the fields and rendering them bare was viable when it's the good ol' U.S.A. providing $186 million in famine relief. So that bounces matters down to zero in 2001. Of course, in 1998-99, opium production was a different matter and a lucrative source of income to a largely unrecognized and outlaw state. Different priorities.

Guess that those guys weren't druglords though, eh?

Let's look at production NOW, though. Where? Helmand appears to be overwhelming the province de jure? Who's there? Two guesses- taliban and the Brits.

UNODC World Report-Opium/Heroin 2008

"In 2007, over two thirds of the opium poppy cultivation was located in the southern region of the country and 53% of it occured in the southern province of Hilmand alone."

Our approach and Britain's seems to differ slightly and they get a tad "tetchy" at suggestions that they may be enablers. Ah well, such is life in an alliance comprised of a herd of cats.

We'll see. No disputing that there are a lot people making big-time bucks off smack.

So too in Pakistan. Landi Kotel's reputation is global. The ISI and chinese with a firm reputation for the late seventies/early eighties explosion of drug labs in FATAland/NWFP. Dir, Mohmand, and Bajaur remains Pakistan's final redoubt of illicit production. Do those names ring an outlaw FATA bell with you? According to UNODC, not insignificant either.

UNODC Country Profile-Pakistan 2008

 

[dr.umer]

Taliban Expanding Foothold in Afghanistan, Report Finds ​

7 Dec 2008

WASHINGTON -- The Taliban have expanded their footprint in Afghanistan and now have a permanent presence in nearly three-quarters of the country, according to a new report.

The Paris-based International Council on Security and Development, a think tank that maintains full-time offices in Afghanistan, said the Taliban have spread across much of the country and are beginning to encircle the capital, Kabul.

The group said Taliban fighters have advanced out of southern Afghanistan, a region where they often hold de facto governing power, and carry out regular attacks in western and northwestern Afghanistan as well as in and around Kabul. Taliban forces can be found in 72% of Afghanistan, up from 54% a year earlier.

"While the international community's prospects in Afghanistan have never been bleaker, the Taliban has been experiencing a renaissance that has gained momentum since 2005," the report said. "The West is in genuine danger of losing Afghanistan."

Afghanistan has seen a sharp spike in violence this year, with U.S. fatalities and civilian casualties hitting records. Some American commanders fear the Taliban will start an offensive this winter.

President-elect Barack Obama has said he will deploy tens of thousands of new troops to Afghanistan, shifting resources from Iraq. There are currently about 34,000 American troops in Afghanistan, and the Pentagon has announced plans to send at least 20,000 reinforcements in 2009. Obama aides have said the new administration also will work to strengthen Afghanistan's central government, judiciary and national police force.

The think tank mapped recent attacks in Afghanistan and said provinces with at least one strike per month had a "permanent Taliban presence."

Norine MacDonald, the think tank's president and lead researcher, said the Taliban, following the strategy of earlier Afghan insurgents, are slowly encircling Kabul by establishing bases close to the city and regularly attacking three of the four major roads leading out of the capital.

Ms. MacDonald said the number of attacks inside the city, including assassinations and kidnappings of Westerners and Afghans, has also increased sharply.

The group recommends that U.S. and NATO commanders minimize their use of military power, recruit troops from Muslim nations into the current American- and European-dominated multinational force and expand economic assistance.

 

[fatman17]

Taliban Expanding Foothold in Afghanistan, Report Finds ​

7 Dec 2008

WASHINGTON -- The Taliban have expanded their footprint in Afghanistan and now have a permanent presence in nearly three-quarters of the country, according to a new report.

The Paris-based International Council on Security and Development, a think tank that maintains full-time offices in Afghanistan, said the Taliban have spread across much of the country and are beginning to encircle the capital, Kabul.

The group said Taliban fighters have advanced out of southern Afghanistan, a region where they often hold de facto governing power, and carry out regular attacks in western and northwestern Afghanistan as well as in and around Kabul. Taliban forces can be found in 72% of Afghanistan, up from 54% a year earlier.

"While the international community's prospects in Afghanistan have never been bleaker, the Taliban has been experiencing a renaissance that has gained momentum since 2005," the report said. "The West is in genuine danger of losing Afghanistan."

Afghanistan has seen a sharp spike in violence this year, with U.S. fatalities and civilian casualties hitting records. Some American commanders fear the Taliban will start an offensive this winter.

President-elect Barack Obama has said he will deploy tens of thousands of new troops to Afghanistan, shifting resources from Iraq. There are currently about 34,000 American troops in Afghanistan, and the Pentagon has announced plans to send at least 20,000 reinforcements in 2009. Obama aides have said the new administration also will work to strengthen Afghanistan's central government, judiciary and national police force.

The think tank mapped recent attacks in Afghanistan and said provinces with at least one strike per month had a "permanent Taliban presence."

Norine MacDonald, the think tank's president and lead researcher, said the Taliban, following the strategy of earlier Afghan insurgents, are slowly encircling Kabul by establishing bases close to the city and regularly attacking three of the four major roads leading out of the capital.

Ms. MacDonald said the number of attacks inside the city, including assassinations and kidnappings of Westerners and Afghans, has also increased sharply.

The group recommends that U.S. and NATO commanders minimize their use of military power, recruit troops from Muslim nations into the current American- and European-dominated multinational force and expand economic assistance.

a NATO spokesman has come out on BBC and rejected the aforementioned claims that the Taliban now control +70% of afghanistan. on the torching of the NATO supply depot, he claims that this is just one of many ways of getting supplies into afghanistan and therefore NATO is not too worried with this setback. however he continued to commend the contractors who are responsible for this huge logistic effort.