Tag: Taliban

NATO Squirms Over Pakistan

NATO led a growing chorus of international concern Tuesday by warning that a truce between the government of Pakistan and Taliban militants in a restive region near the Afghan border risks giving the extremists a “safe haven.”

A hard-line cleric sent to the battle-scarred Swat Valley to negotiate with the Taliban received a hero’s welcome there by crowds shouting “Long live Islam! Long live peace!”

NATO has 55,000 troops in Afghanistan, and many face attacks by Taliban and al-Qaida fighters believed to find refuge in pockets of Pakistan’s northwest.

In the last few months, Swat has largely fallen to militants who have beheaded opponents, burned scores of girls’ schools and banned many forms of entertainment. Gunbattles between security forces and militants have killed hundreds, while up to a third of the valley’s 1.5 million people have fled.

The truce “is certainly reason for concern,” NATO spokesman James Appathurai said in Brussels. “We should all be concerned by a situation in which extremists would have a safe haven. Without doubting the good faith of the Pakistani government, it is clear that the region is suffering very badly from extremists and we would not want it to get worse.”

As part of the deal, the pro-Taliban cleric agreed to travel to Swat and discuss peace with Maulana Fazlullah, his son-in-law and the leader of the Swat Taliban. Muhammad and his convoy of 300 vehicles arrived in Swat’s main city of Mingora on Tuesday as hundreds of jubilant residents lined the roads and shouted slogans. Many of those in the convoy with him wore black turbans — a Taliban trademark.

Pakistan’s inability to regain Swat has embarrassed the shaky civilian government. However, Pakistani leaders insisted the deal was not a concession, but an attempt to fulfill demands by locals for a more efficient justice system.

Some 2,000 militants are believed to operate in the valley, and, in defiance of the presence of some 10,000 paramilitary and army troops, they have already set up their own courts, meting out punishments in line with an exceptionally harsh brand of Islamic law.

Officials said the main changes to the legal system will involve existing — but unenforced — laws that allow for Muslim clerics to advise judges when hearing cases and the setting up of an Islamic appeals court. The rules do not ban female education or contain other strict interpretations of Shariah often adhered to by many Taliban.

The Afghan Build-up Begins

And so it begins…….

Defense and congressional officials say President Barack Obama has approved an increase in U.S. forces for the flagging war in Afghanistan. The Obama administration is expected to announce on Tuesday or Wednesday that it will send one additional Army brigade and an unknown number of Marines to Afghanistan this spring. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the total is about 17,000 troops.

That would be the first installment on a larger influx of U.S. forces that have been widely expected this year. It would get a few thousand troops in place in time for the increase in fighting that usually comes with warmer weather and ahead of national elections this summer.

COMMENT:  How many of you saw “Charlie Wilson’s War?”  The movie about the Texas Congressman that almost singlehandedly ending the Cold War by arming the Afghans with modern weaponry so that they could adequately fight one of the world’s best militarises.  If you recall the world cheered the Afghans for their achievements on the battlefield and their victories.

But keep one thing in mind, if you DO NOT remember anything else, remember this…..WE, the United States Of America, are fighting the same people that defeated the Soviet military two decades ago.  And the same people that defeated the British empire 100 years ago.

Military might, may not be the best answer to the situation in Afghanistan is all I am saying.

Will This Help?

Pakistan agreed Monday to suspend military offensives and impose Islamic law in part of the restive northwest, making a gesture it hopes will help calm the Taliban insurgency while rejecting Washington’s call for tougher measures against militants.

A U.S. defense official called the deal “a negative development,” and some Pakistani experts expressed skepticism the truce would decrease violence. One human rights activist said the accord was “a great surrender” to militants.

Monday’s peace agreement applies to the Malakand region, which includes the former tourist destination of the Swat Valley, where extremists have gained sway by beheading people, burning girls schools and attacking security forces since a similar agreement broke down in August.

U.S. officials complained the earlier accord allowed militants to regroup and rearm and urged Pakistan’s government to concentrate on military solutions to the insurgency in the rugged frontier region, where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding.

Amir Haider Khan Hoti, chief minister in North West Frontier Province, said troops in Swat would remain there but stop offensive operations and go on “reactive mode,” retaliating only if attacked. He stressed they would not leave the valley until the militant threat was over.

Sounds like any troops in Afghanistan may have their problems compounded by this accord.

GOP Needs To Be More Like Taliban

In an interview with National Journal‘s Hotline, Republican Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas suggested his party could follow the model of the Taliban in its legislative battles.

“Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban,” Sessions said. “And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person’s entire processes. And these Taliban — I’m not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban. No, that’s not what we’re saying. I’m saying an example of how you go about [sic] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with.”

Sessions said the “Taliban” approach was a reaction to a lack of bipartisan outreach from House Democrats.

When pressed to clarify, Sessions said he was not comparing the House Republican caucus to the Taliban, the Muslim fundamentalist group.
“I simply said one can see that there’s a model out there for insurgency,” Sessions said before being interrupted by an aide. The staffer said Sessions was trying to convey that the Republicans need to start thinking about how to act strategically from their perch in the minority.

Damn, these guys are just making way too easy……..Not only is the GOP losing ground in the political arena but now they are losing ground in the logic arena.

Taliban Urges Obama On Afghan Policies

Afghanistan’s Taliban called on US president-elect Barack Obama to repudiate the “war-mongering” policies of President George W. Bush to repair the country’s image abroad, a group that monitors Islamist websites said.

“The ground realities in Afghanistan and the expectations of the people of America expressed through their votes demand that Obama should shun all policies followed by Bush,” said a Taliban statement as quoted by the SITE Intelligence group.

The Taliban warned that if Obama should “follow into the steps of Bush … and nurture the ambitions of prolonging the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq … then it is clear that the fate of the Democrats will be even more shameful and despicable than the Republicans.”

By continuing war with its “sky-high expenditure,” the United States will face “penury” and will not be able to recover “its previous caliber in the world and its good name,” said a transcript of the statement provided by the US-based SITE.

“This war, which is the outcome of Bush belligerence and war-mongering mindset, has resulted in failure both in Afghanistan and Iraq,” the Taliban said.

Obama, they said, “should respect the rights of the people to independence and observe the norms of human rights.

“In short, he should set out on a policy that will have a message of peace for the war-stricken world which has been victimized by the arrogance and tyranny of USA.”

“The overwhelming victory of Barrack Obama … reveals the collective willingness of American people not to continue the current despicable and anti-human wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

These statements may ruffle feathers but the truth is that some contact and purpose of the Taliban is needed, if not the US could be just another major power that goes down in defeat in Afghanistan.  The country has never been kind to outsiders and the NATO troops need all the help than can get.

Give Peace A Chance?

The Taliban have been engaged in secret talks about ending the conflict in Afghanistan in a wide-ranging ‘peace process’ sponsored by Saudi Arabia and supported by Britain, The Observer can reveal.

The unprecedented negotiations involve a senior former member of the hardline Islamist movement travelling between Kabul, the bases of the Taliban senior leadership in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and European capitals. Britain has provided logistic and diplomatic support for the talks – despite official statements that negotiations can be held only with Taliban who are ready to renounce, or have renounced, violence.

Sources in Afghanistan confirmed the controversial talks, though they said that in recent weeks they had ‘lost momentum’. According to Afghan government officials in Kabul, the intensity of the fighting this summer has been one factor. Another is the inconsistency of the Taliban’s demands.

Although there have been low-level contacts with individual Taliban commanders at district level before, the Saudi initiative is the first attempt to talk to the Taliban leadership council based in or around the south-west Pakistan city of Quetta, known as the ‘Quetta Shura’.

The Taliban are understood to have submitted a list of 11 conditions for ending hostilities, which include demands to be allowed to run key ministries and a programmed withdrawal of western troops.