Reactions to story from CSMonitor

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  5 September SWJ Roundup

  http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2008/09/5-september-swj-rou...
  88 days ago in 坓⁊求杯 · Authority: 369

  IRAQ / AFGHANISTAN Plan Would Shift Forces From Iraq to Afghanistan - Michael Gordon and Thom Shanker, New York Times The United States would carry out a modest shift of American forces from Iraq to Afghanistan by early next year under a confidential
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  http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/trick-or-treat-by-dig...
  89 days ago in Hullabaloo · Authority: 1,478

  Trick or Treat by digby Not that anyone cares about this but October is just over the horizon and surprises are always possible. Pakistan: Uproar grows over first ground assault by US troops Pakistani military officials fear American intervention in the
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  the news- a post-dance-club quickie

  http://www.dysnomia.us/2008/09/the-news-a-post-dance-club-qu...
  87 days ago in dysnomia.us | piracy, space and post-soviet conflicts · Authority: 12

  OK, let’s start with this one. I seem to recall that Iran-Contra first broke because of a plane crash in Latin America, so you might want to keep an eye on this story too: Mexico drug plane used for US ‘rendition’ flights: report A private jet that crash-landed almost one year ago in eastern Mexico carrying 3.3 tons of cocaine had previously been used for CIA “rendition” flights, a newspaper report said here Thursday, citing documents from the United States and the European Parliament. I almost created a new tag called “awesome” for this one: Cats on a bank-owned roof: Bobcats claim foreclosed house Horse and Buggy + Wind Turbine = Indiana Amish Begin Embracing Renewable Energy You, Shale, Know Our Velocity!: BLM finalizes plan for leasing oil shale in U.S. West Phoenix Lander Tackles New Martian Mystery US warship confronts Russian military in ‘tinderbox’ port Georgia linked to Nato early warning system Son of former Georgian leader held on coup charge Pakistan: Uproar grows over first ground assault by US troops For a fun weekend activity, try calling your congressbeing and asking what authority Congress has given Bush to send troops into Pakistan. You won’t get any answers, of course, but it never hurts to make them sweat a little bit. Bosnia Seeking International Consortium to Explore Oil Defence minister announces permanent army reserve presence in Arctic
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  Pakistan Uproar Over Attack By U.S. Soldiers

  http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2008/09/pakistan-uproar-o...
  88 days ago in War News Updates · Authority: 27

  This picture taken 01 June 2007 shows pro-Taliban supporters as they chant anti-US slogans during a religious gathering in Killi Nalai, a village near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. More than 10,000 pro-Taliban supporters rallied near the Afghan border in southwest Pakistan to hear a tape by the brother of slain Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah. Slogans of "long live (Taliban supremo) Mullah Omar, (Al-Qaeda chief) Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban movement," rang out at the charged gathering. The fiery voice recording was said to be of Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, who has replaced his brother as military commander after he was killed about three weeks ago by NATO-led forces in southern Afghanistan Pakistan: Uproar Grows Over First Ground Assault By US Troops -- Christian Science Monitor Pakistani military officials fear American intervention in the tribal areas could spark a rebellion, derailing counterterrorism operations. United States forces conducted their first ground assaults into Pakistani territory from bases in Afghanistan early Wednesday morning in a raid on a suspected Taliban stronghold in South Waziristan, one of Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. The attack has caused an uproar in Pakistan and raised concerns of a new period of tension between the US and its valuable, nuclear-armed ally in the war on terror, which has entered a period of political uncertainty after the resignation of long-serving president Pervez Musharraf last month. The US has not officially commented on the raid, and leaders of the US-led NATO peacekeeping force in Afghanistan deny any knowledge of the attack, reports Reuters. But one US official, speaking to CNN on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the attack had occurred. Read more .... My Comment: Nato, Afghan, and American escalation of the war into Pakistan is a testament to how successful the Taliban have been in expanding the war in Afghanistan. If the Taliban were not making headway, this incursion into Pakistan would never have occurred. The safe havens and significant Pakistan support of the Taliban have created a monster that a good number of officials in the Pakistan Government have trouble accepting is a monster. Pakistani ceasefires with the Taliban, ISI (Pakistan Intelligence) support, as well as logistical and material support from a significant number of people in the Frontier Regions of Pakistan is causing misery and destruction in neighboring Afghanistan. I am surprised that the Pakistan Government is surprised that air strikes and arm troop assaults will occur as retaliation for what the Taliban is doing. It is clear that Pakistan never contemplated the consequences of their actions. My fear is that Nato, the U.S., and the Afghan Government will one day make a decision that Pakistan is not a reliable partner in this war against the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies, and that they will no longer be consulted on future operations. This is not the case for now .... but the attack on a safe house in Pakistan this week is a clear sign that Pakistan's neighbors are losing patience.
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  Ett par iaktagelser...

  http://vanderheeg.blogspot.com/2008/09/ett-par-iaktagelser.h...
  88 days ago in Krigsblogg 2008 · Authority: 21

  Rysktillverkade T-72:or utgör ryggraden också i den georgiska armén Irak Nu kan det sägas: Kriget är slut och jänkarna vann! Nu handlar det bara om uppstädning och att försöka bibehålla typ 20.000 man (5-6 mekaniserade brigader tycker jag verkar rimligt) på baser i området, bland annat i syfte att öva tryck mot Iran inför (den kanske ofrånkomliga) uppgörelsen med mullokratin... Det var en förbaskad tur att det här ägde rum innan en demokratisk administration hade kommit till stånd i USA... Men även om jag som europé och av säkerhetsskäl hellre ser en McCain-administration än en som leds av Barack Obama måste jag likväl säga att Obama var ganska tydlig i intervjun som TV-kanalen FOX gjorde igår. Han sade rakt ut att ett iranskt kärnvapen är oacceptabelt och att militära åtgärder finns med i beräkningen. Tack för det! Afghanistan Det går förvisso utmärkt i Irak, men i Afghanistan har vi problem. Dock är det lätt att identifiera dessa svårigheter - och de stavas Pakistan. Så snart som våra gossar möter talibanerna på slagfältet gör de hackebiff av dem, men helvetesmuhammedanerna har - som läget nu är - hela tiden möjlighet att dra sig tillbaka över gränsen till Pakistan för att konsolidera, omgruppera och kraftsamla. Vi kommer aldrig att vinna detta krig om vi inte kan slå mot deras baser i Pakistan. Och detta måste ske med eller utan den pakistanska regeringens medgivande. I intervjun på FOX sade Obama något intressant, nämligen att han planerar att avbryta all vapenleverans till Pakistan om de inte agerar i linje med västvärldens intressen. Det kanske ligger något i detta... Hur som helst har Bushadministrationen inte vågat sig på något dylikt vis-à-vis Islamabad... Georgien Till alla de som fortfarande tror att georgierna startade sommarkriget i Kaukasus vill jag bara säga följande: ni såg ju på teve att ryssarna använde sig av T-80 och T-90 stridsvagnar vid inmarschen i Georgien. Dessa relativt moderna kärror finns i normala fall endast grupperade vid gränsen till Kina och i Petersburgs och Moskvas milo. 58:e armén, som är ansvarigt för milo Kaukasus, har inga sådana vagnar. Det handlar här om en klass-C-formation vars "pansarnäve", 141 pansarbataljonen, endast är utrustad med uråldriga T-72 och T-55-kärror. Det är vidare otänkbart - enligt min mening - att 58:e armén kan sätta sig i rörelse på bara 24 timmar efter det att georgierna försökte att kväsa de förband av "fredsbevarande styrkor" som började att bombardera georgiska byar i Sydossetien den 7 juli. Så här gick det till: Ryssarna hade flyttat fram mekaniserade klass-A-formationer redan i slutet av juni. I början av juli började ryska diversionsförband, utklädda till "fredsbevarare", idka terror mot georgisk civilbefolkning varvid den georgiska armén svarar. När detta sker rullar de ryska styrkorna in. Man har då en styrka på c:a tre divisioner att jämföra med georgiernas tre brigader (den fjärde var vid tillfället deploajerad i Irak). Slutsats: Ryssarna har planerat detta från första början. Ett par lästips:Hur man drar ned styrkorna i Irak utan att förlora kriget; John Nagl, Colin Kahl, and Shawn Brimley, New York Times: "How To Exit Iraq"Amerikanska trupper går alltmer in på pakistanskt territorium för att kväsa radikalislamismen; Liam Stack, Christian Science Monitor: "Pakistan: Uproar grows over first ground assault by US troops"Det här är riktigt otäckt - det handlar om det allt mer ökande stödet från Iran till Hizbollah; redaktionell ledare Washington Times: "Beware the Avenging Hezbollah" Dagens film: Ja, så här ser det ut... Varken bättre: varken sämre. Ameriknskt marininfanteri i Afghanistan (AP)
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  U.S. Forces Conduct Ground Assault On Pakistan

  http://pimpinturtle.com/2008/09/04/us-forces-conduct-ground-...
  89 days ago in I'm A Pimpin Turtle... · Authority: 39

  Christian Science Monitor United States forces conducted their first ground assaults into Pakistani territory from bases in Afghanistan early Wednesday morning in a raid on a suspected Taliban stronghold in South Waziristan, one of Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. The attack has caused an uproar in Pakistan and raised concerns of a new period of tension between the US and its valuable, nuclear-armed ally in the war on terror, which has entered a period of political uncertainty after the resignation of long-serving president Pervez Musharraf last month. The US has not officially commented on the raid, and leaders of the US-led NATO peacekeeping force in Afghanistan deny any knowledge of the attack, reports Reuters. But one US official, speaking to CNN on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the attack had occurred. The Pentagon has refused to comment officially on the attack, but several defense officials acknowledged that U.S. military activity had taken place inside Pakistan. The senior U.S. official said a small number of U.S. helicopters landed troops in the village near Angoor Adda in South Waziristan, where Taliban and al Qaeda fighters have hunkered down over the years. Local media reports said the troops came out of a chopper and fired on civilians. The U.S. official said there may have been a small number of women and children in the immediate vicinity, but when the mission began "everybody came out firing" from the compound. He said the U.S. troops specifically attacked three buildings in the compound. They were believed to contain individuals responsible for training and equipping insurgents who have been crossing the border into Afghanistan in increasing numbers in recent months and staging large-scale, high-profile attacks against U.S. and coalition forces. There has been no indication that the US troops were targeting Osama bin Laden or his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Outraged at the violation of sovereignty, the Pakistani government summoned the US ambassador to protest the raid, reports the BBC. Some officials and analysts say that the raid into Angoor Adda may signal a more aggressive American strategy towards militants in Pakistan's tribal areas and their cross-border raids into Afghanistan, reports The New York Times. The commando raid by the American forces signaled what top American officials said could be the opening salvo in a much broader campaign by Special Operations forces against the Taliban and Al Qaeda inside Pakistan, a secret plan that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has been advocating for months within President Bush's war council. It also seemed likely to complicate relations with Pakistan, where the already unstable political situation worsened after the resignation last month of President Pervez Musharraf, a longtime American ally. "What you're seeing is perhaps a stepping up of activity against militants in sanctuaries in the tribal areas that pose a direct threat to United States forces and Afghan forces in Afghanistan," said one senior American official, who had been briefed on the attack and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the mission's political sensitivity. "There's potential to see more." But with political uncertainty and the rising tide of violence, some fear that an aggressive American posture could do more harm than good. Speaking to the Associated Press (AP), Pakistani Gen. Athar Abbas said he feared American attacks could provoke a tribal rebellion against Islamabad, which would completely derail counterterrorism operations in the region. He said the attack would undermine Pakistan's efforts to isolate Islamic extremists and could threaten NATO's major supply lines, which snake from Pakistan's Indian Ocean port of Karachi through the tribal region into Afghanistan. "We cannot afford a huge uprising at the level of tribe," Abbas told AP. "That would be completely counterproductive and doesn't help the cause of fighting terrorism in the area." Bloodshed in the tribal areas has become increasingly common in recent weeks. Until a cease-fire was announced last weekend, the Pakistani Army had killed hundreds of militants in the Bajaur tribal region. In a separate incident on Wednesday, Pakistani forces killed 30 militants in a gun battle in the Swat Valley, another site of fierce military-militant clashes, reports Agence France-Presse. On Thursday morning, 25 police recruits were kidnapped by Taliban forces in the tribal areas while on their way to a training center.

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