Seven killed as Taliban ‘shoot down’ US chopper

The military sources based in Angoor Adda, a border town between Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal region and Afghanistan’s Paktika province, also said they had also heard similar reports of shooting down of the US chopper by Taliban just across the border.  >>>>>

Taliban Kill Dozens in Bus Ambush, Officials Say

The attack was on the main road running from the southern city of Kandahar to the western town of Herat, General Qati said. It took place in Maiwand District, which is known as an area with a significant Taliban presence, where attacks on military convoys are frequent. The road is also the main route for British and Afghan army troops traveling to Helmand Province, where the insurgency is strongest.  >>>>>

Not denying its authenticity, it would have been more credible if there were something more concrete from the side of the Taliban to verify such a claim.  It would not be the first time that friendly fire on suspected Taliban recruits or prisoner releases is set up where the massacre is blamed on the other side.  It would serve the purpose of the killers on many levels, to include offsetting the propaganda gains the Taliban may have had in the taking down of the U.S. chopper.  Even Sun Tzu writes about this tactic in the ‘Art of War’.

The reason for the hesitation in accepting this article as truth is that the War on Terror has been fought with many lies.  Even the ‘inadvertent’ mass killing of innocent civilians is denied by the West and the Afghan forces, until the evidence is overwhelmingly undeniable.

Afghan strike ‘kills civilians’

At least 18 civilians have been killed in an air strike by foreign forces in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, reports say.

A BBC reporter in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah saw the bodies – three women and the rest children – ranging in age from six months to 15. >>>>>

How Deeply is the U.S. involved in the Afghan Drug Trade?

The answer is simple and dismaying. America’s local allies in Afghanistan, the politicians and warlords who overthrew Taliban in 2001, are up to their turbans in the heroin trade. Drug money is the blood that courses through Afghanistan’s veins and keeps the economy limping along. The U.S.-installed Karzai regime in Kabul propped up by US and NATO bayonets has only two sources of income: cash handouts from Washington, and the proceeds of drug dealing.

When Taliban ruled 90% of Afghanistan from 1996-2001, it almost totally stamped out poppy cultivation as un-Islamic. The UN’s drug control agency has confirmed this fact. >>>>>

Defections hit Afghan forces

After fighting the Taliban for the past seven years, many working for the Afghan security forces are now switching sides…

“Our soil is occupied by Americans and I want them to leave this country. That is my only goal,” he added.  >>>>>

As Taliban Influence Grows, ‘Shadow Government’ Seems an Increasingly Viable Option to Afghans

The Afghan government has insisted all along that the Taliban’s interest in the provinces begins and ends with their designs on recapturing Kabul. And with the Taliban openly patrolling the streets during the day, Afghan government police don’t dare enter many of the areas. Not that they’re needed, as many villagers say that crime has virtually vanished anyhow.  >>>>>

Pak warns US against border violations

Pakistani Government sources were quoted by the Dawn News channel on Monday as saying that Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari had told British officials on the same day that violations of Pakistan’s frontiers would not be tolerated...

Islamabad says the strikes are an infringement of its sovereignty and are counterproductive in the battle against militants. Pakistani civilian and military leaders have frequently protested over the US incursions into Pakistan’s tribal region, with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani terming the attacks as an ‘act of terrorism’. >>>>>

‘Collateral damage’ or targeted killing, the effect is much the same

But now I ask a question. When US troops massacre Iraqi civilians in Haditha because their buddy has been murdered, what is the difference between their revenge and that of Saddam? When a Taliban attack on Nato forces in Afghanistan provokes a US air strike on a village and leaves women and children torn to pieces in the ruins – this now seems the inevitable result – what is the difference between those innocent deaths and the destruction of the families of Abdullah’s grandchildren in Dujail?  >>>>>

Moscow calls for anti-US alliance

In a speech delivered to European leaders at a conference hosted by the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to discuss the international financial crisis, Mr Medvedev sought to show that the US was at the root of all the world’s problems. He blamed Washington’s “economic egotism” for the world’s financial woes and then accused the Bush Administration of taking Europe to the brink of a new cold war by pursuing a deliberately divisive foreign policy.

He also maintained that the US was once again trying to return to a policy of containing Russia. “After toppling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the United States started a series of unilateral actions,” Mr Medvedev said. “As a result, a trend appeared in international relations towards creating dividing lines. This was in fact the revival of a policy popular in the past and known as containment.”  >>>>>

French army chief rules out military victory in Afghanistan

PARIS (AFP) — The head of the French military General Jean-Louis Georgelin on Wednesday backed comments by a senior British military officer’s view that the war in Afghanistan was unwinnable.

A British officer “was saying that one cannot win this war militarily, that there is no military solution to the Afghan crisis and I totally share this feeling,” Georglin told French television channel Public Senat.  >>>>>

Former ambassador of Taliban to Pakistan, Mull Abdul Salam Zaeef rejected the reports of talks between Taliban and Afghan government in Saudi Arabia

Asked what was the solution of the problem, Zaeef said, “I believe talks should be held without putting any condition by either sides. Putting condition by Afghan government for talks with Taliban is not right. The government’s condition means to recognize the government which Taliban will not accept.”

“The talks should be unconditional and the US should also present their stance while the withdrawal of foreign troops, the future of Afghanistan and several other issues should be discussed,” he stated. >>>>>

Should not that have been the position taken from the onset, when the Taliban were the government and others would not accept them?  Someone is not being honest.  Who or what were to be gained by falsely reporting the original story?

Suicide bomber kills at least 18 at Pakistani politician’s home

An attacker walked into an open meeting that member of parliament Rashid Akbar Nowani was holding in the courtyard of his home in the central town of Bhakkar, in Punjab province, and blew himself up amid a throng of about 200. Some reports put the death toll as high as 25, with 53 hurt, some critically. Mr. Nowani – from the conservative, mildly Islamist Pakistan Muslim League (N), party of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif – got away with minor injuries to his legs. >>>>>

Seven Years in Afghanistan: From “War on Terror” to “War of Terror”

October 7, 2008. Seven years ago today the U.S. began the assault on Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban regime and produced the present mess. Abetted by U.S. bombing and commando operations, the Northern Alliance took Kabul on November 13, 2001. This was the initial U.S. response to 9-11, an assault on the U.S. by Saudi Islamist fanatics based in Afghanistan. The al-Qaeda attacks killed 3000 people. By March 2002 the U.S. bombing had produced that many Afghan civilian fatalities. This was just the beginning. >>>>>

Sources: Taliban split with al Qaeda, seek peace

The talks — the first of their kind aimed at resolving the lengthy conflict in Afghanistan — mark a significant move by the Saudi leadership to take a direct role in Afghanistan, hosting delegates who have until recently been their enemies.

They also mark a sidestepping of key “war on terror” ally Pakistan, frequently accused of not doing enough to tackle militants sheltering on its territory, which has previously been a conduit for talks between the Saudis and Afghanistan.  >>>>>

This story actually legitimizes the notion that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban had a marriage.  In effect, there is no al-Qaeda.  There is merely a response to an invasion, ethnic cleansing, torture and other horrors against humanity.  These very same people who have been defending their own homeland, have been conveniently lumped together to be identified by the West as Al-Qaeda.

The Taliban, or the government of Afghanistan at the time of that country’s invasion and occupation, are a group of people whom have been focusing internally – and simply desire to live out their own culture, under their own sovereignty.

The continued connection between the two groups, with Osama bin Laden purported to be acting as liaison, is something that the West needs in order to continue its marching orders on the War on Terror.  Interestingly enough, Pakistan and Afghanistan are commencing to ‘flip-flop’ on roles that neither wanted to take on, regardless of which side of the spectrum they fall on.

We can’t win Afghanistan war – Commander

But he added: “We’re not going to win this war. It’s about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that’s not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army. “We may well leave with there still being a low but steady ebb of rural insurgency.”

Brig Carleton-Smith said the aim should be to change the nature of the debate in Afghanistan so that disputes were settled by negotiation and not violence. “If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that’s precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this,” he said.  >>>>>

The government of Afghanistan prior to the invasion of that country was trying to do just that – ”…sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement,…precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this.”  to come back many years later, after the world has witnessed the attempt to ethnically cleanse and the successful changing of the government to one that the occupation forces feel more comfortable with – of course, for the natural resources of that region.

Reports Link Karzai’s Brother to Afghanistan Heroin Trade

Numerous reports link Ahmed Wali Karzai to the drug trade, according to current and former officials from the White House, the State Department and the United States Embassy in Afghanistan, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. In meetings with President Karzai, including a 2006 session with the United States ambassador, the Central Intelligence Agency’s station chief and their British counterparts, American officials have talked about the allegations in hopes that the president might move his brother out of the country, said several people who took part in or were briefed on the talks.

“We thought the concern expressed to Karzai might be enough to get him out of there,” one official said. But President Karzai has resisted, demanding clear-cut evidence of wrongdoing, several officials said. “We don’t have the kind of hard, direct evidence that you could take to get a criminal indictment,” a White House official said. “That allows Karzai to say, ‘where’s your proof?’ ” >>>>>

Pretty ironic that Karzai is ‘demanding clear-cut evidence of wrongdoing,’ when he somehow took over a country based on ignoring their previous government’s [Taliban] ’demand(ing) clear-cut evidence of wrongdoing.’

Altaf Hussain calls on USA to respect Pakistan border

He said each time USA fires a missile into Pakistan territory, it wins more support for the Taliban and exacerbate the already dangerous situation.

The MQM leader praised the armed forces of Pakistan for bolding facing the challenge posed by Taliban and said the people are fully behind them.  “Our people and armed forces will fight against religious extremists and Taliban who are destroying the life and property of all Pakistanis.” >>>>>

That is precisely what the U.S. wants him to say.  The question is, who gets to label what is extremism?

The Dark Heart of the Guantánamo Trials

My ethical qualms about continuing to serve as a prosecutor relate primarily to the procedures for affording defense counsel discovery. I am highly concerned, to the point that I believe I can no longer serve as a prosecutor at the Commissions, about the slipshod, uncertain “procedure” for affording defense counsel discovery. One would have thought … six years since the Commissions had their fitful start, that a functioning law office would have been set up and procedures and policies not only put into effect, but refined.

Instead, what I found, and what I still find, is that discovery in even the simplest of cases is incomplete or unreliable. To take the Jawad case as only one example — a case where no intelligence agency had any significant involvement — I discovered just yesterday that something as basic as agents’ interrogation notes had been entered into a database, to which I do not have personal access … These and other examples too legion to list are not only appalling, they deprive the accused of basic due process and subject the well-intentioned prosecutor to claims of ethical misconduct. >>>>>

Taliban Set Conditions before Serious Negotiations

Tashakkuri expressed to Asharq Al-Awsat his belief that trusted clerics from the Taliban visited Saudi Arabia to perform the minor pilgrimage during the month of Ramadan and said that Kabul is in discussions regarding 11conditions stressed by Taliban movement before holding serious negotiations, most notably the foreign forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, appointment of ministers from the fundamentalist movement in the principal ministries, and drawing up a new constitution for the country which underlines the importance of establishing an Islamic state on the land of Afghanistan. >>>>>

Suspected US drone kills six in Pakistan hit

According to local media, two missiles were fired at a house in the Khushali Torikhel area. Pakistani intelligence officials said the missiles struck the home of a local Taliban commander near Mir Ali, a town in the North Waziristan region.

The officials said a US drone aircraft, not Pakistani forces, had fired the missiles. Pakistani media reported that among the dead were a number of foreign militants.  >>>>>