Monday, February 2, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Palestinian death toll tops 900: Gaza official - Yahoo! News
Palestinian death toll tops 900: Gaza official - Yahoo! News: "GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli troops fought gun battles with Hamas fighters on Monday, keeping military pressure on the Islamist group while avoiding all-out urban warfare that would complicate ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the Gaza war.
Medical officials said the Palestinian death toll in the offensive Israel began 17 days ago had risen past 900 and included at least 380 civilians. Israel says three Israeli civilians, hit by Hamas rockets, and 10 soldiers have died."
Medical officials said the Palestinian death toll in the offensive Israel began 17 days ago had risen past 900 and included at least 380 civilians. Israel says three Israeli civilians, hit by Hamas rockets, and 10 soldiers have died."
Sunday, January 11, 2009
6 troops, 40 militants killed in Pakistan attack - Yahoo! News
6 troops, 40 militants killed in Pakistan attack - Yahoo! News: "PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Hundreds of militants, many from Afghanistan, attacked a Pakistani paramilitary camp in a lawless northwestern tribal region early Sunday, sparking a major clash that left six security troops and 40 insurgents dead.
The brazen raid in Mohmand suggested sophisticated cross-border coordination among Taliban militants nesting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and underscored the continued strength of the militancy despite an ongoing Pakistani military offensive."
The brazen raid in Mohmand suggested sophisticated cross-border coordination among Taliban militants nesting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and underscored the continued strength of the militancy despite an ongoing Pakistani military offensive."
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Militants holed up in caves, says India -DAWN - Top Stories; January 08, 2009
Militants holed up in caves, says India -DAWN - Top Stories; January 08, 2009: "SRINAGAR, Jan 7: A gunbattle between Indian troops and a group of militants raged for a seventh day on Wednesday, making it one of the longest battles in occupied Kashmir in years, officials said.
The fighting erupted last Thursday in the Poonch sector after soldiers and police, acting on a tip-off, carried out a search operation in a densely forested area.
The battle has so far left four militants, two soldiers and a policeman dead and several Indian personnel wounded.
The militants were using natural caves as hideouts, senior army officer Brigadier Gurdeep Singh said."
The fighting erupted last Thursday in the Poonch sector after soldiers and police, acting on a tip-off, carried out a search operation in a densely forested area.
The battle has so far left four militants, two soldiers and a policeman dead and several Indian personnel wounded.
The militants were using natural caves as hideouts, senior army officer Brigadier Gurdeep Singh said."
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan sacks security advisor
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan sacks security advisor: "Pakistan has sacked its national security advisor as tensions continue between Islamabad and India over November's attacks in Mumbai.
Mehmood Ali Durrani was officially accused of showing 'irresponsible behaviour' and a 'lack of coordination' on security matters.
A BBC correspondent says the main accusation appears to be that he failed to share information with politicians.
Islamabad has confirmed the only gunman to survive Mumbai is a Pakistani.
More than 170 people died when 10 gunmen attacked Mumbai on 26 November."
Mehmood Ali Durrani was officially accused of showing 'irresponsible behaviour' and a 'lack of coordination' on security matters.
A BBC correspondent says the main accusation appears to be that he failed to share information with politicians.
Islamabad has confirmed the only gunman to survive Mumbai is a Pakistani.
More than 170 people died when 10 gunmen attacked Mumbai on 26 November."
Hamas Pulling Back Into Crowded Cities, Beckoning Israelis - washingtonpost.com
Hamas Pulling Back Into Crowded Cities, Beckoning Israelis - washingtonpost.com: "JERUSALEM, Jan. 7 -- When thousands of heavily armed Israeli soldiers poured into the Gaza Strip on Saturday night, Hamas pulled back.
Rather than stand and fight against the Middle East's strongest army, the Islamist movement opted for a tactical withdrawal, with its fighters melting away into the strip's sprawling cities and refugee camps, according to Gaza residents and Israeli military analysts and officers.
Now, Hamas appears to be daring the Israeli troops to follow."
Rather than stand and fight against the Middle East's strongest army, the Islamist movement opted for a tactical withdrawal, with its fighters melting away into the strip's sprawling cities and refugee camps, according to Gaza residents and Israeli military analysts and officers.
Now, Hamas appears to be daring the Israeli troops to follow."
Monday, January 5, 2009
Livni: Gaza op is war on terror | JTA - Jewish & Israel News
Livni: Gaza op is war on terror | JTA - Jewish & Israel News: "JERUSALEM (JTA) -- When Israel is attacked it will retaliate, Tzipi Livni said before a meeting with her European counterparts.
Israel's foreign minister called the Gaza operation 'a necessary war on terror,' adding that 'We don't sign agreements with terror; we fight terror' during a news conference Monday afternoon in Jerusalem.
Livni was scheduled to meet a delegation from European Union countries, including the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, France and Sweden, as well as E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner."
Israel's foreign minister called the Gaza operation 'a necessary war on terror,' adding that 'We don't sign agreements with terror; we fight terror' during a news conference Monday afternoon in Jerusalem.
Livni was scheduled to meet a delegation from European Union countries, including the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, France and Sweden, as well as E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner."
Tired of hiding from rockets | Around Israel | Jerusalem Post
Tired of hiding from rockets | Around Israel | Jerusalem Post: "'I'm done,' the gray-haired merchant said as he stood behind the counter of his small shop in a commercial area of town. He wore a brown cap and an olive sweater to ward off the cold.
In response to the heightened rocket fire that has resulted from Israel's Gaza operation, all the stores in the square to his right were closed. In contrast, the shops to his left continued to operate as if Palestinians in Gaza were not launching rockets.
Bent on keeping to a normal routine, Yitzhaki came to work as usual on Monday morning. In contrast, he said, his wife has refused to leave their house, even though it lacks a safe room."
In response to the heightened rocket fire that has resulted from Israel's Gaza operation, all the stores in the square to his right were closed. In contrast, the shops to his left continued to operate as if Palestinians in Gaza were not launching rockets.
Bent on keeping to a normal routine, Yitzhaki came to work as usual on Monday morning. In contrast, he said, his wife has refused to leave their house, even though it lacks a safe room."
Foreign Policy In Focus | Obama: Listen to Iraqi Opinion
Foreign Policy In Focus | Obama: Listen to Iraqi Opinion: "Obama's campaign website, which differs only slightly from his transition website, lays out very clearly what he sees as problematic with the Iraq War. It highlights U.S. casualties — without mentioning the hundreds of thousands (some studies estimate over one million) of Iraqi civilians who have died as a result of the invasion and occupation — and the exorbitant financial cost of the war, while arguing from a strategic perspective that the diversion of troops and resources to Iraq 'continues to set back our ability to finish the fight in Afghanistan.'
Not only is Iraqi opinion completely ignored, but Obama's website actually blames the victim — a popular line with both Democrats and Republicans — by stating that 'the Iraqi government has not stepped forward to lead the Iraqi people.' How Iraqis are supposed to take control of their destiny with 146,000 U.S. troops — and an even larger number of U.S. contractors — in their country is apparently not a relevant question"
Not only is Iraqi opinion completely ignored, but Obama's website actually blames the victim — a popular line with both Democrats and Republicans — by stating that 'the Iraqi government has not stepped forward to lead the Iraqi people.' How Iraqis are supposed to take control of their destiny with 146,000 U.S. troops — and an even larger number of U.S. contractors — in their country is apparently not a relevant question"
The Associated Press: Taliban whopper: claim 5,220 foreign troops killed
The Associated Press: Taliban whopper: claim 5,220 foreign troops killed: "KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban has long exaggerated its military successes, but its figures for 2008 may be the militia's most startling claims yet.
The Taliban claims its forces last year killed 5,220 foreign troops, downed 31 aircraft, destroyed 2,818 NATO and Afghan vehicles and killed 7,552 Afghan soldiers and police.
Though third-party observers can rarely confirm casualty claims on the Afghan battlefield from the Taliban, the Afghan government, the U.S. or NATO, the Taliban's 2008 numbers would appear to be far from the truth.
NATO's member countries announce all troop deaths, providing names, ages and hometowns and how the soldiers were killed. According to an Associated Press tally of those announcements, 286 foreign military personnel died last year in Afghanistan, including 151 Americans and 51 Britons."
The Taliban claims its forces last year killed 5,220 foreign troops, downed 31 aircraft, destroyed 2,818 NATO and Afghan vehicles and killed 7,552 Afghan soldiers and police.
Though third-party observers can rarely confirm casualty claims on the Afghan battlefield from the Taliban, the Afghan government, the U.S. or NATO, the Taliban's 2008 numbers would appear to be far from the truth.
NATO's member countries announce all troop deaths, providing names, ages and hometowns and how the soldiers were killed. According to an Associated Press tally of those announcements, 286 foreign military personnel died last year in Afghanistan, including 151 Americans and 51 Britons."
Bloomberg.com: Asia
Bloomberg.com: Asia: "Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan soldiers advanced on a strategic causeway held by rebel fighters, maintaining pressure on the Tamil Tigers after capturing the group’s political headquarters last week, the army said.
Troops yesterday seized the town of Thamilamadam to the south of Elephant Pass and have “commenced their forward march,” according to a statement on the"
http://partnergoogle.blogspot.com/
Troops yesterday seized the town of Thamilamadam to the south of Elephant Pass and have “commenced their forward march,” according to a statement on the"
http://partnergoogle.blogspot.com/
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Fighting flares outside Gaza City
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Fighting flares outside Gaza City: "The Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups say fighters engaged Israeli soldiers with machine guns and rocket fire.
Three Israeli soldiers were also killed by 'friendly fire' in northern Gaza.
Some 500 Palestinians are thought to have been killed and 2,500 wounded in the 10 days since Israel moved to end rocket attacks from within Gaza.
Palestinian medical officials say at least 90 people have died since the ground assault began while Israel has lost four soldiers and four civilians over the 10 days.
Aid agencies in Gaza speak of appalling conditions for treating casualties of the continuing Israeli bombardments."
Three Israeli soldiers were also killed by 'friendly fire' in northern Gaza.
Some 500 Palestinians are thought to have been killed and 2,500 wounded in the 10 days since Israel moved to end rocket attacks from within Gaza.
Palestinian medical officials say at least 90 people have died since the ground assault began while Israel has lost four soldiers and four civilians over the 10 days.
Aid agencies in Gaza speak of appalling conditions for treating casualties of the continuing Israeli bombardments."
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Fighting flares outside Gaza City
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Fighting flares outside Gaza City: "The Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups say fighters engaged Israeli soldiers with machine guns and rocket fire.
Three Israeli soldiers were also killed by 'friendly fire' in northern Gaza.
Some 500 Palestinians are thought to have been killed and 2,500 wounded in the 10 days since Israel moved to end rocket attacks from within Gaza.
Palestinian medical officials say at least 90 people have died since the ground assault began while Israel has lost four soldiers and four civilians over the 10 days.
Aid agencies in Gaza speak of appalling conditions for treating casualties of the continuing Israeli bombardments."
Three Israeli soldiers were also killed by 'friendly fire' in northern Gaza.
Some 500 Palestinians are thought to have been killed and 2,500 wounded in the 10 days since Israel moved to end rocket attacks from within Gaza.
Palestinian medical officials say at least 90 people have died since the ground assault began while Israel has lost four soldiers and four civilians over the 10 days.
Aid agencies in Gaza speak of appalling conditions for treating casualties of the continuing Israeli bombardments."
Extremist group in Greece attacks police | csmonitor.com
Extremist group in Greece attacks police | csmonitor.com: "ATHENS - The shooting of a Greek policeman Monday escalates a simmering conflict between police and leftist groups – and raises new concern over a resurgence of the militant left in a country with a long history of such violence.
Greece has been wracked by violent street protests and attacks on government and police facilities since the Dec. 6 killing of a 15-year-old boy by a policeman.
The incident Monday, which left 21-year-old policeman Diamandis Matzounis in critical but stable condition, marks a dramatic intensification of the violence. Although protesters have previously destroyed property and hurled Molotov cocktails at police, gun violence is extremely rare.
Police say they have linked one of the guns used in the attack to an extreme left-wing group calling itself Revolutionary Struggle, which has claimed responsibility for several previous incidents. In January 2007, the group attacked the US Embassy in Athens with a rocket-propelled grenade."
Greece has been wracked by violent street protests and attacks on government and police facilities since the Dec. 6 killing of a 15-year-old boy by a policeman.
The incident Monday, which left 21-year-old policeman Diamandis Matzounis in critical but stable condition, marks a dramatic intensification of the violence. Although protesters have previously destroyed property and hurled Molotov cocktails at police, gun violence is extremely rare.
Police say they have linked one of the guns used in the attack to an extreme left-wing group calling itself Revolutionary Struggle, which has claimed responsibility for several previous incidents. In January 2007, the group attacked the US Embassy in Athens with a rocket-propelled grenade."
India, Giving Pakistan Dossier on Mumbai Siege, Seeks Extradition of Suspects - NYTimes.com
India, Giving Pakistan Dossier on Mumbai Siege, Seeks Extradition of Suspects - NYTimes.com: "NEW DELHI — Calling the Mumbai terrorist attacks a “conspiracy” hatched on Pakistani soil, India on Monday handed Pakistan what it said was the first comprehensive evidence linking them to Pakistan and demanded that those responsible be tried in Indian courts, a demand likely to be rebuffed.
Speaking Monday evening to reporters here, the Indian foreign secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, refused to say whether the suspected conspirators were connected to current or retired government officials, but said that it was unlikely that a sophisticated, commando-style assault, like the one in Mumbai in late November, “could occur without anybody anywhere in the establishment knowing it was happening.”"
Speaking Monday evening to reporters here, the Indian foreign secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon, refused to say whether the suspected conspirators were connected to current or retired government officials, but said that it was unlikely that a sophisticated, commando-style assault, like the one in Mumbai in late November, “could occur without anybody anywhere in the establishment knowing it was happening.”"
The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News
The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Main News: "Stepping up the pressure on Islamabad, India today handed over to Pakistan evidence linking elements in the neighbouring country with the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and demanded extradition of perpetrators of the strikes.
Foreign secretary Shiv Shanker Menon summoned Pakistan high Commissioner Shahid Malik to the External Affairs Ministry today and handed over to him the material which clearly suggested that those who carried out the massacre were in constant touch with elements in Pakistan. In Islamabad, Indian high commissioner to Pakistan Satyabrata Pal called on Pakistan foreign secretary Salman Bashir and handed over the information dossier to the latter.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the mediapersons that he had written to his counterparts around the world giving them details of the events in Mumbai and describing in some detail the progress that India had made in its investigations and the evidence that New Delhi had collected."
Foreign secretary Shiv Shanker Menon summoned Pakistan high Commissioner Shahid Malik to the External Affairs Ministry today and handed over to him the material which clearly suggested that those who carried out the massacre were in constant touch with elements in Pakistan. In Islamabad, Indian high commissioner to Pakistan Satyabrata Pal called on Pakistan foreign secretary Salman Bashir and handed over the information dossier to the latter.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the mediapersons that he had written to his counterparts around the world giving them details of the events in Mumbai and describing in some detail the progress that India had made in its investigations and the evidence that New Delhi had collected."
The Hindu : Front Page : Evidence handed over to Pakistan
The Hindu : Front Page : Evidence handed over to Pakistan: "NEW DELHI: India on Monday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik to the Foreign Office here to hand over “material” about Pakistani involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks.
The move is part of the diplomatic offensive by New Delhi to convince the international community and Islamabad to take tangible action against the masterminds of the Mumbai attacks.
This includes briefings to all resident heads of missions within the next 24 hours while Indian Ambassadors will be doing the same in their countries of accreditation. India also shared the material during a meeting on Monday between Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and his counterpart and Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister, He Yafei.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has started writing to all his counterparts with details of the events in Mumbai and describing the progress made in the investigations. Home Minister P. Chidambaram will travel to the U.S. this week to share evidence on the Mumbai attacks as part of efforts to build pressure on Pakistan. “Our goals are clear. We want the perpetrators to be brought to justice,” Mr. Menon told journalists."
The move is part of the diplomatic offensive by New Delhi to convince the international community and Islamabad to take tangible action against the masterminds of the Mumbai attacks.
This includes briefings to all resident heads of missions within the next 24 hours while Indian Ambassadors will be doing the same in their countries of accreditation. India also shared the material during a meeting on Monday between Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and his counterpart and Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister, He Yafei.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has started writing to all his counterparts with details of the events in Mumbai and describing the progress made in the investigations. Home Minister P. Chidambaram will travel to the U.S. this week to share evidence on the Mumbai attacks as part of efforts to build pressure on Pakistan. “Our goals are clear. We want the perpetrators to be brought to justice,” Mr. Menon told journalists."
Calls to use oil as weapon in Gaza fight fall flat - Yahoo! News
Calls to use oil as weapon in Gaza fight fall flat - Yahoo! News: "DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The call to use oil as a weapon against Israel's friends once would have echoed in capitals across the Middle East. But even as fighting widens in Gaza, threats of an oil embargo by some in Iran and Bahrain are falling flat.
Key Persian Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia and even top officials in the countries behind the boycott calls are keeping quiet, reflecting a focus on their struggle to deal with the steep plunge in world oil prices."
Key Persian Gulf producers like Saudi Arabia and even top officials in the countries behind the boycott calls are keeping quiet, reflecting a focus on their struggle to deal with the steep plunge in world oil prices."
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The Associated Press: India gives Pakistan evidence over Mumbai attacks
The Associated Press: India gives Pakistan evidence over Mumbai attacks: "NEW DELHI (AP) — India's foreign ministry says authorities have handed over evidence to Pakistan linking the deadly Mumbai attacks to Pakistani 'elements.'
India has blamed the November attacks that killed 164 people on Pakistani-based militants, but Pakistan has denied the accusations saying India had yet to provide definitive proof.
An official statement says Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon has given evidence to the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi on Monday that links the attacks to 'elements in Pakistan.'
The evidence included material from the interrogation of the lone surviving gunman, details of conversations between the gunmen and their alleged handlers in Pakistan, recovered weapons, and data satellite phones."
India has blamed the November attacks that killed 164 people on Pakistani-based militants, but Pakistan has denied the accusations saying India had yet to provide definitive proof.
An official statement says Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon has given evidence to the Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi on Monday that links the attacks to 'elements in Pakistan.'
The evidence included material from the interrogation of the lone surviving gunman, details of conversations between the gunmen and their alleged handlers in Pakistan, recovered weapons, and data satellite phones."
Thousands across Middle East protest Gaza attack - Yahoo! News
Thousands across Middle East protest Gaza attack - Yahoo! News: "BEIRUT, Lebanon – Thousands protesting Israel's ground offensive on Gaza converged Sunday in Beirut and Istanbul as the leaders of the only two Mideast Arab nations to sign peace treaties with Israel demanded an end to the attack.
In Yemen, security officials said anti-Israel protesters attacked several Jewish homes in the northern province of Omran, smashing windows and pelting them with rocks. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said at least one Jewish resident was injured among the tiny minority community."
In Yemen, security officials said anti-Israel protesters attacked several Jewish homes in the northern province of Omran, smashing windows and pelting them with rocks. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said at least one Jewish resident was injured among the tiny minority community."
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israeli forces split Gaza in two
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israeli forces split Gaza in two: "Supported by a naval, air and land bombardment, forces have taken up positions on either side of Gaza City, and along a major east-west road.
The Palestinian health ministry says more than 50 people have been killed since the ground operation began. One Israeli soldier has been killed.
Earlier, US Vice-President Dick Cheney defended the Israeli ground assault."
The Palestinian health ministry says more than 50 people have been killed since the ground operation began. One Israeli soldier has been killed.
Earlier, US Vice-President Dick Cheney defended the Israeli ground assault."
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Israeli ground troops invade Gaza to halt rockets - Yahoo! News
Israeli ground troops invade Gaza to halt rockets - Yahoo! News: "GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Thousands of Israeli troops backed by columns of tanks and helicopter gunships launched a ground offensive in Gaza on Saturday night, with officials saying they expected a lengthy fight in the densely populated territory after eight days of punishing airstrikes failed to halt militant rocket attacks on Israel.
The incursion set off fierce clashes with Palestinian militants and Gaza's Hamas rulers vowed the coastal strip would be a 'graveyard' for Israelis forces."
www.ourbabytwins.blogspot.com
The incursion set off fierce clashes with Palestinian militants and Gaza's Hamas rulers vowed the coastal strip would be a 'graveyard' for Israelis forces."
www.ourbabytwins.blogspot.com
Israel bombs Gaza mosque, kills 10 - Yahoo! News
Israel bombs Gaza mosque, kills 10 - Yahoo! News: "GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli airstrike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip has killed 10 people and wounded dozens.
It was not immediately clear whether the dead were Hamas militants. The mosque is named after a founder of Hamas who was killed by Israel in 2004.
The medical officials say more than 30 people were wounded in Saturday's airstrike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. At least seven are in critical condition."
It was not immediately clear whether the dead were Hamas militants. The mosque is named after a founder of Hamas who was killed by Israel in 2004.
The medical officials say more than 30 people were wounded in Saturday's airstrike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. At least seven are in critical condition."
Friday, January 2, 2009
Sri Lanka bombs Tigers in north after fall of HQ | Top News | Reuters
Sri Lanka bombs Tigers in north after fall of HQ | Top News | Reuters: "COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan attack helicopters bombed Tamil Tiger positions in the north of the island on Saturday, the military said, a day after ground forces seized the rebel headquarters town of Kilinochchi.
The military is now targeting the port town of Mullaitivu and other rebel strongholds in the north as it presses on with the deepest push into rebel-held areas to bring an end to the 25-year separatist war.
There has been no comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on the fall of Kilinochchi, for long the centre of the Tamil fight for an independent homeland in which more than 70,000 people have been killed.
'MI-24 helicopters attacked rebel positions west of Mullaitivu in support of ground troops,' said a military source asking not to be named in line with national security policy.
Troops fought their way into the Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi deep in the north on Friday, in one of the biggest blows for the rebels in years."
The military is now targeting the port town of Mullaitivu and other rebel strongholds in the north as it presses on with the deepest push into rebel-held areas to bring an end to the 25-year separatist war.
There has been no comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on the fall of Kilinochchi, for long the centre of the Tamil fight for an independent homeland in which more than 70,000 people have been killed.
'MI-24 helicopters attacked rebel positions west of Mullaitivu in support of ground troops,' said a military source asking not to be named in line with national security policy.
Troops fought their way into the Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi deep in the north on Friday, in one of the biggest blows for the rebels in years."
Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Arab leaders face Gaza test
Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Arab leaders face Gaza test: "The Gaza crisis has exposed in stark terms the growing disconnect between anger on the Arab street against Israeli attacks on Gaza and the slow response - some say total failure to act - by Arab governments.
While Israel insists its current assault on Gaza is a justifiable act of self-defence, underlining it is not targeting civilians but rather Palestinian fighters who have fired rockets into Israeli territory, anger on the Arab street threatens to spill over into violence.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, further embarrassed regional governments by urging the Arab League to take action 'quickly' to end the attacks on Gaza, although he did not elaborate on what they should, or could, actually do"
While Israel insists its current assault on Gaza is a justifiable act of self-defence, underlining it is not targeting civilians but rather Palestinian fighters who have fired rockets into Israeli territory, anger on the Arab street threatens to spill over into violence.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, further embarrassed regional governments by urging the Arab League to take action 'quickly' to end the attacks on Gaza, although he did not elaborate on what they should, or could, actually do"
Partition of India
Partition of India: "Mr Atlee described today the plan for India, and announced that the Government proposed to introduce legislation during the present session for the transfer of power this year. The plan leaves it up to Indians themselves to decide whether or not there should be partition
Response in India
This relief will be felt by the common man throughout India who in recent months has lived with the fear of communal strife New hope for India
In that country, as was to be expected from their nature, the proposals have aroused only mild enthusiasm
End of the Raj
Power handed over in India
In accordance with the grant of independence to India the two new Dominions of India and Pakistan came into being at midnightLeading article: The end of an era
The British official in India was like the British climate, more than trying at times but very healthy to live with
Partition of India
Partition has brought sadness to many, and joy in the ceremonies which are taking place in many parts of India today is not unalloyed
Independence
India's first day of independence
For those who remember past periods of bitterness and hatred it marks a real transformation in the relations between the British and India peoplesIndependence ceremonies
It was a matter for deep thankfulness that her freedom had been effected by consent and in comparative peacefulness
The new republic
Leading article: The Indian republic
Under the new constitution which comes into force today, India is a sovereign democratic republicBirth of an Indian republic
The retiring Governor-General, will tomorrow morning read a"
Response in India
This relief will be felt by the common man throughout India who in recent months has lived with the fear of communal strife New hope for India
In that country, as was to be expected from their nature, the proposals have aroused only mild enthusiasm
End of the Raj
Power handed over in India
In accordance with the grant of independence to India the two new Dominions of India and Pakistan came into being at midnightLeading article: The end of an era
The British official in India was like the British climate, more than trying at times but very healthy to live with
Partition of India
Partition has brought sadness to many, and joy in the ceremonies which are taking place in many parts of India today is not unalloyed
Independence
India's first day of independence
For those who remember past periods of bitterness and hatred it marks a real transformation in the relations between the British and India peoplesIndependence ceremonies
It was a matter for deep thankfulness that her freedom had been effected by consent and in comparative peacefulness
The new republic
Leading article: The Indian republic
Under the new constitution which comes into force today, India is a sovereign democratic republicBirth of an Indian republic
The retiring Governor-General, will tomorrow morning read a"
British Frontier Corps veteran recalls fighting Pashtun tribesmen - Times Online
British Frontier Corps veteran recalls fighting Pashtun tribesmen - Times Online: "The shooting started late on a Sunday afternoon as the patrol returned to their remote frontier fortress from a mission in the hills. The hidden enemy, similar to that encountered every day by Nato troops stationed along the Afghan-Pakistan border, were Pashtun tribesmen, firing down upon the soldiers from a distant crest.
But as the bullets pinged on the rocks around the troops, the reaction of the British patrol commander was rather different to today's textbook Nato response.
“Into line!” Captain John Girling barked to his men. The soldiers wheeled into extended formation and, on Captain Girling's order, commenced their charge, a company of men, mounted on horses, in what was probably the last cavalry charge to be led by a British officer.
“I tried to draw my pistol,” recalled Mr Girling, now an 82-year-old retired major, speaking to The Times in Dorset. “But I couldn't, as my pony was so excited. It thought it was a polo match. We got to the top, dismounted and started firing. We saw the men running away. I don't know if we got any. Maybe we winged a couple.”"
But as the bullets pinged on the rocks around the troops, the reaction of the British patrol commander was rather different to today's textbook Nato response.
“Into line!” Captain John Girling barked to his men. The soldiers wheeled into extended formation and, on Captain Girling's order, commenced their charge, a company of men, mounted on horses, in what was probably the last cavalry charge to be led by a British officer.
“I tried to draw my pistol,” recalled Mr Girling, now an 82-year-old retired major, speaking to The Times in Dorset. “But I couldn't, as my pony was so excited. It thought it was a polo match. We got to the top, dismounted and started firing. We saw the men running away. I don't know if we got any. Maybe we winged a couple.”"
Sri Lankan army captures Tamil Tigers' capital, Kilinochchi - Times Online
Sri Lankan army captures Tamil Tigers' capital, Kilinochchi - Times Online: "Sri Lankan government forces captured the rebel Tamil Tigers’ political capital of Kilinochchi yesterday in a victory that could hasten the end of the country’s 25-year civil war.
In a televised address, President Rajapaksa called the fall of the town “an unparalleled victory” in a conflict that has claimed more than 70,000 lives. He offered the Tigers what he said was a last chance to surrender.
The capture of the rebel base, the culmination of months of fighting, marked a stunning propaganda victory for the Government and could mark the beginning of the end of Asia’s longest-running civil war, analysts said. The defeat is the most serious for the rebels since they lost control of the northern Jaffna peninsula in 1995. The Government claimed that the Tigers were confined to a small stretch of jungle in the district of Mullaitivu in the northeast.
Hours after the announcement that Kilinochchi had been taken, a suspected Tiger suicide bomber killed at least two people outside an air force base in Colombo. It was the second terrorist attack on the capital in less than a week."
In a televised address, President Rajapaksa called the fall of the town “an unparalleled victory” in a conflict that has claimed more than 70,000 lives. He offered the Tigers what he said was a last chance to surrender.
The capture of the rebel base, the culmination of months of fighting, marked a stunning propaganda victory for the Government and could mark the beginning of the end of Asia’s longest-running civil war, analysts said. The defeat is the most serious for the rebels since they lost control of the northern Jaffna peninsula in 1995. The Government claimed that the Tigers were confined to a small stretch of jungle in the district of Mullaitivu in the northeast.
Hours after the announcement that Kilinochchi had been taken, a suspected Tiger suicide bomber killed at least two people outside an air force base in Colombo. It was the second terrorist attack on the capital in less than a week."
Pres. Bush: Hamas Attacks on Israel Are 'Acts of Terror' - FOXNews.com Transition Tracker
Pres. Bush: Hamas Attacks on Israel Are 'Acts of Terror' - FOXNews.com Transition Tracker: "WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush on Friday branded the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel an 'act of terror' and outlined his own condition for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying no peace deal would be acceptable without monitoring to halt the flow of smuggled weapons to terrorist groups.
Bush chose his taped, weekly radio address to speak for the first time about one of the bloodiest Mideast clashes in decades. It began a week ago. Israeli warplanes have rained bombs on Gaza, targeting the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has traumatized southern Israel with intensifying rocket attacks.
'The United States is leading diplomatic efforts to achieve a meaningful cease-fire that is fully respected,' Bush said. 'Another one-way cease-fire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable. And promises from Hamas will not suffice -- there must be monitoring mechanisms in place to help ensure that smuggling of weapons to terrorist groups in Gaza comes to an end.'
The White House released Bush's radio address a day early. It airs on Saturday morning.
More than 400 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed in the latest offensive. The U.N. estimated Friday that a quarter of the Palestinians killed were civilians. In their waning days in power, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been working the phones with world allies to try organize a truce.
Bush offered no criticism of Israel, depicting the country's air assaults as a response to the attacks on its people. The White House will not comment on whether it views the Israeli response as proportionate or not to the scope of rocket attacks on Israel."
Bush chose his taped, weekly radio address to speak for the first time about one of the bloodiest Mideast clashes in decades. It began a week ago. Israeli warplanes have rained bombs on Gaza, targeting the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has traumatized southern Israel with intensifying rocket attacks.
'The United States is leading diplomatic efforts to achieve a meaningful cease-fire that is fully respected,' Bush said. 'Another one-way cease-fire that leads to rocket attacks on Israel is not acceptable. And promises from Hamas will not suffice -- there must be monitoring mechanisms in place to help ensure that smuggling of weapons to terrorist groups in Gaza comes to an end.'
The White House released Bush's radio address a day early. It airs on Saturday morning.
More than 400 Palestinians and four Israelis have been killed in the latest offensive. The U.N. estimated Friday that a quarter of the Palestinians killed were civilians. In their waning days in power, Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been working the phones with world allies to try organize a truce.
Bush offered no criticism of Israel, depicting the country's air assaults as a response to the attacks on its people. The White House will not comment on whether it views the Israeli response as proportionate or not to the scope of rocket attacks on Israel."
Israel rejects ceasefire
Israel rejects ceasefire: "JERUSALEM: Israel has again rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza even as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Washington was working toward a ceasefire in Gaza that was 'durable and sustainable'.
'The only way to see a change in the region is to help the moderates, but simultaneously to attack and to keep the pressure on the extremists like Hamas,' Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told reporters in Paris, following a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday."
'The only way to see a change in the region is to help the moderates, but simultaneously to attack and to keep the pressure on the extremists like Hamas,' Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told reporters in Paris, following a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday."
War on terror may target FATA, say Experts
War on terror may target FATA, say Experts: "Lahore, Jan.2 (ANI): Experts on war issue believe that the US may target FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) in Pakistan in its bid to root out terrorism from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
According to Anatol Leiven, Professor of War Studies at Kings College, UK, Obama administration in the US may try to extend the war on terror from Afghanistan to the tribal regions of Pakistan."
According to Anatol Leiven, Professor of War Studies at Kings College, UK, Obama administration in the US may try to extend the war on terror from Afghanistan to the tribal regions of Pakistan."
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Somalia: The Forgotten Front of the War on Terror - by Stephen Smith - Antiwar.com
Somalia: The Forgotten Front of the War on Terror - by Stephen Smith - Antiwar.com: "The Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which was never applicable to most Somalis, is close to losing the few blocks in Mogadishu that it still controls, and the radical Islamists who go by the name al-Shabaab are on the verge of taking control of the parts of Somalia that haven't already seceded. The civilian death toll since the American-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia in 2006 has reached 16,000, which makes the per capita annual civilian death rate in Somalia higher than that of Iraq since the American invasion in 2003. So it would seem be an appropriate time to reflect on American policy in Somalia.
Though the history of foreign intervention in Somalia goes back to colonial times and was especially detrimental during the Cold War-era Siad Barre regime, the most relevant starting point is the late 1980s, when Barre was losing his grip on Somalia, which was descending into a mix of anarchy and warlordism. The United States, unable to conceive of a people existing without a central state, intervened throughout the 1990s under the guise of various UN missions. The results were of course disastrous: hundreds of thousands of Somalis lost their lives in the ensuing civil war and resulting mass starvation. Americans were briefly aware of their government's actions in Somalia during the first major intervention in the early 1990s, when the grisly aftermath of the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993 portrayed in Black Hawk Down brought Somalia into the American political consciousness, but the relatively minor scale of the war and lack of obvious U.S. interests conspired to keep most Americans ignorant of the role their government played in prolonging the violence in Somalia."
Though the history of foreign intervention in Somalia goes back to colonial times and was especially detrimental during the Cold War-era Siad Barre regime, the most relevant starting point is the late 1980s, when Barre was losing his grip on Somalia, which was descending into a mix of anarchy and warlordism. The United States, unable to conceive of a people existing without a central state, intervened throughout the 1990s under the guise of various UN missions. The results were of course disastrous: hundreds of thousands of Somalis lost their lives in the ensuing civil war and resulting mass starvation. Americans were briefly aware of their government's actions in Somalia during the first major intervention in the early 1990s, when the grisly aftermath of the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993 portrayed in Black Hawk Down brought Somalia into the American political consciousness, but the relatively minor scale of the war and lack of obvious U.S. interests conspired to keep most Americans ignorant of the role their government played in prolonging the violence in Somalia."
Gaza: new flashpoint in ‘war on terror’|3Jan09|Socialist Worker
Gaza: new flashpoint in ‘war on terror’|3Jan09|Socialist Worker
Israel carefully planned its latest butchery in Gaza. Defence minister Ehud Barak asked the military to prepare an assault over six months ago – even as a “truce” with Hamas was being negotiated – according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The recent assault was pre-meditated murder, not a response to Hamas’s rocket attacks as Israel’s supporters claim.
The F-16 fighter jets used to bomb Gaza were paid for by a US government that intends to hand Israel an average of $3 billion a year in military aid for the next decade.
One of the world’s most modern war machines – armed with tanks, helicopter gunships, warplanes and even nuclear warheads – is being mobilised against a population that Israel has sought to drive back into medieval conditions.
Israel carefully planned its latest butchery in Gaza. Defence minister Ehud Barak asked the military to prepare an assault over six months ago – even as a “truce” with Hamas was being negotiated – according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The recent assault was pre-meditated murder, not a response to Hamas’s rocket attacks as Israel’s supporters claim.
The F-16 fighter jets used to bomb Gaza were paid for by a US government that intends to hand Israel an average of $3 billion a year in military aid for the next decade.
One of the world’s most modern war machines – armed with tanks, helicopter gunships, warplanes and even nuclear warheads – is being mobilised against a population that Israel has sought to drive back into medieval conditions.
The Associated Press: Official: Pakistani confesses to Mumbai attacks
The Associated Press: Official: Pakistani confesses to Mumbai attacks: "ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — A militant arrested in Pakistan has confessed involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks and is giving investigators details of the plot, a senior Pakistani government official said Wednesday. The revelation could add to pressure on Islamabad to either bring Zarar Shah and other suspects to trial or extradite them to India. '(Shah) has made some statement that he was involved,' said the government official, without providing specific details. 'I can tell you that he is singing.'
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the disclosure, which was first reported in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday
A senior intelligence officer said Shah and another suspect, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, were cooperating with investigators, but cautioned that authorities had not reached a definite conclusion as to their involvement yet."
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the disclosure, which was first reported in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday
A senior intelligence officer said Shah and another suspect, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, were cooperating with investigators, but cautioned that authorities had not reached a definite conclusion as to their involvement yet."
VOA News - Regional Party Enters Talks for Coalition Government in Jammu and Kashmir
VOA News - Regional Party Enters Talks for Coalition Government in Jammu and Kashmir: "A regional party is preparing to put together a coalition government in Indian Kashmir after no clear winner emerged in recent elections. Indian leaders have called the recent elections a victory for democracy.
A National Conference (NC) party activist greets party leader Omar Abdullah with a garland in Srinagar, India, 29 Dec 2008
The Kashmir-based National Conference, which emerged as the single largest party in Jammu and Kashmir, has initiated talks with the Congress Party to cobble together a coalition government for the state. The National Conference president, Omar Abdhullah is emerging as the likely chief minister of the state."
A National Conference (NC) party activist greets party leader Omar Abdullah with a garland in Srinagar, India, 29 Dec 2008
The Kashmir-based National Conference, which emerged as the single largest party in Jammu and Kashmir, has initiated talks with the Congress Party to cobble together a coalition government for the state. The National Conference president, Omar Abdhullah is emerging as the likely chief minister of the state."
Pakistani militant confesses to role in Mumbai attacks | csmonitor.com
Pakistani militant confesses to role in Mumbai attacks | csmonitor.com: "A war of words continues between India and Pakistan amid new evidence that a Pakistani militant group masterminded the terrorist attacks in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) last month. And as Pakistan continues to move troops to its eastern border with India, analysts say Pakistan may be too distracted to effectively fight militants at home.
This week, The Wall Street Journal reported new evidence linking Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba to the Mumbai attacks:
At least one top leader of militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or 'Army of the Pure,' captured in a raid earlier this month in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, has confessed the group's involvement in the attack as India and the U.S. have alleged, according to a senior Pakistani security official...."
This week, The Wall Street Journal reported new evidence linking Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba to the Mumbai attacks:
At least one top leader of militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, or 'Army of the Pure,' captured in a raid earlier this month in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, has confessed the group's involvement in the attack as India and the U.S. have alleged, according to a senior Pakistani security official...."
Pakistan has FBI evidence of Mumbai links -India | Reuters
Pakistan has FBI evidence of Mumbai links -India | Reuters: "NEW DELHI, Jan 1 (Reuters) - India said on Thursday the FBI had presented strong evidence to Islamabad of Pakistani links to November's militant attacks in Mumbai that killed 179 people.
India has blamed the assault on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which was set up by Pakistani security agencies in the 1980s to fight Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region, but was officially banned in 2002.
Pakistan has condemned the Mumbai attacks and denied any state role, blaming 'non-state actors'.
'We have been told that there is some strong evidence available to FBI and they have shared it with Pakistan,' Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in an interview with the NDTV news channel."
India has blamed the assault on the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which was set up by Pakistani security agencies in the 1980s to fight Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region, but was officially banned in 2002.
Pakistan has condemned the Mumbai attacks and denied any state role, blaming 'non-state actors'.
'We have been told that there is some strong evidence available to FBI and they have shared it with Pakistan,' Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in an interview with the NDTV news channel."
AEI - Short Publications - The Mumbai Attacks and Jihadist Organizations
AEI - Short Publications - The Mumbai Attacks and Jihadist Organizations: "The terrorist attacks on Mumbai in November 2008, in which Islamist militants killed almost two hundred people, underscore the vulnerability of democratic countries around the world to these sorts of assaults. The work of AEI scholars shows that the Mumbai attacks are yet another front in the global war on terrorism.
The organization widely suspected to be responsible for the Mumbai attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has a narrower field of operation than the global al Qaeda network--it is a Pakistan-based Islamist group focused primarily on asserting Muslim control over Kashmir and the rest of South Asia--but it is no less a threat to international security. 'LeT has both direct and indirect connections with al Qaeda,' AEI visiting fellow Hassan Mneimneh says. 'Both are part of the 'jihadist international,' providing mutual aid and support. LeT operatives navigate freely in and out of al Qaeda, and vice-versa.'"
The organization widely suspected to be responsible for the Mumbai attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has a narrower field of operation than the global al Qaeda network--it is a Pakistan-based Islamist group focused primarily on asserting Muslim control over Kashmir and the rest of South Asia--but it is no less a threat to international security. 'LeT has both direct and indirect connections with al Qaeda,' AEI visiting fellow Hassan Mneimneh says. 'Both are part of the 'jihadist international,' providing mutual aid and support. LeT operatives navigate freely in and out of al Qaeda, and vice-versa.'"
Is it safe to travel to India? State Dept. says yes, but be vigilant - USATODAY.com
Is it safe to travel to India? State Dept. says yes, but be vigilant - USATODAY.com: "After the Mumbai terrorist attacks killed 171 people and wounded hundreds of others last month, business travelers may wonder whether traveling in India is safe.
Security experts, the U.S. State Department, and the Canadian and British governments are not advising travelers to avoid going there. But Australia says: Stay away.
'The Mumbai terrorist attacks had — and still have — a very low likelihood of happening,' says Bruce McIndoe, president of iJet, a security consulting company in Annapolis, Md.
The Mumbai attacks changed 'the perceptions of risk,' but 'India is no more risky than it was before,' says Jake Stratton, director of India operations for Control Risks, a London-based security consultant.
In an alert posted on its"
Security experts, the U.S. State Department, and the Canadian and British governments are not advising travelers to avoid going there. But Australia says: Stay away.
'The Mumbai terrorist attacks had — and still have — a very low likelihood of happening,' says Bruce McIndoe, president of iJet, a security consulting company in Annapolis, Md.
The Mumbai attacks changed 'the perceptions of risk,' but 'India is no more risky than it was before,' says Jake Stratton, director of India operations for Control Risks, a London-based security consultant.
In an alert posted on its"
Terrorism knows no nationality
Terrorism knows no nationality: "A reader recently asked 'Can you name one American serviceman who strapped on a vest full of explosives and walked into a mall or restaurant to kill as many Iraqi citizens as possible?' ('Point finger at terrorists,' letters, Dec. 22.)
The short answer to the question is no, but only because the U.S. serviceman didn't want to kill Iraqis. The long answer would be that I can name one serviceman turned domestic terrorist who loaded a truck with explosives and then parked it in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and killed 168 U.S. citizens. That person would be Timothy McVeigh."
The short answer to the question is no, but only because the U.S. serviceman didn't want to kill Iraqis. The long answer would be that I can name one serviceman turned domestic terrorist who loaded a truck with explosives and then parked it in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and killed 168 U.S. citizens. That person would be Timothy McVeigh."
Pranab rebuffs Pakistan on back-off
Pranab rebuffs Pakistan on back-off: "NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday dismissed Pakistan’s plea that India should scale down tensions, saying Delhi had not done anything to exasperate them in the first place.
“We have not escalated anything so where is the question of our de-escalation,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters on the latest comments by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Even amid this diplomatic exchange – played out through the media - Indian and Pakistani armed forces kept a customary communication line open."
“We have not escalated anything so where is the question of our de-escalation,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters on the latest comments by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Even amid this diplomatic exchange – played out through the media - Indian and Pakistani armed forces kept a customary communication line open."
The Russian Church and the Terror State | Spero News
The Russian Church and the Terror State | Spero News: "With the December 5, 2008 death of Patriarch Alexy II, Russian Orthodox Christians lost their first 'post-Soviet' leader. The patriarch presided over the resurrection of the world's largest Orthodox Church, a faith community that had been targeted for annihilation by communist regimes that would brook no rival to their own promises of salvation through 'world revolution.'"
Blasts in India’s Guwahati Kill 5 People, Injure 31 (Update1
Bloomberg.com: WorldwideJan. 1 (Bloomberg) -- At least five people were killed and 31 injured in three bomb blasts in Guwahati in India’s northeastern state of Assam, a government official said.
The rebel United Liberation Front of Asom, or ULFA, is suspected to be linked to the blasts, Rajiv Kumar Bora, commissioner & secretary in Assam’s home and political department, said by telephone from Guwahati.
One bomb went off near a crowded market place injuring 12 people, while a second exploded near a hospital in the city injuring four, police inspector, B. Phukon, said
The rebel United Liberation Front of Asom, or ULFA, is suspected to be linked to the blasts, Rajiv Kumar Bora, commissioner & secretary in Assam’s home and political department, said by telephone from Guwahati.
One bomb went off near a crowded market place injuring 12 people, while a second exploded near a hospital in the city injuring four, police inspector, B. Phukon, said
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
India Today - India's most widely read magazine.
India Today - India's most widely read magazine.: "The National Investigation Agency (NIA), a federal body constituted to probe and prevent terrorist attacks, becomes operational from Thursday along with the new anti-terror law, home minister P. Chidambaram said on Wednesday.
Chidambaram also announced large-scale changes to the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) in the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which is meant to collate intelligence inputs, assess them and disseminate its reports to security forces, among a slew of efforts to improve national security in the new year.
'The NIA will only investigate terror related offences,' Chidambaram told reporters after President Pratibha Patil gave the ceremonial nod to its creation on Wednesday. Patil also cleared the new anti-terror law. The home minister said the name of the NIA director-general will be announced in a few days. The Border Security Force's additional director general A.P. Singh, a 1974- batch IPS officer, is tipped for the job."
Chidambaram also announced large-scale changes to the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) in the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which is meant to collate intelligence inputs, assess them and disseminate its reports to security forces, among a slew of efforts to improve national security in the new year.
'The NIA will only investigate terror related offences,' Chidambaram told reporters after President Pratibha Patil gave the ceremonial nod to its creation on Wednesday. Patil also cleared the new anti-terror law. The home minister said the name of the NIA director-general will be announced in a few days. The Border Security Force's additional director general A.P. Singh, a 1974- batch IPS officer, is tipped for the job."
Opinion: Israel has a duty to protect its citizens from attack - San Jose Mercury News
Opinion: Israel has a duty to protect its citizens from attack - San Jose Mercury News: "When Barack Obama visited the southern Israeli city of Sderot in July, the normally unflappable senator from Illinois was visibly shaken by what he saw: 'The Qassam rockets fired by Hamas deliberately and indiscriminately target civilians,' Obama said. 'This terror is intolerable. Israelis should not have to live in terror in their own homes and schools.'
After visiting the hospital bed of two brothers injured by such an attack — one of whom, 8-year-old Osher Tuito, lost his leg as a result — Obama added: 'If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do anything to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.'
President-elect Obama is correct. Israel has the right, indeed the duty, to put a stop to the intolerable threat posed by Hamas — an Iranian-backed Jihadist militia — to its citizens. A just and proportionate Israeli response is one that strives to eliminate Hamas' ability to carry out attacks against Israel. No more, but also no less."
After visiting the hospital bed of two brothers injured by such an attack — one of whom, 8-year-old Osher Tuito, lost his leg as a result — Obama added: 'If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I would do anything to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.'
President-elect Obama is correct. Israel has the right, indeed the duty, to put a stop to the intolerable threat posed by Hamas — an Iranian-backed Jihadist militia — to its citizens. A just and proportionate Israeli response is one that strives to eliminate Hamas' ability to carry out attacks against Israel. No more, but also no less."
Attack Brings Military Focus Home - washingtonpost.com
Attack Brings Military Focus Home - washingtonpost.com: "ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 30 -- With Pakistan and its army distracted by revived hostilities with neighboring India, a brazen suicide bomb attack Sunday by Islamist radicals in a northwestern village served as a jolting reminder that Pakistan still faces a real war at home, from an enemy that increasingly threatens to destabilize the Muslim nation of more than 170 million."
Pakistani Militants Admit Role in Siege, Official Says - NYTimes.com
Pakistani Militants Admit Role in Siege, Official Says - NYTimes.com: "ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani authorities have obtained confessions from members of the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba that they were involved in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November that killed more than 160 people, a Pakistani official said.
The confessions are sure to put pressure on Pakistan’s leaders; senior Pakistani officials have repeatedly complained in recent weeks that India had not provided them evidence of Pakistani complicity.
American and British officials — and Indian investigators — have said for weeks that their intelligence clearly points to the involvement of Lashkar in the Mumbai attacks. That evidence has been deeply uncomfortable for Pakistan, whose premier spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, helped create, finance and train Lashkar in the 1980s to fight a proxy war against Indian forces in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir."
The confessions are sure to put pressure on Pakistan’s leaders; senior Pakistani officials have repeatedly complained in recent weeks that India had not provided them evidence of Pakistani complicity.
American and British officials — and Indian investigators — have said for weeks that their intelligence clearly points to the involvement of Lashkar in the Mumbai attacks. That evidence has been deeply uncomfortable for Pakistan, whose premier spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, helped create, finance and train Lashkar in the 1980s to fight a proxy war against Indian forces in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir."
US deaths down in Iraq in 2008, up in Afghanistan - Yahoo! News
US deaths down in Iraq in 2008, up in Afghanistan - Yahoo! News: "BAGHDAD – U.S. military deaths in Iraq plunged by two-thirds in 2008 from the previous year, a reflection of the improving security following the U.S. military's counterinsurgency campaign and al-Qaida's slow retreat from the battlefield. By comparison, the war in Afghanistan saw American military deaths rise by 35 percent in 2008 as Islamic extremists shift their focus to a new front with the West."
www.ourbabytwins.blogspot.com
www.ourbabytwins.blogspot.com
Himal Southasian/�Terrorism�, Taliban and the tribal militia
Himal Southasian/�Terrorism�, Taliban and the tribal militia
December 2008 completes seven years of the Karzai reign; seven years since the Taliban has ostensibly been ousted. Yet for the past three years Afghanistan has been caught in an expanding spiral of violence that today threatens large sections of the Afghan population, the new institutions of state as well as development initiatives. It is a violence that is being increasingly felt in larger areas of neighbouring Pakistan and managed to strike India’s financial capital in late November.
As Southasian governments attempt to tackle murderous attacks striking at the heart of densely populated cities against citizens, Afghanistan offers important lessons. Why has a combined effort by the world’s largest superpower, the NATO countries and the Afghan government, involving both military might and billions of dollars, been unable to contain, let alone reverse the violence? Who is the Afghan government going to negotiate with as it attempts to talk to the ‘Taliban’? At the heart of the issue that confronts the whole region is the central question: what is ‘terrorism’? In focusing the battle against individuals like Osama bin Laden and groups like al-Qaeda or the Taliban, is the war against ‘Talibanisation’ itself being lost?
In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to revisit the end of 2001. It is now well established that US claims to having “liberated” Afghanistan from Taliban oppression notwithstanding, the Taliban’s denial of the basic human rights of Afghans did not invite active military intervention by any power until such time as the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Though the Taliban’s ‘ideology’ of crushing women’s rights, limiting schooling and education, health and freedom of information and refusing to allow all forms of democratic principles proved convenient in subsequent efforts to demonise them, there was little attempt to differentiate between the ideology itself and the dangers of the group utilising the ideology as a tool of control. The assumption was that the elimination of a group or a set of individuals would disappear their ideology. As is now evident, not only have individuals been replaced, more worryingly, the conservatism that spawned and kept the ‘terrorists’ in power, is creeping insidiously back.
Many of the tenets of the Taliban were only an extreme form of an ideology that had its roots in the traditional practices and customary laws of some tribal groups. Inspired by tribal codes and principles of restorative justice, many of the customary laws of Afghanistan, especially the Pashtunwali (the unwritten code of honour of the Pashtun people practiced even today), would be considered abhorrent and a complete violation of basic principles of internationally recognised human rights including the right to life and liberty. The use of women as private property in dispute settlement; taking lives in exchange for injury or murder; treating the sheltering of a battered woman as a kidnapping which demands retribution through murder; all of this did not begin or end with the Taliban. Nor did the practice of summary or public executions. The brutality that is now seen to characterise the Taliban regime was evident in the behaviour of the ‘commanders’, ‘warlords’ and power brokers, with long years of conflict having brutalised the fighting men and having entrenched the most egregious aspects of the ‘spoils of war’ as routine practices.
While the Taliban undoubtedly epitomised the worst of these horrific practices, demonising the group, rather than viewing ‘terrorism’ as a tactical tool, has allowed the international community as well as the Afghan government to stop short of examining and tackling the roots of this behaviour. Conduct which originates from a combination of factors: the dehumanisation after years of war, the culture of conquest and pillage, the hostility towards outsiders and external influences, the severing of geographical, cultural and social roots, the loss of identity and the destruction of family and homes.
www.ourbabytwins.blogspot.com
December 2008 completes seven years of the Karzai reign; seven years since the Taliban has ostensibly been ousted. Yet for the past three years Afghanistan has been caught in an expanding spiral of violence that today threatens large sections of the Afghan population, the new institutions of state as well as development initiatives. It is a violence that is being increasingly felt in larger areas of neighbouring Pakistan and managed to strike India’s financial capital in late November.
As Southasian governments attempt to tackle murderous attacks striking at the heart of densely populated cities against citizens, Afghanistan offers important lessons. Why has a combined effort by the world’s largest superpower, the NATO countries and the Afghan government, involving both military might and billions of dollars, been unable to contain, let alone reverse the violence? Who is the Afghan government going to negotiate with as it attempts to talk to the ‘Taliban’? At the heart of the issue that confronts the whole region is the central question: what is ‘terrorism’? In focusing the battle against individuals like Osama bin Laden and groups like al-Qaeda or the Taliban, is the war against ‘Talibanisation’ itself being lost?
In order to answer these questions, it is necessary to revisit the end of 2001. It is now well established that US claims to having “liberated” Afghanistan from Taliban oppression notwithstanding, the Taliban’s denial of the basic human rights of Afghans did not invite active military intervention by any power until such time as the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Though the Taliban’s ‘ideology’ of crushing women’s rights, limiting schooling and education, health and freedom of information and refusing to allow all forms of democratic principles proved convenient in subsequent efforts to demonise them, there was little attempt to differentiate between the ideology itself and the dangers of the group utilising the ideology as a tool of control. The assumption was that the elimination of a group or a set of individuals would disappear their ideology. As is now evident, not only have individuals been replaced, more worryingly, the conservatism that spawned and kept the ‘terrorists’ in power, is creeping insidiously back.
Many of the tenets of the Taliban were only an extreme form of an ideology that had its roots in the traditional practices and customary laws of some tribal groups. Inspired by tribal codes and principles of restorative justice, many of the customary laws of Afghanistan, especially the Pashtunwali (the unwritten code of honour of the Pashtun people practiced even today), would be considered abhorrent and a complete violation of basic principles of internationally recognised human rights including the right to life and liberty. The use of women as private property in dispute settlement; taking lives in exchange for injury or murder; treating the sheltering of a battered woman as a kidnapping which demands retribution through murder; all of this did not begin or end with the Taliban. Nor did the practice of summary or public executions. The brutality that is now seen to characterise the Taliban regime was evident in the behaviour of the ‘commanders’, ‘warlords’ and power brokers, with long years of conflict having brutalised the fighting men and having entrenched the most egregious aspects of the ‘spoils of war’ as routine practices.
While the Taliban undoubtedly epitomised the worst of these horrific practices, demonising the group, rather than viewing ‘terrorism’ as a tactical tool, has allowed the international community as well as the Afghan government to stop short of examining and tackling the roots of this behaviour. Conduct which originates from a combination of factors: the dehumanisation after years of war, the culture of conquest and pillage, the hostility towards outsiders and external influences, the severing of geographical, cultural and social roots, the loss of identity and the destruction of family and homes.
www.ourbabytwins.blogspot.com
Monday, December 29, 2008
Four dead in Afghan bomb attacks - CNN.com
Four dead in Afghan bomb attacks - CNN.com: "KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Bombings at a governor's compound and a bazaar in Afghanistan on Monday killed four civilians and wounded a few dozen others, the NATO command in the country said.
The U.S. military released this photo of Sunday's car bomb blast near a voter registration site.
A car bomb targeting the compound of the Parvan provincial governor in eastern Afghanistan killed two civilians and wounded 16 others.
Two improvised explosive devices detonated at a bazaar in the southern province of Kandahar, killing two civilians, including a child. Twenty civilians and an Afghan border police officer were wounded in the incident, which occurred in the town of Spin Boldak.
The violence is the latest said to be spawned by the resurgent Taliban movement that once ruled Afghanistan.
The Taliban regime harbored the al Qaeda terror network before it was ousted from power by the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the"
The U.S. military released this photo of Sunday's car bomb blast near a voter registration site.
A car bomb targeting the compound of the Parvan provincial governor in eastern Afghanistan killed two civilians and wounded 16 others.
Two improvised explosive devices detonated at a bazaar in the southern province of Kandahar, killing two civilians, including a child. Twenty civilians and an Afghan border police officer were wounded in the incident, which occurred in the town of Spin Boldak.
The violence is the latest said to be spawned by the resurgent Taliban movement that once ruled Afghanistan.
The Taliban regime harbored the al Qaeda terror network before it was ousted from power by the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the"
Ugandan Rebel Group Massacres 189 Over 3 Days in Northeast Congo, U.N. Says - washingtonpost.com
Ugandan Rebel Group Massacres 189 Over 3 Days in Northeast Congo, U.N. Says - washingtonpost.com
NAIROBI, Dec. 29 -- A Ugandan rebel group known for its horrific cruelties has massacred 189 people and kidnapped at least 20 children over three days in northeastern Congo, U.N. officials reported Monday.
The cultlike Lord's Resistance Army carried out the attacks on three villages between Thursday and Saturday, according to Ivo Brandau, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa.
NAIROBI, Dec. 29 -- A Ugandan rebel group known for its horrific cruelties has massacred 189 people and kidnapped at least 20 children over three days in northeastern Congo, U.N. officials reported Monday.
The cultlike Lord's Resistance Army carried out the attacks on three villages between Thursday and Saturday, according to Ivo Brandau, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa.
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel pounds Gaza for fourth day
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel pounds Gaza for fourth day
Air strikes early on Tuesday killed at least 10 people, medical officials in the coastal enclave said.
About 320 Palestinians have died since Saturday, the UN says. Four Israelis have been killed by rockets from Gaza.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate ceasefire and condemned both Israel and Hamas.
While recognising Israel's right to defend itself from militant rocket attacks, he condemned its "excessive use of force".
www.ourbabytwins.blogspot.com
Air strikes early on Tuesday killed at least 10 people, medical officials in the coastal enclave said.
About 320 Palestinians have died since Saturday, the UN says. Four Israelis have been killed by rockets from Gaza.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate ceasefire and condemned both Israel and Hamas.
While recognising Israel's right to defend itself from militant rocket attacks, he condemned its "excessive use of force".
www.ourbabytwins.blogspot.com
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Gaza eyewitnesses
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Gaza eyewitnesses
I have been working as physician in Gaza for 20 years. Shifa hospital has been turned into an emergency centre with several intensive care units to cope with the attacks.
But the emergency rooms do not have enough medical supplies or equipment to deal with the mass casualties.
I have been working as physician in Gaza for 20 years. Shifa hospital has been turned into an emergency centre with several intensive care units to cope with the attacks.
But the emergency rooms do not have enough medical supplies or equipment to deal with the mass casualties.
If terrorism is a cancer, treat it like one
If terrorism is a cancer, treat it like one
In the spirit of President-elect Obama's call for unity, the present divide between opponents and supporters of the war in Iraq needs to be healed. On one side, as represented by President Bush in his exit interviews, the war is seen, post-surge, as a key success in the war on terror. On the other side, as voiced by peace advocates, the Iraq War has been a dismal, shameful failure that did nothing to lessen the threat of terror around the world.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deepak Chopra
If terrorism is a cancer, treat it like one 12.29.08
Dear Abby, my economy's been cheating on me 12.22.08
Opinionators in paradise 12.15.08
Cursed are the peacemakers 12.08.08
More Deepak Chopra »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's leave aside the bitter acrimony that separates these two views. An intelligence report recently cited by Joe Biden has concluded that Arab outrage over Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo probably created more terrorists than the number vanquished in Iraq. But that fact won't deter the right wing, which insists that Bush was totally justified to "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here."
In the spirit of President-elect Obama's call for unity, the present divide between opponents and supporters of the war in Iraq needs to be healed. On one side, as represented by President Bush in his exit interviews, the war is seen, post-surge, as a key success in the war on terror. On the other side, as voiced by peace advocates, the Iraq War has been a dismal, shameful failure that did nothing to lessen the threat of terror around the world.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deepak Chopra
If terrorism is a cancer, treat it like one 12.29.08
Dear Abby, my economy's been cheating on me 12.22.08
Opinionators in paradise 12.15.08
Cursed are the peacemakers 12.08.08
More Deepak Chopra »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's leave aside the bitter acrimony that separates these two views. An intelligence report recently cited by Joe Biden has concluded that Arab outrage over Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo probably created more terrorists than the number vanquished in Iraq. But that fact won't deter the right wing, which insists that Bush was totally justified to "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here."
If terrorism is a cancer, treat it like one
If terrorism is a cancer, treat it like one
In the spirit of President-elect Obama's call for unity, the present divide between opponents and supporters of the war in Iraq needs to be healed. On one side, as represented by President Bush in his exit interviews, the war is seen, post-surge, as a key success in the war on terror. On the other side, as voiced by peace advocates, the Iraq War has been a dismal, shameful failure that did nothing to lessen the threat of terror around the world.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deepak Chopra
If terrorism is a cancer, treat it like one 12.29.08
Dear Abby, my economy's been cheating on me 12.22.08
Opinionators in paradise 12.15.08
Cursed are the peacemakers 12.08.08
More Deepak Chopra »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's leave aside the bitter acrimony that separates these two views. An intelligence report recently cited by Joe Biden has concluded that Arab outrage over Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo probably created more terrorists than the number vanquished in Iraq. But that fact won't deter the right wing, which insists that Bush was totally justified to "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here."
In the spirit of President-elect Obama's call for unity, the present divide between opponents and supporters of the war in Iraq needs to be healed. On one side, as represented by President Bush in his exit interviews, the war is seen, post-surge, as a key success in the war on terror. On the other side, as voiced by peace advocates, the Iraq War has been a dismal, shameful failure that did nothing to lessen the threat of terror around the world.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deepak Chopra
If terrorism is a cancer, treat it like one 12.29.08
Dear Abby, my economy's been cheating on me 12.22.08
Opinionators in paradise 12.15.08
Cursed are the peacemakers 12.08.08
More Deepak Chopra »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's leave aside the bitter acrimony that separates these two views. An intelligence report recently cited by Joe Biden has concluded that Arab outrage over Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo probably created more terrorists than the number vanquished in Iraq. But that fact won't deter the right wing, which insists that Bush was totally justified to "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here."
The Associated Press: Pakistan army: We must 'avoid conflict' with India
The Associated Press: Pakistan army: We must 'avoid conflict' with India
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's army chief stressed Monday the need to avoid conflict with India, days after he ordered troops toward the rivals' shared border amid tensions following last month's terror attacks on Mumbai.
Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani made the remarks to a top Chinese diplomat who was visiting Islamabad to try and ease the situation between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India.
Kayani's remarks were believed to be his first about the tensions with Pakistan's traditional rival and could help reassure a jittery region that the country does not intend to escalate the crisis further.
On Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials said thousands of troops were being shifted toward the Indian border, though there has been no sign yet of a major build up at the frontier.
Without referring specifically to the situation, Kayani told Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei of the "need to de-escalate and avoid conflict in the interest of peace and security," a brief army statement said.
India blames Pakistani militants for the slaughter of 164 people in its commercial capital and has not ruled out the use of force in its response. Pakistan's civilian leaders have said they do not want war, but will retaliate if attacked.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan's army chief stressed Monday the need to avoid conflict with India, days after he ordered troops toward the rivals' shared border amid tensions following last month's terror attacks on Mumbai.
Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani made the remarks to a top Chinese diplomat who was visiting Islamabad to try and ease the situation between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India.
Kayani's remarks were believed to be his first about the tensions with Pakistan's traditional rival and could help reassure a jittery region that the country does not intend to escalate the crisis further.
On Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials said thousands of troops were being shifted toward the Indian border, though there has been no sign yet of a major build up at the frontier.
Without referring specifically to the situation, Kayani told Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei of the "need to de-escalate and avoid conflict in the interest of peace and security," a brief army statement said.
India blames Pakistani militants for the slaughter of 164 people in its commercial capital and has not ruled out the use of force in its response. Pakistan's civilian leaders have said they do not want war, but will retaliate if attacked.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Bomb kills 2 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan - International Herald Tribune
Bomb kills 2 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan - International Herald Tribune
TORONTO: A roadside bomb killed two Canadian soldiers, an Afghan police officer and a local interpreter in southern Afghanistan, the Canadian military said.
Warrant Officer Gaetan Roberge and Sgt. Gregory John Kruse were killed Saturday during a security patrol in the Panjway district, in the western part of Kandahar province.
The explosion also wounded four other Canadian soldiers and another Afghan interpreter, a release from the Department of National Defense said.
The wounded soldiers were airlifted to Kandahar Airfield and were reported in good condition. The Afghan interpreter sustained only minor injuries in the blast.
It has been a bloody weekend for Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Pte. Michael Freeman, 28, was killed Friday when his armored vehicle struck an explosive during a security patrol in Zhari district.
TORONTO: A roadside bomb killed two Canadian soldiers, an Afghan police officer and a local interpreter in southern Afghanistan, the Canadian military said.
Warrant Officer Gaetan Roberge and Sgt. Gregory John Kruse were killed Saturday during a security patrol in the Panjway district, in the western part of Kandahar province.
The explosion also wounded four other Canadian soldiers and another Afghan interpreter, a release from the Department of National Defense said.
The wounded soldiers were airlifted to Kandahar Airfield and were reported in good condition. The Afghan interpreter sustained only minor injuries in the blast.
It has been a bloody weekend for Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Pte. Michael Freeman, 28, was killed Friday when his armored vehicle struck an explosive during a security patrol in Zhari district.
Obama aide says terror network in Pak is biggest threat to US-India-The Times of India
Obama aide says terror network in Pak is biggest threat to US-India-The Times of India
In what may spell testing times for the Pakistan government and particularly its army-ISI complex, Bruce Riedel, former CIA hand and terrorism advisor to the Barack Obama transition team, has slammed the Musharraf regime for hoodwinking US in the war against al-Qaida and Taliban and sees Pakistan as part of the terror problem.
In what may spell testing times for the Pakistan government and particularly its army-ISI complex, Bruce Riedel, former CIA hand and terrorism advisor to the Barack Obama transition team, has slammed the Musharraf regime for hoodwinking US in the war against al-Qaida and Taliban and sees Pakistan as part of the terror problem.
Bloomberg.com: Asia
Bloomberg.com: Asia
Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- India will take all steps needed to combat terrorism emanating from Pakistan, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, adding that the government in Islamabad must also act against terrorists on its territory.
The government in New Delhi has blamed “elements” in Pakistan for being behind the Nov. 26-29 attack on Mumbai that killed 164 people. Pakistan, which has pledged to cooperate with the investigation, said it has been given no evidence the attacks were carried out by Pakistanis.
Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- India will take all steps needed to combat terrorism emanating from Pakistan, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, adding that the government in Islamabad must also act against terrorists on its territory.
The government in New Delhi has blamed “elements” in Pakistan for being behind the Nov. 26-29 attack on Mumbai that killed 164 people. Pakistan, which has pledged to cooperate with the investigation, said it has been given no evidence the attacks were carried out by Pakistanis.
Report Predicts Terrorism in US Coming From Hezbollah | News From Antiwar.com
Report Predicts Terrorism in US Coming From Hezbollah | News From Antiwar.com
The Associated Press announced today that it had obtained the “Homeland Security Threat Assessment” for the years 2008-2013. Though it was unclear who the intended audience for the “official use only” document was, it predicts virtually every disaster imaginable in the next five years.
Among its usual predictions of impending doom in the US (enormous biological attacks and illegal terrorist immigration), the DHS document warns of hypothetical Hezbollah attacks in the US, sparked by some unspecified “triggering event.”
The Associated Press announced today that it had obtained the “Homeland Security Threat Assessment” for the years 2008-2013. Though it was unclear who the intended audience for the “official use only” document was, it predicts virtually every disaster imaginable in the next five years.
Among its usual predictions of impending doom in the US (enormous biological attacks and illegal terrorist immigration), the DHS document warns of hypothetical Hezbollah attacks in the US, sparked by some unspecified “triggering event.”
Defining the War on Terror : NPR
Defining the War on Terror : NPR
All Things Considered, November 1, 2006 · The term "war on terror" is ubiquitous, but the meaning of the word "war" has evolved.
For most of the last 2,000 years, war has meant something very conventional and traditional. The current war on terror, however, is a completely unconventional, non-traditional type of conflict.
Georgetown University historian Bruce Hoffman says unlike traditional wars, the war on terror does not have a clear beginning and an end.
All Things Considered, November 1, 2006 · The term "war on terror" is ubiquitous, but the meaning of the word "war" has evolved.
For most of the last 2,000 years, war has meant something very conventional and traditional. The current war on terror, however, is a completely unconventional, non-traditional type of conflict.
Georgetown University historian Bruce Hoffman says unlike traditional wars, the war on terror does not have a clear beginning and an end.
The $1 Trillion Bill for Bush's War on Terror - TIME
The $1 Trillion Bill for Bush's War on Terror - TIME
The news that President Bush's war on terrorism soon will have cost the U.S. taxpayers $1 trillion — and counting — is unlikely to spread much Christmas cheer in these tough economic times. A trio of recent reports — none by the Bush Administration — suggests that sometime early in the Obama presidency, spending on the wars started since 9/11 will pass the trillion-dollar mark. Even after adjusting for inflation, that's four times more than America spent fighting World War I, and more than 10 times the cost of 1991's Persian Gulf War (90% of which was paid for by U.S. allies). The war on terrorism looks set to surpass the costs the Korean and Vietnam wars combined, topped only by World War II's price tag of $3.5 trillion.
The news that President Bush's war on terrorism soon will have cost the U.S. taxpayers $1 trillion — and counting — is unlikely to spread much Christmas cheer in these tough economic times. A trio of recent reports — none by the Bush Administration — suggests that sometime early in the Obama presidency, spending on the wars started since 9/11 will pass the trillion-dollar mark. Even after adjusting for inflation, that's four times more than America spent fighting World War I, and more than 10 times the cost of 1991's Persian Gulf War (90% of which was paid for by U.S. allies). The war on terrorism looks set to surpass the costs the Korean and Vietnam wars combined, topped only by World War II's price tag of $3.5 trillion.
U.S. Department of Defense Official Website
U.S. Department of Defense Official Website
Soldiers from the 926th Combat Engineer Brigade took advantage of an opportunity to ask questions and get answers directly from the senior leader in their chain of command, Dec. 24, 2008, at Camp Liberty’s field house. Story
Deployed NCO Gets Call From President
An Army soldier serving in Iraq received a special phone call Dec. 24, 2008, and on the other end of the line was the commander-in-chief. Story
Strikers Christen New Chapel in Baghdad
After nearly seven months of holding religious services in conference rooms, the Army Strikers at Forward Operating Base War Eagle in the Adhamiyah district of Baghdad christened their new chapel with a Christmas Eve candlelight service Dec. 24, 2008. Story
U.S., Iraqis Seize Rocket Delivery System
American and Iraqi security forces found and seized a rocket-rail system during a combined operation conducted in Baghdad’s Rashid district Dec. 25. Story
General Notes Progress With Security
The military command charged with training Iraq’s security forces and the Iraqi Interior Ministry continues to make progress, a senior military official said. Story
Iraqi Forces Discover Smuggled Treasure
Iraqi Security Forces recently uncovered hundreds of historical artifacts during two raids in northern Basra. The 228 ancient artifacts included Sumerian and Babylonian sculpture, gold jewelry and other items from ancient Mesopotamia. Story
Soldiers from the 926th Combat Engineer Brigade took advantage of an opportunity to ask questions and get answers directly from the senior leader in their chain of command, Dec. 24, 2008, at Camp Liberty’s field house. Story
Deployed NCO Gets Call From President
An Army soldier serving in Iraq received a special phone call Dec. 24, 2008, and on the other end of the line was the commander-in-chief. Story
Strikers Christen New Chapel in Baghdad
After nearly seven months of holding religious services in conference rooms, the Army Strikers at Forward Operating Base War Eagle in the Adhamiyah district of Baghdad christened their new chapel with a Christmas Eve candlelight service Dec. 24, 2008. Story
U.S., Iraqis Seize Rocket Delivery System
American and Iraqi security forces found and seized a rocket-rail system during a combined operation conducted in Baghdad’s Rashid district Dec. 25. Story
General Notes Progress With Security
The military command charged with training Iraq’s security forces and the Iraqi Interior Ministry continues to make progress, a senior military official said. Story
Iraqi Forces Discover Smuggled Treasure
Iraqi Security Forces recently uncovered hundreds of historical artifacts during two raids in northern Basra. The 228 ancient artifacts included Sumerian and Babylonian sculpture, gold jewelry and other items from ancient Mesopotamia. Story
Pak bluffing US in war on terror: ex-CIA officer
Pak bluffing US in war on terror: ex-CIA officer
Washington: Pakistan was “double dealing” the US on the war on terror for years, says a former CIA analyst, who believes it will be difficult to break the Pakistani intelligence agencies' ties with Islamist groups.
Bruce Riedel, who retired from the Central Intelligence Agency, in 2006 after 29 years, speaks angrily about Pakistan under President Pervez Musharraf for extracting billions of dollars from Washington even while it allowed al-Qaeda to regroup in its tribal lands.
"We had a partner that was double-dealing us," the International Herald Tribune quoted Riedel as saying at his Washington home. "Anyone can be snookered and double dealt. But after six years you have to start to figure it out."
Riedel's views carry weight because he is a terrorism expert on President-elect Barack Obama's transition team. He is one of those who think that the terror network in Pakistan's tribal areas poses the biggest security threat to the US.
Washington: Pakistan was “double dealing” the US on the war on terror for years, says a former CIA analyst, who believes it will be difficult to break the Pakistani intelligence agencies' ties with Islamist groups.
Bruce Riedel, who retired from the Central Intelligence Agency, in 2006 after 29 years, speaks angrily about Pakistan under President Pervez Musharraf for extracting billions of dollars from Washington even while it allowed al-Qaeda to regroup in its tribal lands.
"We had a partner that was double-dealing us," the International Herald Tribune quoted Riedel as saying at his Washington home. "Anyone can be snookered and double dealt. But after six years you have to start to figure it out."
Riedel's views carry weight because he is a terrorism expert on President-elect Barack Obama's transition team. He is one of those who think that the terror network in Pakistan's tribal areas poses the biggest security threat to the US.
27 dead after Ukrainian apartment blast - CNN.com
27 dead after Ukrainian apartment blast - CNN.com
Twenty-one people were rescued from the remains of the building, located in the Black Sea resort town of Yevpatoria.
Rescue workers were still combing through the site Friday, but are expected to finish their work soon, according to Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry.
Government officials said oxygen canisters stored in the basement of the building are the most probable cause of the blasts, which reduced the apartment complex to rubble.
Twenty-one people were rescued from the remains of the building, located in the Black Sea resort town of Yevpatoria.
Rescue workers were still combing through the site Friday, but are expected to finish their work soon, according to Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry.
Government officials said oxygen canisters stored in the basement of the building are the most probable cause of the blasts, which reduced the apartment complex to rubble.
Church blast kills Sri Lanka officers - CNN.com
Church blast kills Sri Lanka officers - CNN.com
Eight other CDF officers and two civilians were wounded, police said.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but police suspect the bomber was a member of the Tamil Tiger rebels.
There was no immediate response from the Tamil Tiger rebels to the incident, which, police said, occurred at St. Anne's Church in the Colombo suburb of Wattala, located on a roadway to the country's only international airport about 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of the capital.
The attack happened during a weekly festival that usually draws a large crowd shopping for vegetables and household goods.
Eight other CDF officers and two civilians were wounded, police said.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but police suspect the bomber was a member of the Tamil Tiger rebels.
There was no immediate response from the Tamil Tiger rebels to the incident, which, police said, occurred at St. Anne's Church in the Colombo suburb of Wattala, located on a roadway to the country's only international airport about 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of the capital.
The attack happened during a weekly festival that usually draws a large crowd shopping for vegetables and household goods.
The Associated Press: US: 14 students die in bombing at Afghan school
The Associated Press: US: 14 students die in bombing at Afghan school
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber tried to attack a meeting of tribal elders and blew himself up near an Afghan primary school on Sunday, killing 14 children and wounding 58 people, the U.S. military said.
The suicide blast went off near the entrance to a police and army post, said Yacoub Khan, the deputy police chief of the eastern province of Khost. U.S. troops are also stationed inside the outpost, but no troops were wounded or killed in the attack.
The U.S. military said that 16 people were killed, including 14 students, an Afghan soldier and another person, who was likely an Afghan security guard that Afghan officials said was killed.
Dr. Abdul Rahman, a doctor at a hospital near the blast, said the children were aged 8 to 10.
Photos of the bombing's aftermath showed bloodied text books lying on the ground beside small pairs of shoes. The U.S. military also released images of the blast caught on a security camera.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber tried to attack a meeting of tribal elders and blew himself up near an Afghan primary school on Sunday, killing 14 children and wounding 58 people, the U.S. military said.
The suicide blast went off near the entrance to a police and army post, said Yacoub Khan, the deputy police chief of the eastern province of Khost. U.S. troops are also stationed inside the outpost, but no troops were wounded or killed in the attack.
The U.S. military said that 16 people were killed, including 14 students, an Afghan soldier and another person, who was likely an Afghan security guard that Afghan officials said was killed.
Dr. Abdul Rahman, a doctor at a hospital near the blast, said the children were aged 8 to 10.
Photos of the bombing's aftermath showed bloodied text books lying on the ground beside small pairs of shoes. The U.S. military also released images of the blast caught on a security camera.
Violence in Kashmir lowest in 20 years: police - washingtonpost.com
Violence in Kashmir lowest in 20 years: police - washingtonpost.com
SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Separatist violence in Indian Kashmir has fallen to its lowest level since an insurgency began nearly two decades ago, police said on Friday, but almost 1,000 Muslim militants are still operating in the region.
Indian officials say violence between Indian troops and separatist militants started a steady decline in 2004 after India and Pakistan, who both claim the region in full but rule in part, started a slow-moving peace process.
In an offensive against Muslim militants in Jammu and Kashmir state this year, Indian security forces killed 350 guerrillas, including 67 top-ranking commanders of different groups, Kashmir police director-general Kuldeep Khuda said.
SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Separatist violence in Indian Kashmir has fallen to its lowest level since an insurgency began nearly two decades ago, police said on Friday, but almost 1,000 Muslim militants are still operating in the region.
Indian officials say violence between Indian troops and separatist militants started a steady decline in 2004 after India and Pakistan, who both claim the region in full but rule in part, started a slow-moving peace process.
In an offensive against Muslim militants in Jammu and Kashmir state this year, Indian security forces killed 350 guerrillas, including 67 top-ranking commanders of different groups, Kashmir police director-general Kuldeep Khuda said.
AFP: Kashmir poll turnout 'a victory for democracy': Indian PM
AFP: Kashmir poll turnout 'a victory for democracy': Indian PM
SRINAGAR (AFP) — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the higher than expected turnout in elections in disputed Kashmir a "vote for democracy" Sunday, as results showed no one party dominated the polls.
Despite a boycott call by separatists and armed rebels, more than 60 percent of voters participated in the multi-stage elections which came after a period of direct rule from New Delhi.
"The large turnout is a vote for democracy. It is a vote for national integration. Therefore, we are all happy," Singh told reporters in New Delhi.
The elections had to be held in seven stages to ensure security in the Himalayan region, where at least 47,000 people have been killed in violence linked to a long-running Muslim insurgency against Indian rule
SRINAGAR (AFP) — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the higher than expected turnout in elections in disputed Kashmir a "vote for democracy" Sunday, as results showed no one party dominated the polls.
Despite a boycott call by separatists and armed rebels, more than 60 percent of voters participated in the multi-stage elections which came after a period of direct rule from New Delhi.
"The large turnout is a vote for democracy. It is a vote for national integration. Therefore, we are all happy," Singh told reporters in New Delhi.
The elections had to be held in seven stages to ensure security in the Himalayan region, where at least 47,000 people have been killed in violence linked to a long-running Muslim insurgency against Indian rule
Saturday, December 27, 2008
AFP: At least 228 die as Israel hammers Hamas-run Gaza
AFP: At least 228 die as Israel hammers Hamas-run Gaza
GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israeli warplanes have hammered Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rocket fire, killing at least 228 people in one of the bloodiest days of the decades-long Middle East conflict.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said "Operation Cast Lead" against the Islamist movement, which has also left some 700 wounded, will continue "as long as necessary.
"The battle will be long and difficult, but the time has come to act and to fight," he said.
Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called in Damascus for a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel and promised new suicide attacks.
Following mid-morning bombings, in which some 60 warplanes struck more than 50 targets in just a few minutes, Hamas fired more than 70 rockets and mortars into Israel killing one person and injuring four, according to a new Israeli army toll.
Israeli air strikes continued sporadically throughout the day and into the night.
GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israeli warplanes have hammered Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rocket fire, killing at least 228 people in one of the bloodiest days of the decades-long Middle East conflict.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said "Operation Cast Lead" against the Islamist movement, which has also left some 700 wounded, will continue "as long as necessary.
"The battle will be long and difficult, but the time has come to act and to fight," he said.
Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called in Damascus for a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising, against Israel and promised new suicide attacks.
Following mid-morning bombings, in which some 60 warplanes struck more than 50 targets in just a few minutes, Hamas fired more than 70 rockets and mortars into Israel killing one person and injuring four, according to a new Israeli army toll.
Israeli air strikes continued sporadically throughout the day and into the night.
Friday, December 26, 2008
BBC NEWS | South Asia | India-Pakistan military balance
BBC NEWS | South Asia | India-Pakistan military balance
In straight numerical terms of population, economic might, military manpower and equipment it is almost meaningless to speak about an India-Pakistan balance.
www.ourbabytwins.blogspot.com
In straight numerical terms of population, economic might, military manpower and equipment it is almost meaningless to speak about an India-Pakistan balance.
www.ourbabytwins.blogspot.com
CIA buys Afghan chief's loyalty with Viagra
CIA buys Afghan chief's loyalty with Viagra
The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached in his bag for a small gift.
The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached in his bag for a small gift.
Soldier killed in car accident - 12/24/08 - Raleigh News - abc11.com
Soldier killed in car accident - 12/24/08 - Raleigh News - abc11.com
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- The Army says an 82nd Airborne Division soldier died in a car accident. It happened south of Mobile, Alabama this past weekend.
Paratrooper Clifton P. Morrow, 22, of Irvington, Ala., was assigned to the 1-82 Attack Recon Battalion as an Apache crew chief.
"Specialist Morrow always maintained a positive attitude and he never complained about the difficult work that needed to be accomplished," said Lt. Col. David Jernigan, Morrow's battalion commander in a statement released to the media. "He always had a smile on his face while working on the aircraft."
Morrow is survived by his parents.
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- The Army says an 82nd Airborne Division soldier died in a car accident. It happened south of Mobile, Alabama this past weekend.
Paratrooper Clifton P. Morrow, 22, of Irvington, Ala., was assigned to the 1-82 Attack Recon Battalion as an Apache crew chief.
"Specialist Morrow always maintained a positive attitude and he never complained about the difficult work that needed to be accomplished," said Lt. Col. David Jernigan, Morrow's battalion commander in a statement released to the media. "He always had a smile on his face while working on the aircraft."
Morrow is survived by his parents.
WRCB Channel 3 Chattanooga News, Weather | Newlywed Soldier Killed in Iraq
WRCB Channel 3 Chattanooga News, Weather | Newlywed Soldier Killed in Iraq
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - The family of a Fort Campbell soldier who died Saturday in Iraq had just celebrated his wedding to another soldier earlier this month in Alabama.
The Defense Department said Monday that 25-year-old Staff Sgt. Jonathan W. Dean of Henagar, Ala., died Dec. 20 of injuries suffered in a noncombat related incident in Tikrit, Iraq.
Pam Dean, his stepmother, said Tuesday that the family had just dropped him off at the airport to return to Iraq on Dec. 14 and had only been in Iraq three days before his death.
Dean and his wife, Staff Sgt. Anne M. Dore, were married on Dec. 6 in Alabama. His wife was also deployed, but has returned for the funeral service.
He was assigned to the 561st Military Police Company, 716th Military Police Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. The military says the circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation.
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - The family of a Fort Campbell soldier who died Saturday in Iraq had just celebrated his wedding to another soldier earlier this month in Alabama.
The Defense Department said Monday that 25-year-old Staff Sgt. Jonathan W. Dean of Henagar, Ala., died Dec. 20 of injuries suffered in a noncombat related incident in Tikrit, Iraq.
Pam Dean, his stepmother, said Tuesday that the family had just dropped him off at the airport to return to Iraq on Dec. 14 and had only been in Iraq three days before his death.
Dean and his wife, Staff Sgt. Anne M. Dore, were married on Dec. 6 in Alabama. His wife was also deployed, but has returned for the funeral service.
He was assigned to the 561st Military Police Company, 716th Military Police Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. The military says the circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation.
Fox 28: South Bend, Elkhart IN News, Weather, Sports -Soldier died of punctured lung, father says
Fox 28: South Bend, Elkhart IN News, Weather, Sports -Soldier died of punctured lung, father says
WYOMING, Mich. (AP) - Services for a Grand Rapids-area soldier who died after collapsing during a march in Arizona are scheduled for Saturday.
The Army says 29-year-old Pfc. Moneeka Mayo Vander Geld of Wyoming, Mich., collapsed Sunday morning and died a short time later at a hospital in Sierra Vista, about 170 miles southeast of Phoenix.
WYOMING, Mich. (AP) - Services for a Grand Rapids-area soldier who died after collapsing during a march in Arizona are scheduled for Saturday.
The Army says 29-year-old Pfc. Moneeka Mayo Vander Geld of Wyoming, Mich., collapsed Sunday morning and died a short time later at a hospital in Sierra Vista, about 170 miles southeast of Phoenix.
AFP: NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan attack
AFP: NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan attack
KABUL (AFP) — A soldier with the NATO-led force in Afghanistan was killed Wednesday in an insurgent attack in the east of the country, the force said.
The multinational International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) did not provide the nationality of the soldier killed or any details about the attack.
"Our thoughts and sincere condolences are with the family and friends of the brave soldier who was killed during this tragic event on Christmas Eve," ISAF spokesman Captain Mark Windsor said in a statement.
KABUL (AFP) — A soldier with the NATO-led force in Afghanistan was killed Wednesday in an insurgent attack in the east of the country, the force said.
The multinational International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) did not provide the nationality of the soldier killed or any details about the attack.
"Our thoughts and sincere condolences are with the family and friends of the brave soldier who was killed during this tragic event on Christmas Eve," ISAF spokesman Captain Mark Windsor said in a statement.
Fort Carson Soldier Killed In Iraq Accident - Denver News Story - KMGH Denver
Fort Carson Soldier Killed In Iraq Accident - Denver News Story - KMGH Denver
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. -- A U.S. Army soldier from Fort Carson Army Base has died after his military vehicle rolled off a collapsed road in Iraq and into a canal.
Cpl. Stephen Zapasnik was one of three soldiers killed in the Christmas Eve accident in southern Iraq, according to his mother, Chris Zapasnik, of Broken Arrow. The Defense Department has confirmed the three deaths, but has not released the soldiers' names.
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. -- A U.S. Army soldier from Fort Carson Army Base has died after his military vehicle rolled off a collapsed road in Iraq and into a canal.
Cpl. Stephen Zapasnik was one of three soldiers killed in the Christmas Eve accident in southern Iraq, according to his mother, Chris Zapasnik, of Broken Arrow. The Defense Department has confirmed the three deaths, but has not released the soldiers' names.
Afghan bomb kills 1 soldier, injures 3
Afghan bomb kills 1 soldier, injures 3
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — A Canadian soldier is dead and three others are injured after their armoured vehicle was struck by an explosive device Friday in Zhari district, about 24 kilometres west of Kandahar City.
The attack occurred around 12:45 p.m. local time.
"(The soldiers were doing) security operations in the area when the explosion occurred," said Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, commander of Task Force Kandahar, in a brief statement.
The Defence Department has not yet released the victim's name, but the family has been notified.
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — A Canadian soldier is dead and three others are injured after their armoured vehicle was struck by an explosive device Friday in Zhari district, about 24 kilometres west of Kandahar City.
The attack occurred around 12:45 p.m. local time.
"(The soldiers were doing) security operations in the area when the explosion occurred," said Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, commander of Task Force Kandahar, in a brief statement.
The Defence Department has not yet released the victim's name, but the family has been notified.
Car Bombs, Clashes Kill 6 In Baghdad; U.S. Soldier Dies In Mosul Attack | AHN | December 26, 2008
Car Bombs, Clashes Kill 6 In Baghdad; U.S. Soldier Dies In Mosul Attack | AHN | December 26, 2008
Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) - Car bombs exploded and clashes erupted in different Baghdad neighborhoods and Iraqi cities on Thursday, killing eight people. One U.S. soldier died from a rocket attack in Mosul.
A car bomb blew up outside a restaurant in the Shula neighborhood, killing five people and wounding 25 others. Explosions in Alam killed one child while violence in Khadra killed two assailants, Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Salman Kadhim is quoted by the Washington Post.
A rocket or mortar attack in Mosul claimed the life of one U.S. soldier, the Pentagon said on Thursday
Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) - Car bombs exploded and clashes erupted in different Baghdad neighborhoods and Iraqi cities on Thursday, killing eight people. One U.S. soldier died from a rocket attack in Mosul.
A car bomb blew up outside a restaurant in the Shula neighborhood, killing five people and wounding 25 others. Explosions in Alam killed one child while violence in Khadra killed two assailants, Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Salman Kadhim is quoted by the Washington Post.
A rocket or mortar attack in Mosul claimed the life of one U.S. soldier, the Pentagon said on Thursday
BBC NEWS | UK | Marine killed in Helmand is named
BBC NEWS | UK | Marine killed in Helmand is named
The marine, from 42 Commando, died from enemy fire in the Nad-e-Ali district near Lashkar Gah in Helmand province.
L/Cpl Whatley, 20, from King's Lynn in Norfolk was described as "vibrant, happy person" by his family.
Some 136 UK troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001, including 11 Royal Marines in the past two months.
L/Cpl Whatley was killed in a fierce and prolonged battle while leading his men into action, the MoD said.
A statement released by his family said: "Ben was a vibrant, happy person who had an unbridled enthusiasm for life. He was so proud to be a Royal Marine. His
The marine, from 42 Commando, died from enemy fire in the Nad-e-Ali district near Lashkar Gah in Helmand province.
L/Cpl Whatley, 20, from King's Lynn in Norfolk was described as "vibrant, happy person" by his family.
Some 136 UK troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001, including 11 Royal Marines in the past two months.
L/Cpl Whatley was killed in a fierce and prolonged battle while leading his men into action, the MoD said.
A statement released by his family said: "Ben was a vibrant, happy person who had an unbridled enthusiasm for life. He was so proud to be a Royal Marine. His
Ninth body found at scene of Christmas Eve attack - Los Angeles Times
Ninth body found at scene of Christmas Eve attack - Los Angeles Times
A ninth body was found this morning at the grim scene of a Christmas Eve shooting in Covina, where a man in a Santa Claus suit opened fire on a house full of holiday revelers and set the building on fire.
There were 25 guests at the party and nine had been unaccounted for immediately after the shooting. The Los Angeles County coroner's office did not provide any more details about the deceased.
A ninth body was found this morning at the grim scene of a Christmas Eve shooting in Covina, where a man in a Santa Claus suit opened fire on a house full of holiday revelers and set the building on fire.
There were 25 guests at the party and nine had been unaccounted for immediately after the shooting. The Los Angeles County coroner's office did not provide any more details about the deceased.
NDTV.com: Launching strikes in Pak: Will it serve the purpose?
NDTV.com: Launching strikes in Pak: Will it serve the purpose?
For the last several days, there has been talk of how the impasse after the Mumbai terror strikes could pave the way for military strikes on terror hubs in Pakistan.
Though both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart have stated that war should be avoided.
There have been reports of how both Indian and Pakistani forces remain on full alert for a military confrontation, but armed forces remain on alert even during peacetime and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven that conventional military strikes cannot defeat a determined terrorist force.
In the current situation in the subcontinent, here is why a military option may achieve very little.
For the last several days, there has been talk of how the impasse after the Mumbai terror strikes could pave the way for military strikes on terror hubs in Pakistan.
Though both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart have stated that war should be avoided.
There have been reports of how both Indian and Pakistani forces remain on full alert for a military confrontation, but armed forces remain on alert even during peacetime and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven that conventional military strikes cannot defeat a determined terrorist force.
In the current situation in the subcontinent, here is why a military option may achieve very little.
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Indians warned to avoid Pakistan
BBC NEWS | South Asia | Indians warned to avoid Pakistan
India has advised its citizens against travelling to Pakistan as tension continues in the wake of last month's deadly attacks in Mumbai.
India's foreign ministry said travel was "unsafe" after reports Indians had been detained following recent bomb attacks in Pakistani cities.
Pakistani officials say the tension has meant scaling down military operations against militants and redeploying east.
The attacks on several targets in Mumbai left more than 170 people dead.
India blames militant groups based in Pakistan for the attacks. They and Pakistan's government deny any involvement.
India has advised its citizens against travelling to Pakistan as tension continues in the wake of last month's deadly attacks in Mumbai.
India's foreign ministry said travel was "unsafe" after reports Indians had been detained following recent bomb attacks in Pakistani cities.
Pakistani officials say the tension has meant scaling down military operations against militants and redeploying east.
The attacks on several targets in Mumbai left more than 170 people dead.
India blames militant groups based in Pakistan for the attacks. They and Pakistan's government deny any involvement.
Pakistan moves troops toward Indian border - Yahoo! News
Pakistan moves troops toward Indian border - Yahoo! News
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan began moving thousands of troops to the Indian border Friday, intelligence officials said, sharply raising tensions triggered by the Mumbai terror attacks.
India has blamed Pakistani-based militants for last month's siege on its financial capital, which killed 164 people and has provoked an increasingly bitter war of words between nuclear-armed neighbors that have fought three wars in 60 years.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan began moving thousands of troops to the Indian border Friday, intelligence officials said, sharply raising tensions triggered by the Mumbai terror attacks.
India has blamed Pakistani-based militants for last month's siege on its financial capital, which killed 164 people and has provoked an increasingly bitter war of words between nuclear-armed neighbors that have fought three wars in 60 years.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
In Mosul, Iraqi Christians Brave the Violence to Celebrate Christmas - NYTimes.com
In Mosul, Iraqi Christians Brave the Violence to Celebrate Christmas - NYTimes.com
MOSUL, Iraq — Iraqi Christians in the northern city of Mosul say this year has been the worst in living memory. After a wave of killings and attacks in October, more than 2,000 families fled to nearby villages.
Mosul remains one of the most dangerous places in Iraq and a stubborn holdout of the insurgency, but security has improved enough that at least half of those families have returned. On Thursday, they braved the violence and biting cold and rain to attend Christmas Masses and pray for their safety.
At the nearly thousand-year-old Chaldean church of Miskinta, where a bomb had exploded in October and graffiti praising the insurgency remains on a nearby wall, about 50 parishioners followed a deacon outside to the courtyard, where a fire was lighted to symbolize the birth of Christ.
Many tried to hold back tears as they prayed for “the rebirth of tormented Iraq to a new life of forgiveness and compassion.”
MOSUL, Iraq — Iraqi Christians in the northern city of Mosul say this year has been the worst in living memory. After a wave of killings and attacks in October, more than 2,000 families fled to nearby villages.
Mosul remains one of the most dangerous places in Iraq and a stubborn holdout of the insurgency, but security has improved enough that at least half of those families have returned. On Thursday, they braved the violence and biting cold and rain to attend Christmas Masses and pray for their safety.
At the nearly thousand-year-old Chaldean church of Miskinta, where a bomb had exploded in October and graffiti praising the insurgency remains on a nearby wall, about 50 parishioners followed a deacon outside to the courtyard, where a fire was lighted to symbolize the birth of Christ.
Many tried to hold back tears as they prayed for “the rebirth of tormented Iraq to a new life of forgiveness and compassion.”
Diplomatic Traffic
Diplomatic Traffic
According to diverse media reports, South Asian experts associated with incoming U.S. President Barack Obama are advocating that the next administration adopt a comprehensive, integrated, and fundamentally “new” approach towards Pakistan. The policies reportedly under consideration include increasing U.S. economic assistance, augmenting the transparency and accountability of U.S. aid flows, and working with a wider range of foreign countries and institutions seeking to promote Pakistan’s peace and security. Pakistani leaders have endorsed many of these policies in principle, but challenges remain.
BACKGROUND: An influential Obama adviser on South Asia, former CIA officer Bruce Riedel, has characterized Pakistan as “the most dangerous country in today's world.” Obama’s team worry that continued chaos in Pakistan could threaten a range of U.S. goals, including resolving the conflicts in Afghanistan and Kashmir, curbing nuclear nonproliferation, and promoting liberal, secular democracy in a Muslim country that has experienced long periods of military rule. Most seriously, it could allow al-Qaeda to develop further its incipient safe haven in northwest Pakistan, from which it could threaten new terrorist strikes against the United States and its allies.
According to diverse media reports, South Asian experts associated with incoming U.S. President Barack Obama are advocating that the next administration adopt a comprehensive, integrated, and fundamentally “new” approach towards Pakistan. The policies reportedly under consideration include increasing U.S. economic assistance, augmenting the transparency and accountability of U.S. aid flows, and working with a wider range of foreign countries and institutions seeking to promote Pakistan’s peace and security. Pakistani leaders have endorsed many of these policies in principle, but challenges remain.
BACKGROUND: An influential Obama adviser on South Asia, former CIA officer Bruce Riedel, has characterized Pakistan as “the most dangerous country in today's world.” Obama’s team worry that continued chaos in Pakistan could threaten a range of U.S. goals, including resolving the conflicts in Afghanistan and Kashmir, curbing nuclear nonproliferation, and promoting liberal, secular democracy in a Muslim country that has experienced long periods of military rule. Most seriously, it could allow al-Qaeda to develop further its incipient safe haven in northwest Pakistan, from which it could threaten new terrorist strikes against the United States and its allies.
The Associated Press: Indian PM: 'Nobody wants war' after terror attack
The Associated Press: Indian PM: 'Nobody wants war' after terror attack
NEW DELHI (AP) — India's prime minister insisted Tuesday that "nobody wants war" as he tried to calm fears a day after Pakistan sent fighter jets into the skies amid heightened tensions between the two nations.
Relations between the longtime, nuclear-armed rivals have been strained since the Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 164 people last month.
India blames militants operating from Pakistani soil and wants Islamabad to crack down; Pakistan says India has not provided proof of Pakistani involvement.
Seeking to temper tensions, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his second visit to Pakistan since the Mumbai attacks. He urged the country's leadership to work with India to fight terrorism.
Also visiting Pakistan, the head of Interpol said Islamabad has agreed to work with the global police agency to help investigate the attacks. But three weeks into the probe, India has not yet shared any evidence that would help the agency identify suspects from other countries, Ronald Noble said.
NEW DELHI (AP) — India's prime minister insisted Tuesday that "nobody wants war" as he tried to calm fears a day after Pakistan sent fighter jets into the skies amid heightened tensions between the two nations.
Relations between the longtime, nuclear-armed rivals have been strained since the Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 164 people last month.
India blames militants operating from Pakistani soil and wants Islamabad to crack down; Pakistan says India has not provided proof of Pakistani involvement.
Seeking to temper tensions, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his second visit to Pakistan since the Mumbai attacks. He urged the country's leadership to work with India to fight terrorism.
Also visiting Pakistan, the head of Interpol said Islamabad has agreed to work with the global police agency to help investigate the attacks. But three weeks into the probe, India has not yet shared any evidence that would help the agency identify suspects from other countries, Ronald Noble said.
Five convicted of plotting to kill Ft. Dix soldiers - Los Angeles Times
Five convicted of plotting to kill Ft. Dix soldiers - Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington -- A federal jury convicted five Muslim men Monday of plotting to kill soldiers at an Army base in New Jersey in a case that showed an aggressive FBI effort to infiltrate suspected homegrown terrorist cells.
The five men, all Muslim immigrants who have lived in the United States for some time, were acquitted of the related charge of attempted murder, but could face life in prison for their conviction on conspiracy to kill American soldiers. Sentencing is scheduled for April.
Serpil TatarCritics of the government's anti-terrorism approach said the case amounted to entrapment of angry young men and that if not for the actions of the FBI's informants, the group of immigrants would have done nothing more than talk about an attack.
However, security experts praised the convictions and the FBI investigation that led to them, arguing that the probe stopped a group of amateur terrorists before they could become experts, execute a plot and possibly spawn other cells.
Reporting from Washington -- A federal jury convicted five Muslim men Monday of plotting to kill soldiers at an Army base in New Jersey in a case that showed an aggressive FBI effort to infiltrate suspected homegrown terrorist cells.
The five men, all Muslim immigrants who have lived in the United States for some time, were acquitted of the related charge of attempted murder, but could face life in prison for their conviction on conspiracy to kill American soldiers. Sentencing is scheduled for April.
Serpil TatarCritics of the government's anti-terrorism approach said the case amounted to entrapment of angry young men and that if not for the actions of the FBI's informants, the group of immigrants would have done nothing more than talk about an attack.
However, security experts praised the convictions and the FBI investigation that led to them, arguing that the probe stopped a group of amateur terrorists before they could become experts, execute a plot and possibly spawn other cells.
Washington Times - Lashkar-e-Taiba draws well-educated youths
Washington Times - Lashkar-e-Taiba draws well-educated youths
LAHORE, Pakistan | The profile of those joining the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba is changing to include more young, educated men, some of whom even hold advanced degrees.
"The big change is that until a few years back most of the militants were hailing from the [Afghan] frontier, but now the scenario has changed and young men from all over Pakistan are joining," said Brig. Gen. Mahmood Shah, who served the Pakistani army in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the border with Afghanistan.
A ripe breeding ground for the new militants is southern Punjab, he told The Washington Times. Since the school system in Punjab is better than in the tribal areas, most of the new entrants to militant groups are better educated, GenShah said.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is blamed for terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month that killed more than 170 people. Pakistan last week officially banned Lashkar's charitable arm, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, froze its bank accounts, sealed at least 45 of its offices and arrested 50 of its leaders. Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed - who also headed Lashkar until it was banned in 2002 after an attack in India - was put under house arrest for a month at his home in Lahore. Eleven people, including Mr. Saeed, were banned from leaving the country.
LAHORE, Pakistan | The profile of those joining the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba is changing to include more young, educated men, some of whom even hold advanced degrees.
"The big change is that until a few years back most of the militants were hailing from the [Afghan] frontier, but now the scenario has changed and young men from all over Pakistan are joining," said Brig. Gen. Mahmood Shah, who served the Pakistani army in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on the border with Afghanistan.
A ripe breeding ground for the new militants is southern Punjab, he told The Washington Times. Since the school system in Punjab is better than in the tribal areas, most of the new entrants to militant groups are better educated, GenShah said.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is blamed for terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month that killed more than 170 people. Pakistan last week officially banned Lashkar's charitable arm, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, froze its bank accounts, sealed at least 45 of its offices and arrested 50 of its leaders. Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed - who also headed Lashkar until it was banned in 2002 after an attack in India - was put under house arrest for a month at his home in Lahore. Eleven people, including Mr. Saeed, were banned from leaving the country.
Israeli security cabinet declares 35 groups "terrorist organizations"_English_Xinhua
Israeli security cabinet declares 35 groups "terrorist organizations"_English_Xinhua
JERUSALEM, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Security Cabinet Wednesday held a comprehensive discussion on the issue of Global Jihad and declared 35 al-Qaida and Taliban-affiliated groups as "terrorist organizations."
According to an Israeli Prime Minister's Office (PMO) statement sent to Xinhua, the 35 organizations are active mainly in Pakistan, Afghanistan and North African countries and direct their activities against Western nations, and not necessarily against Israel.
The move was a significant measure in the international struggle against the financing of terrorism and was designed to put Israel in line with Western countries, especially the United States, which are also using economic means in dealing with terrorism and assist Israel in locating funds designated for terrorist organizations in the Middle East, said the PMO.
JERUSALEM, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Security Cabinet Wednesday held a comprehensive discussion on the issue of Global Jihad and declared 35 al-Qaida and Taliban-affiliated groups as "terrorist organizations."
According to an Israeli Prime Minister's Office (PMO) statement sent to Xinhua, the 35 organizations are active mainly in Pakistan, Afghanistan and North African countries and direct their activities against Western nations, and not necessarily against Israel.
The move was a significant measure in the international struggle against the financing of terrorism and was designed to put Israel in line with Western countries, especially the United States, which are also using economic means in dealing with terrorism and assist Israel in locating funds designated for terrorist organizations in the Middle East, said the PMO.
For Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, alleged supporter of terror in Pakistan, it's business as usual -- chicagotribune.com
For Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, alleged supporter of terror in Pakistan, it's business as usual -- chicagotribune.com
Despite officials' vow to crack down after Mumbai, Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa still operates unfettered
By Kim Barker | Tribune correspondent
December 26, 2008
MURIDKE, Pakistan — The students used computers to draw Pakistani flags and houses, and the hospital patients lined up for the eye doctor. "Fire is hot," a group of 68 1st graders recited in a crowded English class.
So far, it is business as usual at the main headquarters of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Pakistani charity that allegedly is a front for the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed for last month's terror attacks in Mumbai, India.
Despite the Pakistan government's announced crackdown on the group in response to pressure from India and the West, no one has shut its headquarters, a sprawling campus about an hour from the eastern city of Lahore. No one has closed the group's mosque in Lahore. Ten relief camps for victims of a recent earthquake in Balochistan province — also a Taliban stronghold — continue to operate, charity officials said.
"They may have thought we left everything and ran away to be safe," said Abu Ehsan, who runs the Jamaat complex in Muridke, known as Markaz-e-Taiba. "They may not know we have reopened."
Despite officials' vow to crack down after Mumbai, Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa still operates unfettered
By Kim Barker | Tribune correspondent
December 26, 2008
MURIDKE, Pakistan — The students used computers to draw Pakistani flags and houses, and the hospital patients lined up for the eye doctor. "Fire is hot," a group of 68 1st graders recited in a crowded English class.
So far, it is business as usual at the main headquarters of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Pakistani charity that allegedly is a front for the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed for last month's terror attacks in Mumbai, India.
Despite the Pakistan government's announced crackdown on the group in response to pressure from India and the West, no one has shut its headquarters, a sprawling campus about an hour from the eastern city of Lahore. No one has closed the group's mosque in Lahore. Ten relief camps for victims of a recent earthquake in Balochistan province — also a Taliban stronghold — continue to operate, charity officials said.
"They may have thought we left everything and ran away to be safe," said Abu Ehsan, who runs the Jamaat complex in Muridke, known as Markaz-e-Taiba. "They may not know we have reopened."
For Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, alleged supporter of terror in Pakistan, it's business as usual -- chicagotribune.com
For Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa, alleged supporter of terror in Pakistan, it's business as usual -- chicagotribune.com
Despite officials' vow to crack down after Mumbai, Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa still operates unfettered
By Kim Barker | Tribune correspondent
December 26, 2008
MURIDKE, Pakistan — The students used computers to draw Pakistani flags and houses, and the hospital patients lined up for the eye doctor. "Fire is hot," a group of 68 1st graders recited in a crowded English class.
So far, it is business as usual at the main headquarters of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Pakistani charity that allegedly is a front for the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed for last month's terror attacks in Mumbai, India.
Despite the Pakistan government's announced crackdown on the group in response to pressure from India and the West, no one has shut its headquarters, a sprawling campus about an hour from the eastern city of Lahore. No one has closed the group's mosque in Lahore. Ten relief camps for victims of a recent earthquake in Balochistan province — also a Taliban stronghold — continue to operate, charity officials said.
"They may have thought we left everything and ran away to be safe," said Abu Ehsan, who runs the Jamaat complex in Muridke, known as Markaz-e-Taiba. "They may not know we have reopened."
Despite officials' vow to crack down after Mumbai, Islamic charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa still operates unfettered
By Kim Barker | Tribune correspondent
December 26, 2008
MURIDKE, Pakistan — The students used computers to draw Pakistani flags and houses, and the hospital patients lined up for the eye doctor. "Fire is hot," a group of 68 1st graders recited in a crowded English class.
So far, it is business as usual at the main headquarters of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Pakistani charity that allegedly is a front for the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed for last month's terror attacks in Mumbai, India.
Despite the Pakistan government's announced crackdown on the group in response to pressure from India and the West, no one has shut its headquarters, a sprawling campus about an hour from the eastern city of Lahore. No one has closed the group's mosque in Lahore. Ten relief camps for victims of a recent earthquake in Balochistan province — also a Taliban stronghold — continue to operate, charity officials said.
"They may have thought we left everything and ran away to be safe," said Abu Ehsan, who runs the Jamaat complex in Muridke, known as Markaz-e-Taiba. "They may not know we have reopened."
Terrorism Havens: Pakistan - Council on Foreign Relations
Terrorism Havens: Pakistan - Council on Foreign Relations
Does Pakistan’s government support terrorism?
It has, and experts say that Pakistan’s military and Interservices Intelligence (ISI) both include personnel who sympathize with—or even assist—Islamist militants. ISI has provided covert but well-documented support to terrorist groups active in Kashmir, including the al-Qaeda affiliate Jaish-e-Mohammed, which investigators linked to the December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament and the February 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. President Pervez Musharraf made promises to stop Kashmiri militants from crossing into the Indian-held sector of Kashmir, but India insists Musharraf has yet to stop the terrorists’ movements.
How did Pakistan respond to September 11?
Pakistan, which had backed al-Qaeda’s Taliban hosts before September 11, abruptly reversed course and threw its lot in with the U.S.-led antiterrorist coalition. Under heavy U.S. pressure, Musharraf condemned the attacks and pledged Pakistan’s “unstinted cooperation” two days later. Pakistan has since become a key U.S. partner in its campaign against al-Qaeda, even as the perpetually turbulent, nuclear-armed Muslim country has teetered on the brink of war with India over the disputed province of Kashmir. Experts say Musharraf, who came to power in a 1999 coup, is under enormous strain: America is demanding that he crack down on Islamist militants; Pakistan’s religious extremists and some intelligence officials are furious at him for abandoning Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and softening his line on Kashmir; and Pakistan’s main political parties are shunning him because he’s resisting the restoration of democracy.
Do all Pakistanis support the ‘war on terrorism’?
No. Despite its government’s cooperation with the United States, Pakistan is home to many Islamist extremists, some with links to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Militants have conducted several terrorist attacks on Americans and other Westerners in Pakistan since September 11, including the abduction and murder of Daniel Pearl and the June 2002 car bombing of the U.S. consulate in Karachi, which killed twelve Pakistanis. Thanks to shared Islamist sympathies and ethnic ties, some Pakistanis have also helped Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters fleeing from Afghanistan take refuge throughout Pakistan. U.S. officials are concerned al-Qaeda could regenerate itself in urban areas and in the Northwest Frontier province, a lawless tribal region on the Afghan border inhabited by Pashtuns, the Taliban’s dominant ethnic group.
How has Pakistan supported the ‘war on terrorism’?
By becoming a major U.S. partner and staging area for the war in Afghanistan. The United States considers Pakistan one of its most important allies in the “war on terror.” Pakistan granted overflight rights to coalition aircraft, let U.S. forces use two Pakistani airfields, and shared intelligence about suspected terrorists. Pakistan has also worked with the FBI to capture suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives who fled into northern Pakistan—including al-Qaeda operations chief Abu Zubaydah and the alleged September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Muhammad—and in some cases has committed its own troops to hunt down al-Qaeda holdouts. According to the State Department’s 2004 Country Report, “Pakistan continues to pursue al-Qaeda and its allies aggressively through counterterrorist police measures and large-scale military operations.” Osama bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding in the remote tribal region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border with his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Musharraf says Pakistani troops had their best chance of capturing bin Laden from May-July 2004, after the army launched an offensive along the border with Afghanistan. But he says the trail has now gone cold.
After the July 2005 London bombings, in which the bombers were of Pakistani decent—and at least one of the suspects visited a Pakistani madrassa—Musharaff outlined a new approach for cracking down on extremism. He has decided to monitor hate sermons from mosques; require that all madrassas be registered and foreign students expelled; clamp down on inflammatory material; and prohibit militant groups from collecting funds. Pakistan also responded to the bombing by detaining more than 200 suspected Islamist militants.
Have U.S. personnel operated in Pakistan?
Yes. U.S. soldiers have joined Pakistani troops on raids in the tribal border regions, and the FBI is contributing information and agents to the pursuit of al-Qaeda holdouts. U.S. officials say they need Americans on the ground because the Pakistani military is not doing enough on its own, and Pakistan-watchers say the government remains reluctant to pursue terrorists at home because it fears an internal political backlash. Moreover, Pakistan has not wanted to launch large-scale military operations against al-Qaeda while many of its troops have been amassed along the Indian border due to tensions over Kashmir, a festering conflict that has flared up several times since India and Pakistan gained independence.
How does the Kashmir crisis affect the war on terrorism?
It’s a large, frightening distraction, particularly since both Pakistan and India have nuclear weapons. Tensions over Kashmir, which spiked after a December 2001 terrorist attack on India’s parliament, have diverted U.S. and Pakistani resources away from the pursuit of al-Qaeda. Experts say the fate of the disputed Muslim-majority province is fundamental to Pakistan’s national identity and Musharraf’s rule; observers say the general was able to seize power because his predecessor backed down in a 1999 showdown over Kashmir. Meanwhile, India—also an American partner in the antiterrorist coalition—has accused the United States of hypocrisy for working with a Pakistani government that India says continues to support terrorism.
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
Does Pakistan’s government support terrorism?
It has, and experts say that Pakistan’s military and Interservices Intelligence (ISI) both include personnel who sympathize with—or even assist—Islamist militants. ISI has provided covert but well-documented support to terrorist groups active in Kashmir, including the al-Qaeda affiliate Jaish-e-Mohammed, which investigators linked to the December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament and the February 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. President Pervez Musharraf made promises to stop Kashmiri militants from crossing into the Indian-held sector of Kashmir, but India insists Musharraf has yet to stop the terrorists’ movements.
How did Pakistan respond to September 11?
Pakistan, which had backed al-Qaeda’s Taliban hosts before September 11, abruptly reversed course and threw its lot in with the U.S.-led antiterrorist coalition. Under heavy U.S. pressure, Musharraf condemned the attacks and pledged Pakistan’s “unstinted cooperation” two days later. Pakistan has since become a key U.S. partner in its campaign against al-Qaeda, even as the perpetually turbulent, nuclear-armed Muslim country has teetered on the brink of war with India over the disputed province of Kashmir. Experts say Musharraf, who came to power in a 1999 coup, is under enormous strain: America is demanding that he crack down on Islamist militants; Pakistan’s religious extremists and some intelligence officials are furious at him for abandoning Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and softening his line on Kashmir; and Pakistan’s main political parties are shunning him because he’s resisting the restoration of democracy.
Do all Pakistanis support the ‘war on terrorism’?
No. Despite its government’s cooperation with the United States, Pakistan is home to many Islamist extremists, some with links to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Militants have conducted several terrorist attacks on Americans and other Westerners in Pakistan since September 11, including the abduction and murder of Daniel Pearl and the June 2002 car bombing of the U.S. consulate in Karachi, which killed twelve Pakistanis. Thanks to shared Islamist sympathies and ethnic ties, some Pakistanis have also helped Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters fleeing from Afghanistan take refuge throughout Pakistan. U.S. officials are concerned al-Qaeda could regenerate itself in urban areas and in the Northwest Frontier province, a lawless tribal region on the Afghan border inhabited by Pashtuns, the Taliban’s dominant ethnic group.
How has Pakistan supported the ‘war on terrorism’?
By becoming a major U.S. partner and staging area for the war in Afghanistan. The United States considers Pakistan one of its most important allies in the “war on terror.” Pakistan granted overflight rights to coalition aircraft, let U.S. forces use two Pakistani airfields, and shared intelligence about suspected terrorists. Pakistan has also worked with the FBI to capture suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives who fled into northern Pakistan—including al-Qaeda operations chief Abu Zubaydah and the alleged September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Muhammad—and in some cases has committed its own troops to hunt down al-Qaeda holdouts. According to the State Department’s 2004 Country Report, “Pakistan continues to pursue al-Qaeda and its allies aggressively through counterterrorist police measures and large-scale military operations.” Osama bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding in the remote tribal region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border with his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Musharraf says Pakistani troops had their best chance of capturing bin Laden from May-July 2004, after the army launched an offensive along the border with Afghanistan. But he says the trail has now gone cold.
After the July 2005 London bombings, in which the bombers were of Pakistani decent—and at least one of the suspects visited a Pakistani madrassa—Musharaff outlined a new approach for cracking down on extremism. He has decided to monitor hate sermons from mosques; require that all madrassas be registered and foreign students expelled; clamp down on inflammatory material; and prohibit militant groups from collecting funds. Pakistan also responded to the bombing by detaining more than 200 suspected Islamist militants.
Have U.S. personnel operated in Pakistan?
Yes. U.S. soldiers have joined Pakistani troops on raids in the tribal border regions, and the FBI is contributing information and agents to the pursuit of al-Qaeda holdouts. U.S. officials say they need Americans on the ground because the Pakistani military is not doing enough on its own, and Pakistan-watchers say the government remains reluctant to pursue terrorists at home because it fears an internal political backlash. Moreover, Pakistan has not wanted to launch large-scale military operations against al-Qaeda while many of its troops have been amassed along the Indian border due to tensions over Kashmir, a festering conflict that has flared up several times since India and Pakistan gained independence.
How does the Kashmir crisis affect the war on terrorism?
It’s a large, frightening distraction, particularly since both Pakistan and India have nuclear weapons. Tensions over Kashmir, which spiked after a December 2001 terrorist attack on India’s parliament, have diverted U.S. and Pakistani resources away from the pursuit of al-Qaeda. Experts say the fate of the disputed Muslim-majority province is fundamental to Pakistan’s national identity and Musharraf’s rule; observers say the general was able to seize power because his predecessor backed down in a 1999 showdown over Kashmir. Meanwhile, India—also an American partner in the antiterrorist coalition—has accused the United States of hypocrisy for working with a Pakistani government that India says continues to support terrorism.
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
