Powered by Max Banner Ads
Video: Pakistani DJ Uses Radio To Fight The Taliban
(hat tip Breitbart TV)
Video: Taliban Accidentally Blow Themselves Up Setting IED
Karma?
(hat tip Jawa Report)
Taliban Leader Baitullah Mehsud Believed Dead
This via ABC News:
"There is strong indication" that Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a CIA drone strike that targeted his second father-in-law’s house Wednesday, a senior administration official told ABC News.
If turns out that Mehsud is indeed dead it will be a major blow to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Kudos to Obama for being aggressive with the drone strikes.
War Footage Of The Day: Afghanistan
Pakistan Releases Taliban Leader
From the AP:
Pakistan freed a pro-Taliban cleric and quickly signed an accord with his hard-line group Monday, the first major step by the new government to talk peace with Islamic militants and break with President Pervez Musharraf’s policy of using force.
The day’s developments began with the release of Sufi Muhammad, who is believed in his 70s, after more than five years in custody following his dispatch of thousands of followers to fight in Afghanistan.
A few hours later, the government of North West Frontier Province said Muhammad’s group signed a pact renouncing violence in return for being allowed to peacefully campaign for Islamic law. Security forces have the right to “act against” any extremists who attack the government.
Yeah, right.
Britain Caught Negotiating With The Taliban
It looks like Britain’s new Prime Minister is the weak kneed leader we all thought he was. Agents from MI6 entered secret talks with Taliban leaders despite Gordon Brown’s pledge that Britain would not negotiate with terrorists.
Officers from the Secret Intelligence Service staged discussions, known as “jirgas”, with senior insurgents on several occasions over the summer. Readers might recall it was not long ago that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf held “jirgas” with the same people in hopes that the Taliban would agree not to hang out with Al-Qaeda anymore. Of course they did agree, and of course they lied.
The Prime Minister had denied reports of talks with the Taliban under questioning from David Cameron, the Tory leader, in Parliament just 24 hours prior to the London Telegraph breaking the story.
The disclosure comes only a fortnight after the Prime Minister told the House of Commons: “We will not enter into any negotiations with these people.”
The Government was apparently prepared to admit that the talks had taken place but Gordon Brown was thought to have “bottled out” just before Prime Minister’s Questions on Dec 12, when he made his denial instead.
Not surprisingly the U.S. government is “extremely unhappy” that our closest ally has been trying to negotiate with terrorists who supported the September 11th attackers.
This is the kind of crap we have come to expect from some allies, but Britain is not one of them. Ironically, under the leadership of Nicolas Sarkozy, France has finally located it’s balls and is fast becoming our staunchest ally and a favorite of President Bush.
The idea that Islamic fanatics like the Taliban are ever going to live up to any agreement is absurd, and Britain knows better.
-Chris Jones
Pakistan New Safe Haven for Militants
A large conflict may be looming as terrorists expand their control in Pakistan. Militants who once primarily controlled the lawless tribal belt on the Afghan/Pakistan border region are now in control of vast portions of Northern Pakistan.
The increased influence of the Islamic radicals was highlighted this week by intense fighting between local gunmen and government troops. The government said about 180 people have been killed, mostly militants, in violence including bombings, abductions and shootouts.
Taliban and al-Qaida were pushed back after the U.S. and its Afghan allies toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in late 2001. Today, residents say Arabs, Uzbeks and Tajiks have rejoined the ranks of the local radicals, mostly Pashtuns, the same ethnic group as the Taliban across the border in Afghanistan.
Terrorists now control Swat, which is a 4,000 square mile province in Northern Pakistan. Pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah has set up a virtual mini-state in Swat, a province of 4,000 square miles. He uses an FM radio station to help spread fundamentalist Islam in an area once known to tourists as the “Switzerland of Asia” for its stunning, snow-covered mountains.
Fazlullah and his followers have imposed strict Sharia law in Swat just as the Taliban did in Afghanistan. They have bombed girls schools and blown up video and CD shops. They drilled holes into the face of a 20-foot- tall stone Buddha, obliterating the features of the 1,300-year-old sculpture.
One of the biggest problems the Pakistani government faces is corruption within the military, Police, and intelligence service. Many within these organizations are at the very least sympathetic or at the worst actively assisting the terrorists.
Sooner or later the U.S. military is going to have to go into Northern Pakistan and clean out the terrorists. They now have a base of operations there just as they did in Afghanistan. If President Bush is serious about denying a safe haven for terrorists to plan attacks from then something must be done.
I believe President Musharraf is trying to help us as much as he can. The extremists are as much a threat to him and his government as they are to the West. I think it speaks volumes that Musharraf doesn’t have a single Pakistani in his personal security detail. He uses third country mercenaries with no personal or political ties to Pakistan.
At this moment there is no greater threat to the U.S. and its interests than extremist elements within Pakistan. If President Bush chooses to ignore this gathering danger or allows politics to get in the way, he is doing so at our peril.
-Chris Jones
The Hot Joints
Taliban captured by Canadians allege torture
Never missing an opportunity to use the “torture card” to gain sympathy, Taliban members captured by Canadian troops and handed over to Afghan authorities say they have been tortured. (NO! Say it isn’t so!!!)
Three prisoners are claiming they were beaten with bricks and cables, given electric shocks, deprived of sleep and had their nails torn out.
The three said they had been captured by Canadian troops, given a document that said torture was no longer used in Afghanistan and then transferred to the Afghan secret police.
“The people from the secret service tore it (the document) up and threw it in my face. They tortured me for 20 hours. I protested and said the Canadians had promised that nothing would happen to me.”
“They replied: ‘We’re not in Canada, we’re at home. The Canadians are dogs!’” he said.
I know this is the time when we’re supposed to get misty eyed, demand answers, and condemn torture. But I’m not.
-Chris Jones
Lt. Michael Murphy Posthumously Awarded Medal of Honor
President Bush publicly honored a fallen Navy SEAL by presenting his grieving parents with the Medal of Honor, and privately honored their sacrifice by wearing a dog tag they’d given him.
The president posthumously awarded the nation’s highest military honor for valor to Lt. Michael Murphy of Patchogue, New York. He is the first person to receive the Medal of Honor from combat in Afghanistan.
Murphy, Luttrell and two other SEALs were searching for a terrorist when their mission was compromised after they were spotted by locals, who presumably alerted the Taliban to their presence.
An intense gun battle ensued, with more than 50 anti-coalition fighters swarming around the outnumbered SEALs.
Although wounded, Murphy is credited with risking his own life by moving into the open for a better position to transmit a call for help.
Still under fire, Murphy provided his unit’s location and the size of the enemy force. At one point he was shot twice in the back, causing him to drop the mobile phone. Murphy picked it back up, completed the call and continued firing at the enemy who was closing in.
He then returned to his cover position with his men and continued the battle. A U.S. helicopter sent to rescue the men was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing all 16 aboard. It was the worst single-day death toll for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
By the end of the two-hour gunfight, Murphy and two of his comrades were also dead. An estimated 35 Taliban were also killed. Luttrell was blown over a ridge and knocked unconscious. He escaped, and was protected by local villagers for several days before he was rescued.
Murphy, who died before his 30th birthday, is the fourth Navy SEAL to earn the award and the first since the Vietnam War.
Two Medals of Honor have been awarded posthumously in the Iraq war: to Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham, who was killed in 2004 after covering a grenade with his helmet, and to Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, who was killed in 2003 after holding off Iraqi forces with a machine gun before he was killed at the Baghdad airport.
We highly recommend everyone read the book written by Marcus Luttrell, the lone survivor of this covert mission in Afghanistan. He tells all about his friend and comrade Lt. Michael Murphy and the entire mission known as “Operation Red Wing.”
Lt. Michael Murphy and his SEAL team are are true American heroes and deserve to be recognized.
-The Hot Joints Staff
Posts
