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Subject: Greatest military strategic victory of the 21st century goes to the Talebans
Le Zookeeper    10/12/2009 1:01:29 AM
8 yrs on, Omar returns to haunt US Scott Shane, NYT News Service 12 October 2009, 02:36am IST Print Email Discuss Bookmark/Share Save Comment Text Size: | WASHINGTON: In late 2001, Mullah Muhammad Omar’s prospects seemed utterly bleak. The ill-educated, one-eyed leader of the Taliban had fled on a motorbike after his fighters were swiftly routed by the Americans invading Afghanistan. Eight years later, Mullah Omar leads an insurgency that has gained steady ground in much of Afghanistan against the much better equipped American and Nato forces. “This is an amazing story,” said Bruce Riedel, an ex-CIA officer who coordinated the Obama administration’s review of Afghan policy in the spring. “He’s a semiliterate individual who has met with no more than a handful of non-Muslims in his entire life. And he’s staged one of the most remarkable military comebacks in modern history.” Mullah Omar heads the Taliban’s Rahbari Shura, or leadership council, often called the Quetta Shura since it relocated to the Pakistani city in 2002. The shura, consisting of the Taliban commanders, “operates like the politburo of a communist party,” setting broad strategy, said Yusufzai. Rahimullah Yusufzai, of the News International, a Pakistani newspaper, who interviewed Mullah Omar a dozen times before 2001, called him “a man of few words.” But his reputed humility, his legend as a ferocious fighter against Soviet invaders in the 1980s, and his success in ending the lawlessness and bloody warlords’ feuds of the early 1990s cemented his power. “His followers adore him, believe in him and are willing to die for him,” Yusufzai said. Mullah Omar “remains an inspiration, sending out letters and audiotapes to his commanders and fighters,” he said. A recent assessment by Gen Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, identified the Taliban as the most important part of the insurgents, who currently have the initiative” and “the overall situation is deteriorating.” http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/8-yrs-on-Omar-returns-to-haunt-US/articleshow/5113861.cms (my comment)In the red corner the Talebans, in the blue corner nearly half of the civilized world. The mujahadeen clearly remains the greatest military force of all time. The curse stands!! Empires come to die in Afghanistan.
 
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Le Zookeeper    oops link again   10/12/2009 1:04:17 AM
 
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Le Zookeeper    more current info   10/12/2009 1:06:54 AM

WASHINGTON — As the Obama administration reconsiders its Afghanistan policy, White House officials are minimizing warnings from the intelligence community, the military and the State Department about the risks of adopting a limited strategy focused on al Qaida , U.S. intelligence, diplomatic and military officials told McClatchy .

Recent U.S. intelligence assessments have found that the Taliban and other Pakistan -based groups that are fighting U.S.-led forces have much closer ties to al Qaida now than they did before 9/11, would allow the terrorist network to re-establish bases in Afghanistan and would help Osama bin Laden export his radical brand of Islam to Afghanistan's neighbors and beyond, the officials said.

McClatchy interviewed more than 15 senior and mid-level U.S. intelligence, military and diplomatic officials, all of whom said they concurred with the assessments. All of them requested anonymity because the assessments are classified and the officials weren't authorized to speak publicly.

The officials said the White House is searching for an alternative to the broader counterinsurgency strategy favored by Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal , the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan , and Gen. David Petraeus , the head of the U.S. Central Command.

White House officials, they said, have concluded that McChrystal's approach could be doomed by election fraud, corruption and other problems in Afghanistan ; by continued Pakistani covert support for the insurgency; by the strains on the Army , Marine Corps and the federal budget; and by a lack of political and public support at home, which they fear could also undermine the president's domestic priorities.

One phrase that always comes up in the administration's strategy sessions is "public opinion," one participant told McClatchy .

However, the officials said, in their effort to muster domestic support for a more limited counterterrorism strategy that would concentrate on disrupting and dismantling al Qaida , White House officials are neglecting warnings from their own experts about the dangers of a more modest approach.

"McChrystal and Petraeus are ignoring the problems their (counterinsurgency) approach would face in Afghanistan and here at home," said one intelligence official with extensive experience in South Asia and counterterrorism. "We don't have a reliable partner in Afghanistan or Pakistan ; doubling the size of the Afghan army is a pipedream, given the corruption and literacy problems; and neither Congress or the American people are likely to give it the money, the troops or the decade or so it would need to work, if it would work.

"Now the White House is downplaying the dangers of doing the only thing that they think Congress and the public will support -- a limited war against the guys who hit us on 9/11. The truth is, both approaches have huge problems, and neither one's likely to work."
 
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Le Zookeeper    and more, Talebans attack Pk Pentagon- nuke facilities in range?   10/12/2009 1:08:37 AM

ISLAMABAD ? A week of terror strikes across Pakistan, capped by a stunning assault on army headquarters, show the Taliban have rebounded and appear determined to shake the nation's resolve as the military plans for an offensive against the group's stronghold on the Afghan border.

The 22-hour raid on Pakistan's "Pentagon" in the city of Rawalpindi, which ended with 20 dead Sunday, was the third terror attack in a week to shake this nuclear-armed nation. It demonstrated the militants' renewed strength since their leader was killed by a U.S. missile strike in August and military operations against their bases.

The attack followed warnings from police as early as July that militants from western border areas were joining those in the central Punjab province in plans for a bold attack on army headquarters. The suspected ringleader in Saturday's raid, known as Aqeel, also was believed to have orchestrated an ambush on Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team in Lahore this year.

The U.S. has long pushed Islamabad to take more action against Taliban and al-Qaida militants, who are also blamed for attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, and the army carried out a successful campaign against the militants in the Swat Valley in the spring.

But the army had been unwilling to go all out in the lawless tribal areas along the border that serve as the Taliban's main refuge. Three offensives into South Waziristan since 2001 ended in failure and the government signed peace deals with the militants.

On the heels of the Swat victory, the military launched a campaign of airstrikes on the militants in Waziristan and in recent weeks officials said they were preparing a full offensive there.

That was before the embarrassing attack on army headquarters bolstered militants' assertions they are ready to take on the military, and threatened to deflate the army's newfound popularity.

In the wake of the seige in Rawalpindi, the government said it would not be deterred. The military launched two airstrikes Sunday evening on suspected militant targets in South Waziristan, killing at least five insurgents and ending a five-day lull in attacks there, intelligence officials said.
 
 
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Panther       10/12/2009 2:10:38 AM
Le Zookeeper- "The mujahadeen clearly remains the greatest military force of all time."
 
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA... gasp....
 
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Le Zookeeper    panther   10/12/2009 2:15:59 AM
I agree hahaha--- Osama still lives, Omar is back in town, and beyond kabul there is not much control. Soviets said too haahaaa, look what happened, before september 2008 lehman crash u said haha to my theory of impending US collapse. Common sense has left the building, laughing gas?? maybe...but then thats what an enemy luvs an arrogant fool as an enemy...http://www.strategypage.com/CuteSoft_Client/CuteEditor/Images/emwink.gif" alt="" />
 
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Le Zookeeper    Remember the movie 300- well Persia too had a grand army    10/12/2009 2:22:29 AM
and they were defeated. Its not the technology its the will to persevere. Clearly the mujahadeen have the number on charatestic to win a war (minus nuke annhilation) -perserverence, the will to fight forever. Match that.
Le Zookeeper- "The mujahadeen clearly remains the greatest military force of all time."

 

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA... gasp....




 
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Panther       10/12/2009 2:30:53 AM

I agree hahaha--- Osama still lives, Omar is back in town, and beyond kabul there is not much control. Soviets said too haahaaa, look what happened, before september 2008 lehman crash u said haha to my theory of impending US collapse. Common sense has left the building, laughing gas?? maybe...but then thats what an enemy luvs an arrogant fool as an enemy...http://www.strategypage.com/CuteSoft_Client/CuteEditor/Images/emwink.gif" alt="" align="absMiddle" border="0" />

You really are rooting for the other side aren't you?
 
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Panther       10/12/2009 2:33:31 AM

and they were defeated. Its not the technology its the will to persevere. Clearly the mujahadeen have the number on charatestic to win a war (minus nuke annhilation) -perserverence, the will to fight forever. Match that.


Le Zookeeper- "The mujahadeen clearly remains the greatest military force of all time."



 



HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA... gasp....












Your in love with these groups, or someone with in it, aren't you?
 
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Le Zookeeper    Please Panther   10/12/2009 2:38:42 AM
I simply respect the mujahadeen as a true fighting force. I may not like them , but I respect them. Soviets did not respect them and they got their rears handed to them, and now comes the next group of opponents who go HAHAHHAAHA...well the mujahadeen are still going AHA AHA another team to play with---I thought the cardinal rule of cnfrontation is respect the enemy. Hmmm...strange you do not recognize the Mujahadeens historical military achievements- nobody from a foreigncountry has ever beaten them. Nobody.
 
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Panther       10/12/2009 2:47:30 AM

I simply respect the mujahadeen as a true fighting force. I may not like them , but I respect them. Soviets did not respect them and they got their rears handed to them, and now comes the next group of opponents who go HAHAHHAAHA...well the mujahadeen are still going AHA AHA another team to play with---I thought the cardinal rule of cnfrontation is respect the enemy. Hmmm...strange you do not recognize the Mujahadeens historical military achievements- nobody from a foreigncountry has ever beaten them. Nobody.

Whoever said i was laughing at them?
 
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