Pemimpin mujahidin Taliban mengeluarkan pesan hari raya Muslim pada Rabu (25/11) yang isinya menyerukan rakyat Afghan untuk memutuskan hubungan dengan pemerintah yang tidak lain adalah antek orang-orang kafir.

Pesan Mullah Omar menjelang Idul Adha ini muncul seminggu setelah Presiden Hamid Karzai mencoba ‘menarik hati’ Taliban dalam pidato pelantikannya yang berisi urgensi memasukkan anggota Taliban yang siap meninggalkan terorisme ke dalam pemerintahan.

Mujahidin Taliban dengan cepat menolak hal tersebut, dan mengulangi penolakannya untuk bernegosiasi dengan pemerintah Karzai atau berpartisipasi dalam administrasi boneka thaghut.

“Saya harap anda akan terus melanjutkan jihad yang sah dan berjuang untuk mewujudkan Islam … dan memutuskan semua hubungan dengan kaki tangan pemerintah Kabul,” kata Omar dalam pesan yang diposting di situs yang biasa digunakan Taliban.

Mullah Omar pun mengatakan tidak akan pernah ada perundingan apapun yang akan memperpanjang atau mengesahkan kehadiran pasukan asing di negara itu.

“Mereka yang telah menduduki negeri kami dan menculik orang-orang kami sebagai sandera, ingin menggunakan siasat negosiasi seperti halnya drama pemilihan beberapa waktu yang tidak lain dilakukan dalam rangka mencapai tujuan-tujuan kolonialisme mereka,” katanya.

“Namun demikian, rakyat Afghanistan tidak akan pernah setuju untuk memperpanjang dan juga bernegosiasi dalam rangka mengesahkan kehadiran para penjajah.

Ketidakhadiran Mullah Omar yang terbilang cukup lama, telah menyebabkan para pejabat munafik Afghanistan berpendapat bahwa ia bersembunyi di Pakistan.

Mullah Omar bersikeras bahwa mujahidin telah menggenggam peperangan dan tengah memenangkannya.

“Realita lapangan di negeri kami tercinta menunjukkan bahwa para penjajah itu hendak melarikan diri,” katanya.

Presiden Barack Obama telah mempertimbangkan rencana untuk mengirim puluhan ribu tentara tambahan AS ke Afghanistan, dan pejabat militer AS mengharapkan penambahan sekitar 32.000 menjadi 35.000 tentara untuk memulai operasi pada bulan Februari atau Maret. Jumlah ini akan menjadi penambahan terbanyak dari pasukan asing sejak awal perang tahun 2001.

Dalam pernyataannya, Mullah Omar menyerukan mujahidin untuk terus berjuang melawan pemerintah dan sekutunya, namun mendesak mereka untuk menghindari kematian warga sipil.

Selama ini, pemerintah serta media pro-Barat selalu menyalahkan Taliban atas kematian warga sipil, meskipun pada kenyataannya yang biasa melakukan kekejian tersebut adalah pasukan AS dan NATO.

Seperti biasa, dalam setiap pernyataan, Mullah Omar selalu mengulangi bahwa perang di Afghanistan merupakan sebuah upaya Barat untuk melemahkan Islam.

“Amerika dan sekutu-sekutunya telah membuat rencana terang-terangan maupun yang tersembunyi untuk mengacaukan dunia Islam dan memprovokasi perbedaan di negara-negara Islam,” kata Omar.

Summber : arrahmah.com

Karazi calls for “Peace Talks” with the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, Supreme Commander of the Taliban rejects talks. Once the Taliban were ‘friends’ of the United States. They met with President Reagan, even Mullah Omar sat in the Oval Office. They met with in Houston, Texas with Unocal in 1997 to discuss the Afghanistan Pipeline Project. Houston is known as the Kabul of the United States. Read more here.

President Reagan and Mullah Omar and Taliban Delegation in Oval Office

‘The people of Afghanistan will not agree to negotiation which prolongs and legitimises the invader’s military presence in our beloved country. Afghanistan is our home,’ a Taliban statement quoted Omar as saying. The elusive leader of the militia, which were unseated in the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, accused foreign powers of seeking negotiations to ‘prolong their evil process of colonization and occupation. The cunning enemy wants to attack people’s crowded places such as mosques and other similar places in order to malign the Mujahideen,’ Omar said. The one-eyed militant commander called on his fighters to ‘guard against these activities of the enemy and fully avoid carrying out any similar activity. The well-being and prosperity of the people should be your priority.’ The United States and Britain — which have the most troops in Afghanistan — have also opened the door for talks with militants they call ‘moderate Taliban,’ or those who do not have links to Al-Qaida. Omar is a founder of the Taliban and is often referred to as its ‘supreme commander’ or spiritual leader. Many analysts and diplomats believe he is hiding out in Pakistan, although Islamabad denies his presence. Click here for more.

After 8 years of fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, the British have come up with a plan (of course, with U.S. approval) to include the Taliban in Karazi’s government. Who’s running Kabul? Is President Karazi just a puppet? That is what the Taliban believe, and this makes that look true.

Taliban to play role in Afghan govt: UK

EDINBURGH (Scotland): Ending the war in Afghanistan would include senior Taliban commanders sitting in Afghan government, Britain’s foreign secretary said on Tuesday.
David Miliband also told a meeting of Nato’s parliamentary assembly that military action must be accompanied by a political surge to restore Afghans’ faith in their corruption-scarred government.
He said the vast majority of Taliban fighters were not committed to a global jihad and could be persuaded to stop fighting. He said a settlement must include the top Taliban commanders prepared to renounce violence. ‘Once reintegration gains momentum, and the insurgency is starting to fray, we will need to support President Karzai in reaching out to those commanders that can be persuaded to renounce Al Qaeda and pursue their goals peacefully within the constitutional framework,’ he said. Click here for more.

Malalai Joya’s story will be on our Blog every day for the next month. Please buy her book and visit her site.. Read her San Jose Mercury Opinion: “U.S. is doing no good in Afghanistan” here.
On Saturday, Nov. 7, Malalai Joya was at a gathering at San Jose State University in California to promote her book “A Woman Among Warlords” and to gather support for her people in Afghanistan. Malalai is a very brave woman to take on her own government and also the U.S. government, the occupiers of her country.

Malalai Joya signing her new book, A Woman Among Warlords, a JB photo

Our story on Malalai Joya can be seen here. Buy a copy of her book, “A Woman Among Warlords” here, or at your favorite bookstore. A great Holiday gift idea. The subtitle is “The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice”. Visit Malalai’s website here for more information on how you can help.

* * *
Take Action Now: It is not too late !
Call President Obama: To reach the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 Leave a message: No more Troops. End the War(s). Call Leon Panetta at (703) 482-0623, CIA headquarters, leave a message: Stop the South Waziristan War and don’t attack Quetta, End the War(s).

How much does the War Spending cost your congressional district (if you live in the U.S.)? Find out at the National Priorities Project (click here). Only YOU can stop this.

Today, please tell your member of Congress and U.S. Senators to End the War in Afghanistan, sign this petition. If you live outside the United States, write to your leaders, End the War Now.

The deputy chief of the Tajik National Security Committee Members claims an unknown number of fighters of a Tajik military unit who were loyal to rebel leader Mahmud Khudoyberdiyev have joined regional and global terror groups and have been fighting the Tajik government.
Khudoyberdiyev was a colonel in the Defense Ministry and led a brigade of troops. He led an unsuccessful uprising in 1997 and took control of a northern city in 1998 before fleeing to neighbouring Uzbekistan.
The Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan have tried to disrupt to NATO’s new supply line into northern Afghanistan in Tajikistan. On July 9, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, under the command of Mullah Abdullah, sent a force of 300 fighters into the town of Tavil-Dara and attacked a police station. Eleven days later, they attacked a remote military checkpoint near the Afghan border.

PKKH

The red corridor which is now turning into red alert for Indian sovereignty has been camouflaged by the Government of India so strongly since years to save the face in the world community. But now the cover is proving too short to hide this ugly reality.

Naxals/Maoists issue is widely censored by the common Indians you interact in daily life, but the living reality says otherwise. Naxalite/Maoist insurgents are controlling more than 45% of India without any obstruction from the state anywhere in those regions. The police and paramilitary is too vulnerable to their deadly attacks due to lack of capability and fire power to confront these militants. The most dangerous reality is that the Militants are now in full control of those regions where there are located key Nuclear Installations or most convincingly the Nuclear Arsenal storage sites

Talcher’s Heavy Water Plant

Starting from the state of Orissa at the eastern coast of India, where Maoists are showing much stronger presence. A very important Heavy Water Plant is located in the City of Talcher in this state. Since last many months this city is badly hurt due to repeated terrorist activities of Maoists and their supporters. Maoists displayed their power most recently when they blocked the road access to Talcher making things to complete standstill inside that city and in the surrounding areas. Most ironic is that the presence of law enforcing agencies in these areas is very minimal and almost next to none. Local residents are living in extreme fear and in complete insecurity. In these circumstances, any serious accident to the Heavy Water Plant would lead to complete catastrophe. It is ironic that besides being completely helpless against the growing influence of Maoists near this important nuclear site, Indian media is not alarming any warnings. It is clear that India is hiding this matter deliberately and does not want the world to know about the intensity of the threat.

Uranium mines & mills, Jaduguda, Jharkand

The important Uranium mines and mills in Jaduguda Jharkand are facing worst catastrophe of deadly leakages when a new tailings pipeline burst caused a uranium mill tailings spill that reached nearby homes. Ironically this incidence of International importance was camouflaged again by the Indian media. It is widely believed that this particular area is now under full control of Naxal/Moist forces.

Read More

Madras Atomic Power Station

Located at  Kalpakkam about 80 km south of Chennai, India, is a comprehensive nuclear power production, fuel reprocessing, and waste treatment facility that includes plutonium fuel fabrication for fast breeder reactors [FBRs]. It is also India’s first fully indigenously constructed nuclear power station. It has two units of 170 MWe capacity each. The first and second units of the station went critical in 1983 and 1985 respectively. The station has reactors housed in a reactor building with double shell containment ensuring total protection even in the remotest possibility of loss of coolant accident. An Interim Storage Facility [ISF] is also located in Kalpakkam

Naxal tentacles are reaching Chennai which as mentioned above has this important Power Plant, Naxal presence just few kilometers from this city is a living threat which no one can ignore so easily. The recent train mishap in Chennai is believed to be the activity of Naxals to signal their strong presence in this region too. Read Report

Narora nuclear power plant

Narora is located on the banks of river Ganges, in district Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh. A nuclear power plant is located in its vicinity. The insurgent sympathizers smuggle highly radioactive material out of the Nuclear Fuel Complex to detonate a radiological dispersion device or ‘dirty bomb’ in Hyderabad. An example of security blunder that could have resulted in the theft of fissile material in August 2006: Security was tightened in and around the Narora nuclear power plant after three men working there were arrested for giving fake addresses at the time of their appointments. Unbelievably, the men were given access to the facilities without first conducting thorough background checks. The problem is that India does not only have 22 declared including under construction  nuclear reactors, but it also has about 60 less secure agencies connected with nuclear activities. India is well known for lax security and overworked systems; security experts believe smuggling of radioactive materials to be highly probable.

There are several other regions where Naxal ideology is gaining popularity and more and more poor and homeless are becoming part of their Army. The Maoist/Naxals are too close to capture the half of India and consolidate their position for their future goals. Read More

It is extremely ironic that India is yelling and screaming about the vulnerability of Pakistani Nukes, but it is more catastrophic when we see that many important locations of Indian Nuclear Installations are situated in those areas which are in complete control of these insurgents. Why this truth is hidden from the world? The catastrophe of weapons slipping into the hands of most cruel terrorists on earth is quite possible not in years but in days. The question arise that who will raise the alarm for the world? The world leaders are quite unmoved on this issue, but once we come to know that Naxals have obtained few of the war heads for their ugly means then it will become a global threat overnight and the sleeping savers of the world would jump for crash program! This is bad luck for the poor people of India in particular that their government has thrown them in front of Maoists/Naxals and has accepted an undeclared defeat against these forces. Read More

From every corner of India sane and intellectual journalists and news channels are now beginning to raise their voice on this issue but it seems that water has reached the noses already.

When we analyze as to why India is not taking strong action against Maoists/Naxals then we can find few important reasons behind this criminal delay which is hurting Indian existence:

• India has till now portrayed itself as a safe and trouble free country thus gaining maximum attention of tourism and foreign investment which it does not want to loose due to this issue.
• Next year a huge event of Cricket World Cup is to be held in India and the Government does not want a situation in which the neighboring country Pakistan has fallen into after initiating assault over Taliban Militants which brought complete catastrophe and subsequent barring of all International sporting events to be conducted there for security reasons.
• India does not want itself to be slipped into the same situation where Pakistan has been pointed out as an unsafe Nuclear Power.
• It is also believed that Americans are trying to penetrate into Nuclear Installations of India in the name of assistance or help to increase security level of these Installations. Some of them are almost 4 decades old and have completed their life. India is trying to hide the vulnerable status of their Nuclear command and control system to avoid undue interference of USA.

In short, Indian nation would have to bear the threat of Naxals/Maoists helplessly because in the near future Indian Government seems to have no plan but to unwillingly allow these terrorists to spread their influence inside the whole of the Indian territories.

USA, UK, China and Europe should see this latest development with responsibility because the threat of Maoist/Naxals is 1000 times more deadly than the proclaimed threats in Pakistan who are confined to only some remote mountain areas as compared to Naxals/Maoists who are controlling the cities and the huge region in full. World cannot afford to see the Nuclear Arsenal of India easily slipping into the hands of Naxals who can use that any time anywhere to surprise the peace loving nations. It is also possible that these insurgents who are so close to capture these important weapons would also sell them ahead to Al Qaeda or any deadly group which can hit America with unmatchable intensity as USA has put a blind eye on this possibility.

By: RupeeNews | Moin Ansari

There is a parable in South Asia, mainly Bharat (aka India) which loosely translated goes something like this “All night long, we told you the lengthly and long-winded story of Ramayan–and in the morning you asks was ‘Sita’ one of the main characters–a man or a woman”. Obviously one who has ever read or heard the story of Sita, will never forget the fact that Sita was a woman. In Western terms it would be like reading Shakespeare and then asking whether Juliette was a woman or a man. This is exactly what happened in Washington. Even before Prime Minister arrived in Delhi, everyone know what the agenda would be—Bharati gripes against Pakistan on terror.

Mr. Manmohan didn’t realise that each time he mentioned Mumbai and terror in the same breath, it took millions of Dollars away from business in the commercial capital of Bharat. However he along with Sancho Panza in Delhi persisted in the old story of terror and why Pakistan should be sanctioned, blah blah blah.

After the long discussion, the congratulatory interview paid advertisement (interview) with Pakistanphobe Farid Zakaria and others, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with President Obama, he wanted to hear mr. Obama threaten, castigate, and scold Pakistan–to Bharati chagrin, the exact opposite happened.

After patiently listening to Bharati whining for the years, Washington essentially ignored Bharat, tripled aid to Pakistan, increase military supplies to Islamabad, and is working on construction a Reconstruction Opportunity Zone (ROZ), and a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Bharat’s arch-enemy.

Obviously Mr. Singh knew all this before he came to Washington. The Bharati lobby had essentially failed to derail the Biden/Kerry-Lugar bill and the amendment letter attached to it watered down or eliminated the Bharati inspired language in the bill.

This picture is very descriptive and worth a thousand words—as Mr. Singh “stood rapt withal”, his stone faced silence, drooping face and stoic demeanour was unable to hide the disappointment–when he heard President Obama snubbed the Bharati Prime Minister by loudly proclaiming that Pakistan was a very important ally of the United States and that it was doing a lot in fighting terror.

Mr. Singh will have a lot to answer for when he returns to Delhi–the opposition will tear him apart on why he was unsuccessful in his mission–maligning Pakistan

In a press conference with the Indian PM, the US president emphasised that Pakistan was progressing against extremism. —Photo by AFP

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Tuesday re-emphasised Pakistan’s key position in the American strategy for South Asia, telling a joint news conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Islamabad had an enormously important role in the security of that region.

His statement, in response to a question about US military assistance to Pakistan, was a calculated departure from the tributes he had paid to India earlier.

In remarks delivered before the news conference, Mr Obama described India as ‘indispensable’ for his visions for the future of the world, ‘a leader in Asia and around the world,’ and a ‘nuclear power’ with which the United States would like to work ‘in preventing the spread of the world’s most deadly weapons, securing loose nuclear materials from terrorists, and pursuing our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons.’

While Mr Obama continued this eulogy in the press conference as well, he paused to stress Pakistan’s importance in the South Asian region when an Indian journalist spoke about the perception that US military aid to Pakistan was misused against India.

‘Obviously, Pakistan has an enormously important role in the security of the region,’ said Mr Obama, adding that Islamabad could fulfil this role ‘by making sure that the extremist organisations that often operate out of its territories are dealt with effectively.’

I have gained confidence that there’s not an important question out there that has not been asked that we haven’t answered to the best of our abilities, the US president said. —Photo by AFP

While acknowledging that Pakistan faced the problem of terrorism, Mr Obama said he also had ‘seen some progress’ in Islamabad’s efforts to fight the militancy.

While Prime Minister Singh was bush playing victim in Washington, his Chief of Staff General Kapoor, suffering from Foot-in-mouth-disease was busy displaying his incompetence by threatening war to its nuclear armed neighbors.

Stephen Cohen a known Indophile who created the now debunked “Cold Start Strategy” has clearly said that the India and the US are strategically moving apart. This assessment comes in the wake of the reality that America’s new banker is not New York—it is Beijing. Prime Minister Manamohan Singh sheepishly mentioned this anomaly during his various conversations in Washington and elsewhere. While the chest thumping on democracy fell on deaf ears, what chagrined the prime minister and Bharati media was the fact that the US has ignored Delhi’s whining on Mumbai. Contrary to the lobbying efforts of Delhi, the US Congress tripled aid to Pakistan, and then some—it is also working on ROZ and a FTA with Pakistan. Unbeknownst to Delhi, the US Army has helped the generals in Islamabad with weapons that are under the radar or press and or media scrutiny.

‘The work that the Pakistan military is doing in the Swat Valley and in South Waziristan all indicates the degree to which they are beginning to recognise that extremism, even if initially directed to the outside, can ultimately also have an adverse impact on their security internally,’ he said.

‘So my hope is that over time what we’re going to see is further clarity and further cooperation between all the parties and all peoples of goodwill in the region to eradicate terrorist activity, to eradicate the kind of violent extremism that we’ve seen.’

Such cooperation, he said, would benefit the peoples of Pakistan and India, and the world community as well.

Mr Obama conceded that in the past the US-Pakistan relationship was ‘single-mindedly focussed just on military assistance’ and that the United States didn’t think more broadly about how to encourage and develop the kinds of civil society in Pakistan that would make a difference in the lives of people day-to-day.

His administration, Mr Obama added, had tried to change this approach by re-focussing its attention on helping the Pakistani people.

Showing more diplomatic skill than some of his senior diplomats, President Obama also nudged India and Pakistan to resume their dialogue without appearing intrusive.

‘One of the things I admire most about Prime Minister Singh is that I think at his core he is a man of peace,’ said Mr Obama before stressing the need for a peaceful resolution of India-Pakistan disputes.

‘Obviously, there are historic conflicts between India and Pakistan. It is not the place of the United States to try to, from the outside, resolve all those conflicts,’ he said.

Pakistan has important role in S. Asia: Obama

In a message, Shaykh Mustafa (hufudo-Allah) sheds light that Mujahideen are not behind terrorist bomb blasts in Pakistan. He mentions in his message that it is American agencies and their friends who are behind massacre of Muslims in markets, bazaars and roadside to pump military aggression against Mujahideen and manipulate public opinion.

Related video:
A voice that does not get aired on Pakistan’s secular media

NATO's Road to Nowhere

When President Obama announced this week that he intends to ‘finish the job’ in Afghanistan, I wondered exactly what job he was referring to; finding Osama bin Laden? Denying al-Qaeda a safe haven? Democratization? Promoting women’s rights? Curtailing the opium trade?  All have been cited over the past eight years as reasons for staying in Afghanistan.

With public support eroding by the day, fighting al-Qaeda now tops the list of excuses.  In Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is telling us we must stay the course in Afghanistan to keep our streets safe. Tenuous connections between al-Qaeda and home grown terrorists aside, it is clear that from Washington to White Hall there is concerted effort afoot to buy time for the coalition to achieve an honorable exit.

34,000 additional troops for Afghanistan – that’s what media reports are suggesting ahead of President Obama’s official announcement.  It doesn’t matter if it’s 3,400, 34,000, or 40,000 plus troops; in my view, the situation in Afghanistan is no longer salvageable.  As far back as early 2006 I was arguing that a tipping point had been reached.  That year, British and Canadian forces were dispatched to Helmund and Kandahar to battle a resurgent Taliban. It was abundantly clear even then that more troops were needed to dominate the ground, but with so many NATO countries refusing to deploy to hard areas, there weren’t enough willing to do the job. Instead of demanding more support, NATO commanders bowed to political pressure.  If there’s one thing I learned during my twenty-three years as a soldier, it’s that Generals who drop their pants for politicians lose military campaigns.

Earlier this year, I wrote in The Circuit that Afghanistan had passed the point of no return and that all out civil war is inevitable. I still stand by that assessment. Discord between the Pashtoon and the Northern Alliance is as strong as ever. The West can send more troops, swell Afghanistan’s security forces and press President Karzai to clean up his government but what will all this achieve in the long run?  Most Afghans have lost faith in the coalition and Karzai.  NATO countries can ill afford to keep pumping money into the military effort (money which in Britain’s case would be better spent fighting terrorism at home).  The Pashtoon insurgency shows no signs of abating and as I’ve argued before, there is nothing to stop NATO-trained Afghan forces from joining the opposition when the West does finally leave.

What is the point of sacrificing more blood and treasure to what has become an unwinnable campaign? The bottom line is, US and NATO forces need to pull out now.  It may sound callous, but only the Afghans can sort themselves out.

It’s understandable that western leaders are keen to show they’ve achieved something worthwhile in Afghanistan, if for any reason than to justify the deaths of so many brave, young soldiers. Instead of flannel about al-Qaeda posing a threat to our streets, coalition countries would do well to focus on another unfinished job relating to Afghanistan – tracking and capturing Osama bin Laden ( if indeed he is alive and in the region).  It would not require a prolonged troop commitment; just good human intelligence followed by a clinical drone air strike (which have been very effective at eliminating al-Qaeda leaders in recent months).  Taking out bin Laden would be a concrete achievement. Besides, wasn’t he the reason the West invaded Afghanistan in the first place?

There have been many important events over the past few months that were in no way coincidental: President Obama traveled to Europe and Asia; the announcement of yet another “incentive” deal to quiet North Korea; the visit to China to attempt to stabilize relations; Obama has been holding high-level meetings on Afghanistan policy; and this week the state visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. All of these events point to a massive escalation of the war in Afghanistan.

It is actually Manmohan Singh’s visit that is the most telling. India and Pakistan have been at odds with each other for half a century, and both now have nuclear weapons. It is in India’s interest that Pakistan is governed by a stable democratic regime, and in particular that Pakistan does not gain control of Afghanistan under a fundamentalist regime. India has already contributed over one billion dollars to the Afghan War effort, and will most certainly contribute more. Solidarity between the U.S. and India is a key element of any Afghan policy that involves ramping-up the war effort.

Obama has been mending international relations that were severely damaged by the Bush administration’s arrogant attitude toward our overseas allies. He is attempting to put foreign policy distractions like North Korea on the back burner as well as trying to strengthen our economic ties to China – Obama knows the struggle to turn the economy around is key to the struggle to turn Afghanistan around. While party partisans and professional critics have been accusing him of dithering on Afghan policy, Obama has been laying the groundwork for a concerted effort to fight and win in Afghanistan.

Unfortunately both history and his fellow politicians are against him. Afghanistan is a particularly tough region to get a handle on. Because of its strategic location between East and West Asia the area has changed hands regularly throughout its history, first taken by one empire, then another, then another. As with many mid-Eastern nations the modern version of Afghanistan came into being as a result of World War One, when it was created from whole cloth at the 1919 Paris meetings between France, Britain, and America. The British couldn’t hold on to it, nor the Russians, and there is little reason to think we can do any better. It is a hard, mountainous, difficult country populated by a hard, difficult people who seem to insist on independence from well-meaning foreign invaders.

On the political side, Obama will need Congressional cooperation to implement any large-scale Afghan operations. But Congress cares little for presidents or policies when surfing the oscillating waves of public opinion. Congress has two priorities: keep raising money, and stay in office. They can no more think in terms long-range strategy than American CEOs can.

But it seems certain that President Obama is about to announce a major new war effort in a country that has seen little else for the past 2,000 years. The question is how well has he laid the groundwork, and how many of our allies will be on-board. Expect him to have good reasons for the effort, and to offer a clear strategy for getting in, winning, and getting out. But also expect reality to make all of that moot, as it always does in war. Very few wars have ever gone as planned, and almost all have become larger than anticipated, and difficult or impossible to control. War breeds war.

American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 25, 2009 – Iraqi security forces arrested 18 suspected al-Qaida in Iraq associates today, and earlier this week captured a terrorism suspect they’ve been pursuing for three years, military officials reported.

Iraqi forces and U.S. advisors searched several houses in Mosul looking for an alleged al-Qaida in Iraq regional leader who is suspected of staging deadly attacks against Iraqi civilians and security forces.

Based on preliminary questioning and evidence gathered at the scene, Iraqi forces arrested 18 of his suspected associates.

The arrests in Mosul are expected to contribute to greater safety for Iraqis from attacks during the upcoming Eid al-Adha, or “Festival of Sacrifice,” Muslim holiday.

In Diyala province Nov. 22, Iraqi security forces, advised by U.S. forces, arrested a suspected leader of a terrorist group, along with a suspected associate.

The judicial court of Muqdadiyah had issued a warrant for Harith Sadun Dawud al-Rubayi for suspicion of murder, kidnapping and bombing attacks against Iraqi citizens and Iraqi security forces. He also is suspected of smuggling weapons, home invasions and stealing money from Iraq’s interior ministry.

He is believed to be linked to the kidnapping and murder of the son of a former Muqdadiyah mayor in September, as well as the murder of an Iraqi policeman in Abu Sayda. The suspect has been wanted by authorities and had evaded capture for three years.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

From Liisa, SMSgt Temple’s wife: Here are all the pictures from Rex’s recent village medical mission to Charkh.
!!!

Yesterday, the New York Times published an excellent article by correspondent David Sanger in which he analyzes the political implications of President Obama’s impending decision about troop levels in Afghanistan (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/world/asia/25rollout.html?ref=global-home).  He observes that the president will try to satisfy many different parties, including Democrats, Republicans, NATO allies, Pakistan, the Afghan government and the American people, when he addresses the nation on Tuesday.  It has been reported that President Obama will announce his intention to deploy roughly 30,000 additional soldiers and Marines to fight the Taliban.

The president’s attempt to signal his resolve to continue the war until the mission has been completed while conveying that America’s troop commitment is not open-ended will be a difficult task, and in trying to satisfy everybody he may fail to satisfy anybody. 

Democrats will be disappointed by his decision to escalate the conflict, and Republicans will likely criticize him for not sending at least 40,000 more troops, which Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, has requested.  Without setting a deadline for withdrawal, most NATO countries will not be inclinded to send more forces because of the unpopularity of the war in Europe.  By declaring that America’s will not maintain a permanent presence in Afghanistan, the Pakistanis will fear the consequences of an American pullout and continue to hedge their bets by maintaining ties with the Taliban in case the militants regain power after the US leaves.  Saying that Afghan President Hamid Karzai must curb corruption in order to insure continuing American support could alienate the leader without motivating him to act because the threat is not credible.  How the American people will be influenced by the president’s speech is uncertain; a slim majority oppose continuing the war, but calls to “support the troops” and help them complete their mission have an emotional resonance.

President Obama was told by his field commanders in Afghanistan  in early August that an additional 40,000 troops were needed if the war against the Taliban in
Afghanistan/Pakistan is to be won.   After three months of dithering and holding summit meetings with everyone the President has announced he will announce his plan next Tuesday.

However the Congress has announced a plan to pay for the war this week.  It is called “Share the Sacrifice” and will hit those making from $30,000 to $150,000 with a 1% tax.  There is an even larger tax on the “rich”, but I am only concerned with the tax on the most of us who fall in around the $50,000  to $70,000 bracket according to the IRS.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told The Huffington Post yesterday that every dollar spent on winning the war in Afghanistan was one less dollar available for domestic priorities: “I think we have to look at that war with a green eyeshade on. There is unrest in our caucus about: ‘Can we afford this war?’” But even Pelosi seemed to realize that pitting victory in Afghanistan against more domestic government programs was untenable. She later added: “I think the American people believe that if it’s something that’s in our national security interest [then the investment is worth it.]”

But for the left in Congress, prioritizing national security should never come at the expense of run-away domestic spending. Instead, the left is using the war as an excuse to raise taxes on virtually all Americans. According to Politico, close allies of Pelosi, including Ways and Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Democratic Party Caucus Chair John Larson (D-CT), and Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chair John Murtha (D-PA), all support the “Share the Sacrifice Act.” That legislation would raise taxes on millions of Americans, including a 1% surtax on middle-class households earning between $30,000 and $150,000. So much for Obama’s promise not to raise taxes on the middle class.

And don’t be fooled into thinking that any of the tax hikes the left in Congress are pushing would be in any way temporary. As National Review’s Kevin Williamson details, “temporary” taxes levied during war time, like the 1898 tax on telephone services to pay for the Spanish-American War, have a nasty habit of becoming permanent.

And why are the leftist congressman so eager to tax the people when they can easily get the money and do a good deed at the same time by cleaning up the federal government some?

If the left in the majority actually cared about deficit spending (a laughable proposition considering their fiscal record since they took over Congress in 2006), then the Afghanistan war easily could be funded simply by eliminating known government waste. According to the Congressional Research Service, the war in Afghanistan is currently costing $43 billion a year. That sum is dwarfed by the $72 billion in improper payments (i.e. over-payments, payments made for services and goods never received, benefits and tax credits paid to people who didn’t qualify) that the Government Accountability Office said the federal government made in 2008. Or how about the $92 billion Washington spends on corporate welfare, or the $123 billion spent on programs that have failed to show any positive impact on the populations they serve? Why don’t the left in Congress eliminate this waste before taxing hard working middle class Americans?

Of course I do hope you all understand this is just the first and the smallest new tax that will be levied on We the People to pay for Obama’s and the Democrats  in congress excessive spending this past 10 months.   There is only one sad fact in all of this, the deficit is so great that no matter how much We the people are taxed it won’t be a drop in the bucket  in reducing the debt.  In fact as Glenn Beck has pointed out it would take the profits of all 500 in Fortune 500 companies  145 years to pay the debt, and that is just the original debt and does not take into account the interest!

I posted this note on my Facebook page on May 13, 2009

I.D.P’s are our sisters, brothers, friends ect. Who have been displaced from their home because of the Taliban. Pakistan army is trying to fight against Taliban and getting them out of our Homeland, these people are the kkk’s (kuu kllux klan) of Pakistan .

Some I.D.P camps are recently established in Islamabad. The children don’t have anything to eat and crockery to eat in.The hygienic conditions are not good and there is no cleanliness so that’s they have skin problems and fever etc. They don’t have medicines or doctors that’s why the diseases are increasing. there are no school so the children cant study. They don’t have books to read and toys to play.

They sacrificed for us so that the Taliban dont come to Islamabad. Now its our turn to act.I request the children from mazmoon-i-shauq and other children who want to join us, to help these children who r our friends from Swat. Lets go to I.D.P camps to selute our friends and bring them food, books and toys. More than anything they need our company and time.leta go.

My mother has volunteered to take us to the camps.Would you like to go?