Current U.S. Defense Spending vs. Spending Since 1948 (click here)
The elections in Afghanistan won't occur until August of this year, yet the Karzai term ends in May. The additional troops are stated to be an asset to the election process, but, long term efforts need goals.
Power struggle over timing of Afghan election (click here)
Pamela Constable, Washington Post
Thursday, March 5, 2009
(03-05) 04:00 PST Kabul, Afghanistan -- A deepening power struggle over the date for upcoming presidential elections is exposing the ugly, destructive side of politics in Afghanistan and raising questions about the viability of a crucial transition for this struggling, Western-backed democracy.
The conflict pits President Hamid Karzai, who hopes to win re-election after seven years in power, against an array of rivals eager to see him dethroned at any cost, and against members of an independent election commission whose desire to postpone the polling is supported by the United States, the United Nations and NATO.
It also leaves unresolved the critical question of who will lead the country during the summer months, when the Islamist Taliban insurgency is expected to intensify its attacks and thousands of U.S. troops will arrive. Karzai's term ends in May, and elections are currently scheduled for August....
Murtha says Afghanistan plan lacks goal (click title to entry - Thank you)
By Kimberly Hefling
The Associated PressPosted : Tuesday Mar 3, 2009 21:21:17 EST
WASHINGTON — Rep. John Murtha said Tuesday the situation in Afghanistan is so challenging that he estimated it would take 600,000 troops to fully squelch violence in the country.
The Pennsylvania Democrat, who chairs the powerful subcommittee that funds the military, said his figure was based on the country’s history of rigorous fighting and its size.
“That’s what I estimate it would take in a country that size to get it under control,” Murtha said in an interview.
Murtha also said he’s uncomfortable with President Barack Obama’s decision to increase the number of troops in the country by 17,000 before a goal was clearly defined. But he says he anticipates a plan will be developed to train Afghan security forces, and then the U.S. military will get out. He said he sees Afghanistan has more of a diplomatic mission, than a military one.
“I think you’ll see a change,” Murtha said. “I’m confident you’re going to see them only adjusting for a short period of time with these additional troops.”...
U.S. deaths in Afghanistan spike in 2009 (click here)
By Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Mar 1, 2009 8:21:52 EST
KABUL — U.S. deaths in Afghanistan increased threefold during the first two months of 2009 compared with the same period last year, after thousands more troops deployed and commanders ramped up winter operations against an increasingly violent insurgency.
As troops pour into the country and violence rises, another sobering measure has also increased: More Afghan civilians are dying in U.S. and allied operations than at the hands of the Taliban, according to a count by The Associated Press. In the first two months of the year, U.S., NATO or Afghan forces have killed 100 civilians, while militants have killed 60....
NATO may ask China for support in Afghanistan (click here)
By Slobodan Lekic - The Associated PressPosted : Monday Mar 2, 2009 21:34:01 EST
BRUSSELS — NATO may ask China to provide support for the war effort in Afghanistan, including possibly opening a supply link for alliance forces, a senior U.S. official said Monday.
The subject is still under consideration and no decision has been reached on whether to approach Beijing, the official said on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue.
He spoke ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Thursday in Brussels, which will include Hillary Rodham Clinton in her first European trip as U.S. secretary of state.
One way Beijing could help would be to open an alternate logistics route through western China into Afghanistan, the U.S. official said in Brussels.
China shares a 50-mile-long border with Afghanistan in the Wakhan Corridor, a thin sparsely populated strip of Afghan territory separating Pakistan and Tajikistan. The 2,000-year-old-caravan route — once used by Marco Polo — is now a dirt road that crosses some of the world’s most mountainous regions....
Bomber Strikes Outside Main US Base in Afghanistan (click here)
By VOA News 04 March 2009
U.S. military officials said several people were wounded in two near-simultaneous bomb blasts outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan.Wednesday's attack occurred at Bagram Air Base, about 60 kilometers north of the capital, Kabul. A U.S. military spokesman said a car bomb exploded, and moments later a suicide bomber on foot detonated explosives near the base's main gate. Details of the casualties were not immediately confirmed. In other violence, military officials said a roadside bomb killed three Canadian soldiers in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province Tuesday.
AAFES employee enjoys time in Afghanistan (click here)
By John Andrew Prime - The (Shreveport, La.) Times
Posted : Sunday Mar 1, 2009 16:50:28 EST
SHREVEPORT, La. — While some folks in Afghanistan might seem to be looking for a way out, Darlene Downing thinks she might ask for permission to stay another year.
“I was originally supposed to come back (in February) but I extended, and if they’ll let me, I may extend again,” said Downing, 45, who volunteered to go to the war-torn nation to do there what she does here: Sell goods to troops as an associate of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (click here)....
...“The whole time she was here she was always saying ‘Those AAFES people, they are so sweet.’ Well, somebody helped my baby, so I thought ‘Let me go and look after someone else’s baby.’ ”
She said she felt right at home where she first was deployed — at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.
The troops “give you the same love you give them,” she said....
Power struggle over timing of Afghan election (click here)
Pamela Constable, Washington Post
Thursday, March 5, 2009
(03-05) 04:00 PST Kabul, Afghanistan -- A deepening power struggle over the date for upcoming presidential elections is exposing the ugly, destructive side of politics in Afghanistan and raising questions about the viability of a crucial transition for this struggling, Western-backed democracy.
The conflict pits President Hamid Karzai, who hopes to win re-election after seven years in power, against an array of rivals eager to see him dethroned at any cost, and against members of an independent election commission whose desire to postpone the polling is supported by the United States, the United Nations and NATO.
It also leaves unresolved the critical question of who will lead the country during the summer months, when the Islamist Taliban insurgency is expected to intensify its attacks and thousands of U.S. troops will arrive. Karzai's term ends in May, and elections are currently scheduled for August....
Murtha says Afghanistan plan lacks goal (click title to entry - Thank you)
By Kimberly Hefling
The Associated PressPosted : Tuesday Mar 3, 2009 21:21:17 EST
WASHINGTON — Rep. John Murtha said Tuesday the situation in Afghanistan is so challenging that he estimated it would take 600,000 troops to fully squelch violence in the country.
The Pennsylvania Democrat, who chairs the powerful subcommittee that funds the military, said his figure was based on the country’s history of rigorous fighting and its size.
“That’s what I estimate it would take in a country that size to get it under control,” Murtha said in an interview.
Murtha also said he’s uncomfortable with President Barack Obama’s decision to increase the number of troops in the country by 17,000 before a goal was clearly defined. But he says he anticipates a plan will be developed to train Afghan security forces, and then the U.S. military will get out. He said he sees Afghanistan has more of a diplomatic mission, than a military one.
“I think you’ll see a change,” Murtha said. “I’m confident you’re going to see them only adjusting for a short period of time with these additional troops.”...
U.S. deaths in Afghanistan spike in 2009 (click here)
By Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Mar 1, 2009 8:21:52 EST
KABUL — U.S. deaths in Afghanistan increased threefold during the first two months of 2009 compared with the same period last year, after thousands more troops deployed and commanders ramped up winter operations against an increasingly violent insurgency.
As troops pour into the country and violence rises, another sobering measure has also increased: More Afghan civilians are dying in U.S. and allied operations than at the hands of the Taliban, according to a count by The Associated Press. In the first two months of the year, U.S., NATO or Afghan forces have killed 100 civilians, while militants have killed 60....
NATO may ask China for support in Afghanistan (click here)
By Slobodan Lekic - The Associated PressPosted : Monday Mar 2, 2009 21:34:01 EST
BRUSSELS — NATO may ask China to provide support for the war effort in Afghanistan, including possibly opening a supply link for alliance forces, a senior U.S. official said Monday.
The subject is still under consideration and no decision has been reached on whether to approach Beijing, the official said on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue.
He spoke ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers on Thursday in Brussels, which will include Hillary Rodham Clinton in her first European trip as U.S. secretary of state.
One way Beijing could help would be to open an alternate logistics route through western China into Afghanistan, the U.S. official said in Brussels.
China shares a 50-mile-long border with Afghanistan in the Wakhan Corridor, a thin sparsely populated strip of Afghan territory separating Pakistan and Tajikistan. The 2,000-year-old-caravan route — once used by Marco Polo — is now a dirt road that crosses some of the world’s most mountainous regions....
Bomber Strikes Outside Main US Base in Afghanistan (click here)
By VOA News 04 March 2009
U.S. military officials said several people were wounded in two near-simultaneous bomb blasts outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan.Wednesday's attack occurred at Bagram Air Base, about 60 kilometers north of the capital, Kabul. A U.S. military spokesman said a car bomb exploded, and moments later a suicide bomber on foot detonated explosives near the base's main gate. Details of the casualties were not immediately confirmed. In other violence, military officials said a roadside bomb killed three Canadian soldiers in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province Tuesday.
AAFES employee enjoys time in Afghanistan (click here)
By John Andrew Prime - The (Shreveport, La.) Times
Posted : Sunday Mar 1, 2009 16:50:28 EST
SHREVEPORT, La. — While some folks in Afghanistan might seem to be looking for a way out, Darlene Downing thinks she might ask for permission to stay another year.
“I was originally supposed to come back (in February) but I extended, and if they’ll let me, I may extend again,” said Downing, 45, who volunteered to go to the war-torn nation to do there what she does here: Sell goods to troops as an associate of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (click here)....
...“The whole time she was here she was always saying ‘Those AAFES people, they are so sweet.’ Well, somebody helped my baby, so I thought ‘Let me go and look after someone else’s baby.’ ”
She said she felt right at home where she first was deployed — at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.
The troops “give you the same love you give them,” she said....
March 6, 2009
Attack on Sri Lankan cricketers (click here)
Clear security lapses 10 min-->
New footage shows gunmen making leisurely getaway
LAHORE (PAKISTAN): Pakistan yesterday faced new questions about its security forces after an official admitted to 'very vivid' lapses in the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team on Tuesday, even as dramatic footage emerged of the gunmen making a leisurely getaway from the scene of their deadly assault.
The images of them walking off calmly, without police or security forces in pursuit, will add to the speculation swirling around the brazen daytime attack that left seven people dead.
Police have brought in around two dozen people for questioning, but say none is linked to the incident. No one has claimed responsibility for the assault, which also wounded 19 people.
Up to a dozen men on Tuesday attacked the convoy of umpires, coaches and players with automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher as it made its way to the cricket ground in the city of Lahore. All the gunmen fled without a trace.
The new footage, captured by closed-circuit cameras, showed two suspects carrying rucksacks and ambling down the road, apparently untroubled after the carnage. They then jumped onto motorbikes and sped off....
The images of them walking off calmly, without police or security forces in pursuit, will add to the speculation swirling around the brazen daytime attack that left seven people dead.
Police have brought in around two dozen people for questioning, but say none is linked to the incident. No one has claimed responsibility for the assault, which also wounded 19 people.
Up to a dozen men on Tuesday attacked the convoy of umpires, coaches and players with automatic weapons, grenades and a rocket launcher as it made its way to the cricket ground in the city of Lahore. All the gunmen fled without a trace.
The new footage, captured by closed-circuit cameras, showed two suspects carrying rucksacks and ambling down the road, apparently untroubled after the carnage. They then jumped onto motorbikes and sped off....
It is the return of the Taliban.
It is my opinion that the Taliban now conducting Sharia Law in Pakistan aren't interested in the 'definition' of peace that The West applies to it. Hence, the 'rise' of Sharia Law in this region masks the underlying 'understanding' to the 'peace deal' by those spreading the word and practicing Sharia Law.
I believe, the 'acceptance' of Sharia Law by Pakistan for this region 'gives permission' to the 'unwritten right' for the Taliban to assume authority to defend its people and land, regardless of the policies of Pakistan.
In other words, this is simply waving a 'white flag' to the Taliban to sequester them into a region they can call their own of which they won't 'venture' from into Pakistan, but, says nothing about expanding their influence in Afghanistan. Basically, what is resulting in Pakistan is a 'No Go Zone' for the Taliban to call home.
This 'allowance' of violence 'migration' into Afghanistan in exchange for 'an understanding' in Pakistan to provide 'peaceful coexitence' will definately escalate the war and provide a venue to defend lands occupied by al Qaeda. The 'cricket attacks' were more than likely conducted by al Qaeda as the 'use of motor bikes' is a classic escape for them. Find the terrorists that carried out the attacks and it might be the same place bin Laden calls home.
The 'occupation' of the tribal areas by the Taliban and al Qaede under the guise of 'peaceful coexistence' will ultimately lead to expansion as the population grows and the government becomes more competent in organizing attacks like those against the Sri Lanken Cricket Team as a show of strength.
Pakistan is an issue and has been. It is a grossly chaotic country that allows terrorists a haven, willingly or not.
Islamic Sharia law expands in northwest Pakistan (click here)
Pakistani officials agree to 17 steps as part of a peace deal with extremists in the Swat Valley, alarming rights groups and others. Also, a bomb explodes at a Sufi mausoleum in Peshawar.
By Mark Magnier 12:30 PM PST, March 5, 2009
Reporting from Lahore, Pakistan -- In an apparent expansion of Islamic fundamentalists' authority in the picturesque Swat Valley, local Pakistani officials have agreed to close shops at prayer times and crack down on prostitution and drug dealing as part of a proposed peace deal, according to local media reports Thursday....
