1. Benazir Bhutto had addressed a rally of thousands of supporters in Rawalpindi's Liaqat Bagh Park
2. As her convoy was leaving the park via the rear gate onto Murree road, she was shot twice in the neck and chest
3. The gunman then blew himself up killing at least 16 people
4. Ms Bhutto was taken to Rawalpindi General Hospital, but was pronounced dead at 1816 local time.
Rawalpindi is where al Qaeda assassinated Benazir Bhutto. It is near the violence ridden area of Kashmir.
Enough is enough !
The violence in both Pakistan and Afghanistan is out of control due to nearly seven years of neglect by the USA when the war was diverted into Iraq. The Taliban and al Qaeda not only continued their war by attacking Europe, but, they were allowed to organize and increase in numbers.
There are no 'draw backs' to a major military action in Taliban strongholds. There just isn't. I'm not going to apologize, civilization is compromised by hideous authority and it cannot survive a long and protracted war in this region.
It is time the West's soldiers stopped dying. It should ended long ago !
Pakistan suicide bomber kills 14: police (click here)
18 hours ago
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AFP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a restaurant in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi, killing 14 people and wounding 18 others, police said on Tuesday.
Officials said the bomber had probably been targeting a mass protest which was scheduled for Monday in Rawalpindi and the capital Islamabad but was then called off after the government vowed to reinstate the country's top judge.
"Fifteen people have been killed and 18 injured," said Rawalpindi regional police commander Nasir Durrani, including the bomber in the death toll.
"We have collected evidence from the site and talked to witnesses, and now come to the conclusion that the bomber was on foot," Durrani said.
"There is possibility that the suicide bomber may have disembarked from a vehicle before exploding himself," he told AFP.
The attack in Rawalpindi, the city in which Pakistan's powerful military is headquartered, occurred late Monday near a taxi stand in a working-class area of the city, destroying several nearby cars....
So much for peaceful coexistance with Sharia Law Swat Valley !
How did I guess it wouldn't work?
NATO is slapping the wrist of the Taliban. They aren't going to become passivists, ever ! Never ! There is no dealing with them and they are causing instability in a marginally secure nuclear country. What is NATO waiting for? Re-inforcements?
There is only ONE WAY. Not two, not three, but, one way to stop the Taliban and that is to kill them. The USA, under Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld took their eye off the ball and the result is a completely destabilized Afghan-Pakistan region. India has not been at all helpful. There is only one way 'to get on top of this mess' and that is to bomb the region.
If NATO wants to be nice? They can drop pamphlets 24 hours before bombing begins and then don't postpone or hesitate the initiation of attacks. There is no other way.
As Pakistan Restores Judges, Taliban in Swat Sends Some Home (click here)
By James Rupert
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Taliban guerillas in Pakistan’s Swat Valley replaced judges appointed by the government with Islamic religious courts, undermining the judiciary hours after the nation’s chief justice won back his job.
The Tehrik-e-Nifaaz Shariat Muhammadi, a militant group, ordered government judges not to show up for work “because we are establishing a true Islamic justice system,” said Amir Izzat Khan, a spokesman. The group is introducing Sharia law in the region as part of a government truce with Taliban fighters....
Obama May Widen Drone War Over Pakistan (click here)
March 17, 2009 9:16:00 PM
...Some American officials say the [drone] strikes in the tribal areas have forced some leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda to flee south toward Quetta, making them more vulnerable. In separate reports, groups led by both Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of American forces in the region, and Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, a top White House official on Afghanistan, have recommended expanding American operations outside the tribal areas if Pakistan cannot root out the strengthening insurgency....
In the poll taken Saturday and Sunday (click here), 42% of respondents said the United States made "a mistake" in sending military forces to Afghanistan, up from 30% in February. That's the highest mark since the poll first asked the question in November 2001 when the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban government that sheltered al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks....
March 15, 2009
KABUL: Four American soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan in a roadside explosion, the U.S. military said Sunday, in the worst of several attacks by insurgents around the country.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, said a spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid.
The Taliban have been threatening to increase attacks on foreign and Afghan forces in Afghanistan to counter the increase in U.S. troops arriving in the coming months. Military officials have been predicting an increase in violence this year.
In Kapisa Province, also in the east, a French soldier and five Afghan troops were killed in a clash with militants, Cmdr. Christophe Prazuck, spokesman for the French Defense Ministry, said Sunday.
The operation Saturday involved air support from Predator drones and other allied aircraft and dozens of militants "were hit hard," Commander Prazuck said. He did not provide estimates of enemy casualties. France has 3,300 troops in Afghanistan....
How much muscle does a soldier need? Get the feeling enough is never enough ?
A Canadian soldier from the NATO-led coalition trains in the Forward Operating Base (FOB) of the Zhari district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan March 16, 2009.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini
9th Australian soldier dies in Afghanistan (click here)
March 16, 2009
CANBERRA, Australia: A ninth Australian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, the defense chief said Tuesday, as international pressure mounts on Australia to increase its military force in the Central Asian country.
The soldier was shot dead during a "very intense fire fight" with 20 Taliban insurgents in Uruzgan province Monday morning, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston told reporters Tuesday.
The soldier's name has not been released. He was part of a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol.
Australia has about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan. Australia's contribution is the largest outside NATO, but some NATO countries want Australia to do more in the faltering fight against Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents....
Canada pledges $132 million in aid for Afghanistan (click here)
3/17/2009 2:18 PM ET
(RTTNews) - Canada pledged an aid of $21 million (U.S.$16.5 million) for improving law and order in Afghanistan.The amount is earmarked for payment of salaries of Afghan national police and prison guards, the visiting Canadian foreign minister Lawrence Cannon said at a news conference in Kabul on Tuesday.The disbursal of the money is entrusted with the UN through a trust fund, according to Afghan officials....
Afghanistan wants larger role in terror fight (click here)
9 hours ago
KABUL (AFP) — Afghanistan called on Tuesday for more international help to develop its fledgling and embattled security forces so that it can take on a larger role in "the fight against terrorism"....
...Cannon announced the new financial contribution during a visit to the southern province of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold where most of Canada's 2,830 soldiers in Afghanistan are deployed.
Canada is one of the main contributors to international forces in Afghanistan -- there are about 75,000 foreign troops in total, including 38,000 from the US.
Nineteen million dollars will go towards paying police salaries for three years, the minister said.
The remainder was for prison officer salaries and supporting a human rights unit within the justice ministry, the Canadian embassy said.
"We continue to believe that the way to go forward is to provide security... because security will bring stability," Cannon told reporters.
The post-Taliban Afghan army has grown to more than 80,000 men, with most of its training and equipment from the United States.
There are an equal number of police.
Trudy Rubin: Quick deal with Taliban in Afghanistan unlikely (click here)
...The prospects for any deal with the Taliban are much exaggerated. And while we can usefully study the similarities with Iraq, the differences between the two conflicts are even more key.
Indeed, Obama recognized that the Afghan situation is "more complex" than Iraq, involving "a less governed region," and fiercely independent tribes that may operate "at cross purposes." Too true. The Afghan tribes are far more fragmented than Iraqi Sunnis, and lack the tribal alliances and leaders that emerged to ally with U.S. troops....
...In Afghanistan, the Taliban are definitely not losing. Obama answered a flat "No" when asked if he thought that the United States was winning, echoing his military commanders.
We are looking at a slow, step-by-step process, working largely with local leaders. Thus, talk of talks with the Taliban means less, in the short term, than many assume.
Three Illinois National Guardsmen Killed in Afghanistan (click here)
By WEEK Producer
Story Published: Mar 17, 2009 at 5:04 PM CDT
Story Updated: Mar 17, 2009 at 8:12 PM CDT
As the 6th anniversary of the war in Iraq approaches, three Illinois families are mourning the loss of their soldier sons.
The casualties were all members of the same Illinois Army National Guard unit based in Woodstock.
Twenty–three–year–old Sergeant Christopher Abeyta, 24–year–old Specialist Robert Weinger, and 22–year–old Specialist Norman Cain III, all assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry were killed in action on Sunday.
The three Soldiers were killed when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.
Lejeune Marine dies in Afghanistan (click here)
March 17, 2009 - 11:48 AM
A Camp Lejeune Marine died Saturday in Afghanistan, according to a II Marine Expeditionary Force press release. The incident is under investigation.
Staff Sgt. Archie A. Taylor, 37, of Tomball, Texas, died in Kabul province as a result of a non-hostile incident, according to the press release. He was a counter-intelligence specialist with 2nd Intelligence Battalion, II MEF Headquarters Group.
Taylor joined the Marine Corps on Dec. 9, 1989. He deployed twice to Iraq, from February to October 2004, and from March to October 2007.
His awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Army Achievement Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon.
Another attack on NATO logistic terminal (click here)
* 60 attackers torch 16 trucks, 14 trolleysBy Manzoor Ali ShahPESHAWAR: At least 16 trucks and 14 trolleys carrying supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan were torched on Monday in second such attack on a goods terminal in two days.Police said around 60 Taliban broke into Al-Faisal Terminal on Peshawar’s Ring Road in Pishtakhara area at around 2am, doused the vehicles parked in the compound with petrol and set them on fire. There were no casualties, police official Ihsanullah said.Three cranes and two Humvees were also destroyed....
Unstable Afghanistan A Threat To All (click here)
16 March 2009
Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, "We must all hang together, gentlemen ... else, we shall most assuredly hang separately." He meant that they must band together to fight a common threat, because no individual could handle it alone, and each would suffer the consequences.On March 10th, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said something similar to the North Atlantic Council, the governing body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. During a meeting to consult with NATO Allies with regard to the ongoing US strategic policy review towards Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to discuss the main challenges ahead in Afghanistan, Mr. Biden said that all countries must work together to resolve the security problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan because all are in danger:"The deteriorating situation in the region poses a security threat, from our perspective, not just to the United States, but to every single nation around this table. It was from that remote area of the world that al Qaeda plotted 9/11. It was from that very same area that extremists planned virtually every major terrorist attack in Europe since 9/11, including the attacks on London and Madrid."...
