Saturday, September 05, 2009

"Morning Papers" - Its Origins



The Roosters

"Okeydoke"

President Karzai and Former Prime Minister Abdullah Abdullah may be headed for a run off election.


Afghan President Hamid Karzai releases a dove during the Afghanistan Independence Day ceremony in Kabul onAugust 19, 2002. AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili


Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah (click title to entry - thank you) says partial election results show blatant evidence of "state-engineered" vote fraud, such as polling districts in which every vote was cast for President Hamid Karzai.

Mr. Abdullah Saturday urged the international community to intervene, saying that if Afghanistan's next leader is chosen through a fraudulent vote, it could fuel instability in the country.


Afghanistan's election commission says it stands by the partial results it has released on its Web site.


Officials postponed the release of the next round of election results, which were due Saturday. It is not clear if they made that decision based on a request from Mr. Abdullah.

The most recent figures, based on returns from 60 percent of the country's polling stations show Mr. Karzai leading Mr. Abdullah with about 47 percent of the vote.


Candidates need at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff.



Helium hopes: Afghan presidential candidate and former foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah hopes his fortunes will soar as high as balloons. But incumbent Hamid Karzai is set to pop them. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

Peace in Afghanistan is a Priority, not War. The USA is not the 'bad guy.'

The German Base in Afghanistan called for the air strike. Why? Because their lives were in danger.

Just that simple. The Taliban stole two fuel tankers and were probably headed for the German Base to kill them. There isn't anything else to understand. I don't care if the tankers were sinking in mud, the people that came to assist the Taliban criminals were as guilty as the thieves themselves.

The USA and NATO want this war to be over more than the people of Afghanistan do evidently. What are they doing anywhere near the Taliban? Were they pressured into service at the end of a gun muzzle? Then they need to come to terms with their need for a strong military and police to stop the victimization of the people of their nation.


Victims of the Taliban's plot to kill German soldiers being cared for in a hospital in Kabul.

Afghan airstrike triggers German opposition outcry (click title to entry)
By MELISSA EDDY
Associated Press
2009-09-06 01:48 AM
A German-ordered airstrike in Afghanistan triggered an outcry from the opposition Saturday, even as the nation's foreign minister called for a thorough investigation.

The attack was ordered early Friday after the Taliban hijacked two fuel tankers in northern Afghanistan where German troops are stationed. Germany will hold parliamentary elections Sept. 27 and the incident could put Chancellor Angela Merkel's comfortable lead in the polls under pressure.

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, a member of Merkel's Christian Democrats, insisted in comments to the Bild am Sonntag weekly that officials have no information indicating that civilians had been killed in the strike, ordered by a German officer and carried out by U.S. planes.

"Based on the information I have at this time, only Taliban terrorists were killed in the strikes," Jung was quoted as saying in comments released Saturday.

I realize Afghanistan has been in dire conditions for a long time. It is due to the instability in the region caused by The Taliban and the international criminals they protect.I don't want to hear complaints about our military anymore. We don't want them there, but, they are carrying out the responsibility to the people of the USA, Europe and other allies. The USA is seeking to end the suffering of the people of Afghanistan while securing that region from any further possibility of instability.

I don't believe there is a choice in being in Afghanistan to finish the goal of the invasion. In realizing how close the Taliban and possibly al Qaeda came to possessing nuclear capacity under the Musharraf dictatorship, there really is little choice in completing the mission.


The USA military is held responsible when they cause harm to innocent people where there are operations AND the actions are deliberate. Where killing innocent people was unnecessary and cruel. The military has a long history of holding officers and enlisted soldiers responsible for actions that are unlawful. The actions of the USA military in destroying two tankers full of fuel was a necessary act to protect German soldiers and stop the aggressions of Taliban criminals.

I refuse to allow the morals of our country and that of our military to become 'a strategy' to defame their good works and be used as propaganda within the nation of Afghanistan. There is a war being fought in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan military needs to take on the role of defending their country. The leadership of Afghanistan has to stand for morality and admirable acts within an economy that is peaceful, bringing dignity to their people.


The bombs dropped by the USA was appropriate and necessary. The Taliban and their international criminal allies were the target. There isn't anything else necessary to understand or debate. I admire the leadership of the USA military for seeking ever increasing improvements in methodologies to protect innocent civilians, but, at the same time the people of Afghanistan and their leadership need to do their part as well.