The Afghan government is trying to align with the Taliban because they are able to deliver the people out of an impoverished state where Karzai continues to fail. Being a stateman is one thing, but, providing for the Afghan citizens from day to day is another thing. Just because Karzai is in power in Kabul doesn't mean the rest of the country is at peace.
Karzai needs clout with the people to reduce the influence of the Taliban. The impoverishment of these people has to stop, it puts 'stability' at risk.
These tribal regions of all these countries are tenuous all the time. The people of these villages will be loyal to those that can provide for them. Karzai is attempting to bring a peace to the country by allowing the Taliban to be benevolent caregivers. It will backfire and the Taliban will be in power as they will see no need for Karzai or any freely elected government.
Afghan policemen inspects the site of an explosion on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 24, 2008. Police said an improvised explosive device (IED) went off a few minutes after a member of Parliament's car went past the road, wounding one boy.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) (click here)
Winter of hunger looms in Afghanistan
By HEIDI VOGT – Nov 27, 2008
NILI, Afghanistan (AP) — The farmer squats barefoot on packed earth in front of his two-room mud house. He has looked at his bags of wheat, he says, and counted the days.
Ghulam Sakhi, 50, says his family will run out of food in mid-January — only a third of the way through Afghanistan's frigid winter.
As the days shorten and the nights grow colder, this winter threatens to be Afghanistan's most desperate in nearly two decades.
Life has always been hard in this poor, war-ravaged land, but this year a combination of drought, high food prices and Taliban attacks on supply routes could leave a bigger shortage than emergency food aid can cover....
Pakistani employees inspect burned-out trucks at a NATO terminal. (click here)
...The attack came less than a week after Taliban militants destroyed a dozen trucks in Peshawar containing supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan, killing two people in the process....
They cannot do this alone. Where is everyone? Where is Bush/Cheney and Gates? There is a crisis brewing in Pakistan. These are the bad guys and they won't stop until the government is over thrown and their coup leadership is back in power. This will cause unrest in the country. Pakistan needs military advisors, foreign intelligence, not troops !
Rocket Fired At NATO Supply Trucks (click title to entry - audio)
PESHAWAR: Militants fired rockets at NATO provision supply trucks here early Sunday morning; no casualties were reported in the attack.
According to details at least ten rockets were fired on trucks laden with provision including oil for NATO forces, fighting in Afghanistan.
Rockets were fired at Al Faisal terminal in Peshawar; Al Faisal terminal is a place where all the trucks and containers supply go through for NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Sources also said that most of the rockets were landed in near by farm while fire also erupted at Al Faisal terminal, where after the attack heavy firing started, sources added.
NATO has to airlift supplies. Doing it this way will only fuel the militants and support their efforts. They will eventually stop torching these convoys and simply capture the supplies if they haven't been doing that already.
Pakistani militants torch Humvees for western forces (click here)
Sun Dec 7, 2008 2:39am EST
By Faris Ali
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Hordes of Pakistani militants set on fire 96 trucks carrying Humvees and military vehicles for Western forces in Afghanistan in a raid in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Sunday, police said.
Security guards said they were overpowered by more than 200 militants who attacked two terminals on Peshawar's ring road, where trucks carrying Humvees and other military vehicles were parked.
"It happened at around 2.30 a.m.. They fired rockets, hurled hand grenades and then set ablaze 96 trucks," senior police officer, Azeem Khan, told Reuters.
Most supplies, including fuel, for U.S. and NATO forces in landlocked Afghanistan are trucked through Pakistan, much of it the fabled Khyber Pass that runs through the mountains between Peshawar, capital of North-West Frontier Province and the border town of Torkham....
Pakistan is under attack ! Opposing militants in Pakistan is difficult. Peace with India will demand action against the militants after the Mumbia attacks. This is only the beginning. It may well be we have rousted out the war that never took place before in Afghanistan against al Qaeda. Pakistan has always been their stronghold and Osama bin Laden and Omar among others are at stake. This violence should not be undersold as if 'just internal struggles' among people as there is in Greece today. The riots in Greece happen annually. This uprising in Pakistan is serious especially considering the Mumbai attacks.
Rocket attack kills 3 in Pakistan (click here)
Press Trust of India
Sunday, December 07, 2008, (Islamabad)
At least three persons were killed on Sunday when militants armed with rockets attacked a bus terminal in northwestern Pakistan that is used by trucks ferrying supplies to US-led coalition troops in Afghanistan.
Heavily armed pro-Taliban militants fired up to 10 rockets during the attack on the complex in Peshawar early on Sunday morning. A watchman and two others were killed in the attack, officials told TV channels.
The rockets fired by the militants sparked a fire that damaged up to 80 armoured vehicles and trucks parked at the complex, reports said. The attack also triggered an exchange of fire between militants and security forces though there were no reports of casualties among the rebels.
This was the second attack within a week on the terminal in Peshawar. On December 1, two persons were killed and over two dozen trucks were damaged when militants attacked the complex.
This violence and the attacks in Mumbai are all a part of the same war in Afghanistan. They cannot be treated differently.
