"Pakistan repels militant attack; 16 insurgents are killed near Afghan border" by Munir Ahmad, Associated Press | May 3, 2009
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Scores of militants attacked a Pakistani security post near the Afghan border yesterday, triggering a battle that left 18 combatants dead and cast doubt on assertions by Pakistan's army that it has regained control of a critical region.
A separate clash in the Swat Valley put more pressure on a disputed peace deal there, while a Taliban commander suspected in attacks on trucks carrying supplies to NATO and US troops in Afghanistan surrendered to authorities, officials said.... The controversial pact has been likened by the United States to surrender. It heralded a militant push into a neighboring district within 60 miles of Islamabad.
Yeah, PEACE is CONTROVERSIAL to the United States!!
In an interview with CNN, set to air today, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the militants' expanding reach in the northwest of Pakistan posed an "existential threat to the democratic government in Pakistan."
Yup, on the one hand we are told the religious fundis are unpopular with the people, thus the low vote counts. Then, on the other hand, we are told they are a threat. Well, you can't have it both ways -- unless you want to tell lies to occupy the place!
Gates said the United States was willing to provide all the training and equipment Pakistan's military needed to help combat the growing threat. "There has been reluctance on their part up to now. They don't like the idea of a significant American military footprint inside Pakistan. I understand that . . . but we are willing to do pretty much whatever we can to help the Pakistanis in this situation," he said in the interview. CNN released the transcript to the Associated Press.
So HOW LONG until we have BOOTS ON THE GROUND inside Pakistan, folks?
The United States has bankrolled Pakistan's government and army with billions of dollars since Pakistan abandoned its support of the former hard-line Taliban regime in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Pakistan has launched numerous military operations along the frontier since then, but security has only deteriorated....
Then we better get in there now!!!
Yet militants still control much of the frontier region, which US officials view as the likely hiding place of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and have made alarming advances toward several major cities.
Yeah, just SKATE PAST the fact that EVERYONE KNOWS that patsy boogeyamn is DEAD, AmeriKan MSM!!
According to the army, about 100 insurgents took part in yesterday's attack on the Spinal Tangi security post in Mohmand. "Sixteen militants were killed in retaliatory fire. Two security forces personnel embraced shahadat [martyrdom]," a military statement said.
Oh, I see; martyrdom is okay for U.S. patsies, but not the other guy, huh?
Few reporters work in the remote border zone because of poor security, making it hard to verify the army's account. A Taliban spokesman in the region could not be reached for comment.
Yeah, this whole piece -- in fact, MOST of the PAPER -- is all GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA!!!!
Pakistani counterinsurgency efforts are currently focused on Buner, a hilly farming district near the Indus River that was infiltrated last month by hundreds of Taliban militants. The advance triggered alarm in Pakistan and the West for the stability of the nuclear-armed country.
Pakistan's army says it has killed more than 100 militants and lost several soldiers since fighting began Tuesday. Militants have taken dozens more security personnel prisoner. Hundreds of civilians have fled the area.
Like these?
Residents fled the Lower Dir district yesterday in Pakistan, where security forces launched an operation against militants. Taliban militants called a peace deal ''worthless'' after officials sought to tighten their grip along the Afghan border. (Mohammad Sajjad/ Associated Press)
Yesterday, the army said that it was clearing bombs laid along one of two main roads it has secured and that it would soon let civilians travel to Buner's main town, Daggar.
In better news for the government, a Taliban commander in the Khyber region, just west of Peshawar, surrendered yesterday after authorities put pressure on his tribe, said Bakhtiar Khan, a local official. He said Iftikhar Khan Afridi was aligned with Baitullah Mehsud, the top Pakistani Taliban commander whom US officials accuse of assisting insurgents in Afghanistan.
Aligned with another dead guy, 'eh?
"We think his arrest will help reduce the attacks on the NATO supplies," the official said.
--more--"
Forget about "Taliban" for a moment: if foreign occupiers were moving supplies through your towns to kill your cousins, would you not attack them, America?
Why should the Pashtuns be any different?
Just wondering why the Globe (and web) censored these items (that my local carried in a printed article):
"In his interview, Gates said his impression from afar was that Pakistani secuity forces had 'begun to regain the initiative" in Buner. He said the militant intrusion into the district was a real wake-up call for the Pakistani government....
Warplanes have bombed militant strongholds further north....
Nothing makes me angrier than a government murdering its own people!
Militants have mounted repeated attacks on trucks that pass through the famed Khyber Pass in northwestern Pakistan on their way to Afghanistan to supply international forces there."
The daily drumbeat informs the AmeriKan propaganda consumer of the target:
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's army and the Taliban blamed each other yesterday for a rise in tensions that threatened to destroy a much-criticized peace deal, just days before the Pakistani president heads to Washington for talks with President Obama.
The army accused militants in the Swat Valley of looting, attacking infrastructure, and killing a soldier. A Taliban spokesman said militants will start patrolling Swat's main town, and acknowledged that they cut the throats of two soldiers as revenge for the army killing two insurgents.
What happens to the peace pact is likely to figure prominently in talks between Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Obama later this week. Zardari is expected to ask for more money to help Pakistan's battered economy and under-equipped security forces.
That's the only reason anyone comes to Washington now.
Under February's peace deal, the government agreed to impose Islamic law in the districts that make up the Malakand Division in hopes that the militants would lay down arms. But the Taliban in Swat were emboldened, and soon entered the adjacent Buner district to impose their harsh brand of Islam.
Pakistan has insisted on using negotiations and force in tackling violent extremism within its borders. It's an approach that worries US officials, who warn that peace deals allow the insurgents time and room to strengthen. Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters already have strongholds along Pakistan's border regions from which to plan attacks on US and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan, and American leaders don't want to see Swat turn into a sanctuary for them.
Yesterday, the Swat Taliban started patrolling Mingora, the valley's main town, in response to military patrols, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said. "We are not violating the peace deal. This is government and security forces who are doing that. We have started armed patrols in response to security forces patrols. We will keep on doing that if they do, and we wouldn't if they don't. We have a right to defend ourselves," Khan said.
In recent weeks, the militants have moved into Buner, a district 60 miles from Islamabad. The proximity of the district to the capital raised alarms domestically and abroad, and Pakistan's military went on the offensive over the past week to drive the Taliban out.
An army statement yesterday said 80 militants including an important local commander had been killed, along with three soldiers. But the army's statement focused much more on Swat itself. It accused militants there of looting a bank, attacking a power grid, and blowing up part of a bridge. It said security forces discovered at least three explosives-laden vehicles apparently intended for suicide attacks.
The militants were "in gross violation of the peace accord" and their actions threatened "the lives of the [civilian] population, civil administration as well as security forces personnel," the army statement said. On top of that list, two security personnel were discovered with their throats slit and their bodies and faces mutilated yesterday in Swat, a security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media on the record.
But no girls' schools burnt?
The Taliban spokesman said the men were killed in revenge for the military's killing of two insurgents. The government ordered a curfew for Swat from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., said Khushal Khan, an administrator who also confirmed the militant patrols. It was unclear what officials could do if the militants ignored the order. The dangerous nature of Swat made it difficult to independently verify the army's accusations yesterday....
Then why do you report it as if it were fact, MSM?
Why do you lead with so much of it?
--more--"
And then the MSM takes it to a WHOLE OTHER LEVEL!!!
"Pakistan, US in talks on nuclear security; Aim to keep technology away from terrorists; Uranium may be shipped to America for disposal" by Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | May 5, 2009
WASHINGTON - US and Pakistani officials have begun behind-the-scenes talks aimed at achieving a greater US role in securing Pakistan's nuclear materials, including a proposal to ship some highly enriched uranium to the United States for disposal, according to two administration officials with direct knowledge of the discussions.
If successful, the talks between nonproliferation specialists at the State and Energy departments and their Pakistani counterparts would mark a breakthrough in efforts to persuade Pakistan to accept greater assistance in preventing terrorists from obtaining nuclear fuel or the technology to build a nuclear weapon....
And if they don't go along with the interference to their sovereignty?
Btw, you GONNA ASK ISRAEL for the SAME "PERMISSION?"
And this whole TERRORIST/NUKE THING is ABOMINABLE when you consider that 9/11 was an INSIDE JOB!!!
If ANY NUKE goes off in the U.S. ask yurself: CUI BONO?
Gee, U.S. wants to occupy Pakistan -- and what better way than to have some patsies set off an alleged Pakistani nuke bomb in Chicago, 'eh?
WE WON'T BE FOOLED AGAIN!!!!!!!
The government of Pakistan, which is believed to have as many as 100 nuclear bombs, has been highly secretive about its nuclear activities for fear that the United States might try to destroy its arsenal or that its archenemy, nuclear-armed India, might launch a first strike. But the growing threat to the Pakistani government from the Taliban - and its allies in the Al Qaeda terrorist network - has given Pakistani leaders a new reason to cooperate with the United States, according to the officials.
Do you know how SICK I AM of the "Al-CIA-Duh" FOOLEYS!!!!??
The new measures under consideration would for the first time give the United States access to some of Pakistan's nuclear ingredients, though not the actual weapons, which are reportedly stored unassembled under the control of a 10,000-member security force headed by a two-star general.
Two of the key proposals under discussion are a joint program to secure or destroy radioactive materials that could be used to make a crude nuclear device, and shipment to the United States of some of the highly enriched uranium fuel used in Pakistani civilian power plants. The enriched fuel is believed to be sought by terrorists as possible material for a weapon of mass destruction, the officials said.
Pakistan's embassy did not respond to several requests for comment. Top officials in both countries continue to express public confidence that Pakistan's nuclear materials are safe from theft....
So they are lying like they do about so many things, huh?
Their PUBLIC STATEMENTS aren't WORTH SHIT, are they?
Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters yesterday that he, too, is "comfortable" that the nuclear weapons cannot be stolen. "I don't think that's going to happen," said Mullen, who visited Pakistan last week. "I don't see that in any way imminent whatsoever at this particular point in time."
Yet many nuclear specialists both inside and outside the US government expressed worry that such expressions of confidence do not reflect the full extent of Pakistan's nuclear vulnerability - which, they say, goes far beyond the weapons themselves.
They will always come up with something. Iran hears the same tune all the time!
In addition to its arsenal, Pakistan has a vast network of nuclear facilities, equipment, and scientists - the extent of which the United States and its allies know very little. Any of those elements could be pilfered by terrorists or their sympathizers inside the Pakistani government or military, the international nuclear specialists said.
They point to the fact that A.Q. Khan, the builder of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, oversaw a black market that sold nuclear materials and know-how to a variety of international customers, including Iran and North Korea, for years before the scheme was revealed by the CIA in 2004.
What a DAMNABLE LIE!!! The fact is BUSH RELAXED the INVESTIGATIONS of Khan when he came into office and only after 9/11 did they pick it back up.
Furthermore, claiming the CIA revealed the scheme in 2004 like they just found it then is negligent reporting at the least. But it gets the agenda-pushing point across about nukes and our enemies, doen't it?
"What other society has leaked nuclear secrets like Pakistan?" asked David Albright, a former United Nations weapons inspector who is now president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, citing the documented evidence that classified bomb designs and centrifuges to enrich uranium into a bomb-making grade were sold to a variety of sources. "Why do people just sit there and say everything is fine?"
David Albright, huh?
See: The Nuclear Expert Who Never Was
And the OTHER SOCIETIES?
Start with ISRAEL selling nuclear secrets to CHINA, 'eh?
Secrets they STOLE from US!!!
Others have raised similar alarms. The Congressional Research Service, an arm of Congress, issued a report last month that stated, "While nuclear weapons are currently under firm control, with warheads disassembled, technology could be sold off by insiders during a worsened crisis."
US officials hope to persuade the Pakistani government in the coming months that the importance given to the security of the weapons themselves must be extended to other parts of its nuclear industry, according to the officials.
And IF NOT, well, YOU KNOW WHAT IS COMING!
The US government official involved in the talks stressed, however, that there are legal restrictions on how far the United States can go in providing assistance. Because Pakistan is not a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the US government is limited in how much assistance it can provide to Pakistan on nuclear matters.
But NOT when it comes to AID to ISRAEL!!!!
And HOW COME ALL OUR FRIENDS have NOT SIGNED the NPT when IRAN HAS, and yet IRAN is being HASSLED?
Yet specialists said that if Pakistan's government were willing to accept more help, the United States could - and should - find ways to overcome those restrictions....
Translation: The LAW is WHAT WE SAY IT IS!!!!
Update:
"Pakistani Army set for new push into key area; Residents flee valley amid Taliban threat" by Carlotta Gall, New York Times | May 6, 2009
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Residents were leaving Swat Valley by the thousands yesterday as the government prepared to mount a new military operation against Taliban militants there after the collapse of a peace deal negotiated in February. For weeks the Taliban have flaunted their disregard for the February peace accord, and two weeks ago they used the territory all but ceded to them under the deal to launch an offensive into another district, Buner, 60 miles from the capital.
This week the Taliban reversed the only achievement of the deal, a cease-fire in the Swat district capital, Mingora, which they seized control of Sunday, when their turbaned fighters laid siege to several police stations, a local lawyer and resident of the town said.
Honestly, we know what this is now. Blogs reported that police stations were abandoned; who do you think I'm going to believe?
The Taliban's armed return to Mingora signaled the final breakdown in the government's efforts to negotiate a peaceful solution to two years of fighting that has costs thousands of lives and damaged homes and livelihoods the length of the once-prosperous farming valley of Swat.
This is SUCH GARBAGE? You WANT a PEACEFUL SOLUTION? QUIT BOMBING and KILLING THEM over a LIE! That's ALWAYS a GOOD START!!!!!
Notice how the implication is it is always that whatever happens, it is the Taliban's fault. What the hell do they matter, anyway? They ONLY LIVE THERE!!!!
The Pakistani military, which is fighting to clear militants from two other districts of the North West Frontier province, Dir and Buner, now appears ready to push its operations into Swat once again.... The task in Swat remains difficult, not least because the Taliban were digging in and mining the streets, according to residents, and the military had already failed to drive out the Taliban before it agreed to the February accord.
But public opinion in Pakistan toward the Taliban has undergone an important shift since the deal and has now apparently given the military more confidence to move with full force against the Taliban.
So the agenda-pushing, war-promoting AmeriKan jewsmedia tells us.
A recent video showing the Taliban flogging a young woman as the militants clamped down their version of Islam law on Swat shocked the nation.
Oh, THAT FAKE!!
The government has taken great pains to show its efforts to make the Swat peace deal work.
I am SICK of the BULLSHIT LYING, man, I REALLY AM!!!!
Finally, the Taliban incursion into Buner two weeks ago solidified a growing consensus that the Taliban had gone too far and that the military needed to stand up to the insurgents, and it has provided the catalyst for the military to act.
And CUI BONO?
WHO has WANTED THAT OUCOME and been PUSHING FOR IT?!!!
The media, politicians, and even religious leaders are now speaking out against the extremist position of Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the main negotiator on the Swat deal, and Mullah Fazlullah, his son-in-law, who has links to the Al Qaeda-backed Taliban movement based in Pakistan's tribal areas.
At this point, I can't take that last paragraph seriously. Smells like propaganda, especially when you read the next contradictory statement.
Do you see the PROPAGAGANDA intended to FORM a LINKAGE in your mind, newspaper reader?
Now the TALIBAN is "AL-CIA-Duh"-BACKED, huh?
Is that MANIPULATION or WHAT?
Leaders of the Awami National Party, which governs the North West Frontier Province where all of the districts are located, still stand by the deal, which it says has been critical in winning people away from the militants and over to the side of the government.
Now WAIT A MINUTE!! Winning people AWAY from the "terrorists?" WHY would you need to do that?
Yes, the PROPAGANDA DUNG HEAP has reached EPIC PROPORTIONS -- as high as the Hindu-Kush themselves. You wanna go climbing, readers?
The peace deal was popular among the people of Swat, who were desperate for peace and angered by the heavy-handed military campaign in the valley.
Yeah, it's called U.S. LIBERATION and DEMOCRACY!!!!!!!!
But over the last three months of efforts to make the deal work, the Taliban have revealed that they have no intention of ending their insurgency.
The "Al-CIA-Duh" backed Taliban, huh? CUI BONO?
It has also become apparent that Maulana Muhammad is not able to control the militants, the politicians say.
Yup, ALWAYS the VICTIMS FAULT!!!!
--more--"
Of course, nothing about this in my war daily: Peshawar suicide attack on military convoy kills five
And about those Taliban:
"Something of a catchall term for loosely affiliated insurgents without a singular command structure. Often, the Afghan government favors the phrase 'enemies of the state' (New York Times July 24, 2007)."
"The Taliban is growing and creating new alliances not because its sectarian religious practices have become popular, but because it is the only available umbrella for national liberation," says Pakistani historian and political commentator Tariq Ali. "As the British and the Soviets discovered to their cost in the preceding two centuries, Afghans never like being occupied."
Also see: Afghanistan's Other Government
And today, readers?
"More and more, people here look back to the era of harsh Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, describing it as a time of security and peace."
Oh, oh, oh!!!! I'm so offended by the AmeriKan MSM and its bullshit!
Here's the kicker:
"The U.S. government was well aware of the Taliban's reactionary program, yet it chose to back their rise to power in the mid-1990s. The creation of the Taliban was "actively encouraged by the ISI and the CIA," according to Selig Harrison, an expert on U.S. relations with Asia. "The United States encouraged Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to support the Taliban, certainly right up to their advance on Kabul," adds respected journalist Ahmed Rashid. When the Taliban took power, State Department spokesperson Glyn Davies said that he saw "nothing objectionable" in the Taliban's plans to impose strict Islamic law, and Senator Hank Brown, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East and South Asia, welcomed the new regime: "The good part of what has happened is that one of the factions at last seems capable of developing a new government in Afghanistan." "The Taliban will probably develop like the Saudis. There will be Aramco [the consortium of oil companies that controlled Saudi oil], pipelines, an emir, no parliament and lots of Sharia law. We can live with that," said another U.S. diplomat in 1997."
