"US praises Pakistan progress vs. Taliban" by Associated Press | August 17, 2009
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s wresting control of key areas from the Taliban has given enough “breathing room’’ to allow US-Pakistan relations to shift focus to energy and economic development, although security remains a vital concern, Washington’s special envoy to the region said yesterday.
Pakistan has a chronic shortage of energy and millions endure prolonged power cuts every day because the demand for electricity far outstrips the supply. The unstable power supply has damaged local industry, with factories unable to keep up production levels and small businesses struggling to cope, and has sometimes triggered riots.
Seriously, that is the FIRST TIME I have EVER SEEN that said about Pakistan in a MSM news article. Power cuts EVERY DAY?
“We shifted the focus deliberately and consciously today to the issue that every Pakistani tells me is on their minds more than any other - [the] economy and above all energy,’’ Richard Holbrooke said after meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. “We are concerned with more than just the western tribal areas - although those remain a central concern.’’
Gee, he sure gets around these days.
Related: Holbrooke's Hubris
Holbrooke, who is expected to visit Pakistan’s commercial capital of Karachi in coming days, gave no details but said projects would be announced later.... The military has been winding down an offensive against the Taliban that began in late April around the northern Swat Valley and led to some 2 million people being displaced....
Yeah, it's winding down, yup.
Hey, the lying, agenda-pushing, war-promoting AmeriKan MSM says it so it must be true.
Btw, it is OVER 3 MILLION REFUGEES and HOW COME WE HARDLY EVER HEAR ABOUT THEM, MSM?
The displaced have been returning home and the area has been largely secured, although the military said it still faces pockets of Taliban resistance. As if to underline Holbrooke’s words, a suicide bomber attacked an army checkpoint in Swat’s main town of Mingora....
--more--"
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Taliban claimed responsibility for two weekend suicide bombings in the northwestern Swat Valley, saying yesterday the blasts were a message to a visiting US envoy that the militants remained strong despite recent Pakistani army gains there.
The attacks - coupled with another bombing that killed seven elsewhere in the northwest yesterday - showed that the Muslim extremists can still sow violence and fear....
Celebrations by residents returning to Swat for Pakistan’s independence day last week were followed by two blasts Saturday and Sunday, the first since the army declared in late July it had regained control of the valley. The first bombing on a security checkpoint killed five people. Two soldiers died in another attack after a cornered militant detonated his explosives.
A Swat Taliban spokesman called the Associated Press from an unidentified location yesterday to say the militants timed the attacks to coincide with the visit of US envoy Richard Holbrooke, who has been tasked with pressing Islamabad to crackdown on extremists threatening Pakistan and Afghanistan. The bombings were “a gift to Holbrooke,’’ Muslim Khan said. “The Taliban cannot be eliminated.’’
Holbrooke, who arrived Friday night, had been scheduled to travel to Mingora, Swat’s main city, on Sunday but canceled, citing bad weather.
In all things, large or small, government lies. This guy can't even tell the truth about not going.
The envoy met yesterday with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and praised the army’s success in Swat and nearby regions, according to a statement from Gilani’s office.
The offensive began in April after the Taliban advanced to within 60 miles of the capital, Islamabad. It was Pakistan’s largest anti-militant operation after years of intermittent peace deals with various factions in areas of the northwest.
Yeah, because the U.S threatened to cut off the billions in aid.
Either kill your people or we will kill you.
--more--"
"For Pakistani Taliban, double setback" by associated press | August 19, 2009
ISLAMABAD - The back-to-back arrests of two top Pakistani Taliban members are another blow to a militant network reeling from the apparent killing of its chief in a CIA missile strike and could be a fresh sign of infighting over a possible successor.
Washington will be keen to exploit any disarray within the ranks - and the prospect that Taliban leaders could turn on one another....
Oh, I'M SMELLING a PSYOPS campaign here!
Yes, SOW DIVISION and DISTRUST amongst the "enemy."
"It is foolishness to look at “militant Islamists” and the CIA Special Forces teams who are sent in to fight them as two separate entities, without realizing that they are one and the same. In Central Asia, the scary “Islamists” appear, as if by magic, wherever the oil companies have an interest."
Related: U.S. Talking to Itself in Talks With Taliban
One of those arrested, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar, told interrogators yesterday that the movement’s chief, Baitullah Mehsud, had been killed in the Aug. 5 strike close to the Afghan border, according to an intelligence official who took part in the questioning. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Was that BEFORE or AFTER the TORTURE?
And the MSM CITING ANONYMOUS SOURCES? WOW!!!
Of the two seconds I saw Kyra Phillips on CNN talking about the Hal Turner case did she ever RIP ANONYMOUS BLOGGERS saying they MAKE STUFF UP!
Well, I GUESS NEWSPAPERS DO, too, huh, beeach?
US and Pakistani officials have said they are almost certain Mehsud was killed in the attack. But final confirmation has been hard because authorities have not seen his body and at least three Taliban operatives - including Umar - had called media organizations soon after the attack to say Nehsud was still alive.
So they DID TORTURE HIM!!!
Or they are LYING!
Ever notice these "Al-CIA-Duh Talibans" in and out of the coffin more than a vampire?
Related: The Perceptive Pakistani People and Propaganda
Predator Precipitates Pakistani Divorce
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTT!!!!
Visiting US envoy Richard Holbrooke said Mehsud’s apparent death had sparked a “succession crisis. The chaos benefits us.... ’’ he told CNN in comments reported yesterday.
And CUI BONO, CUI BONO, huh?
I SMELL a PSYOP because TALIBAN ARE simply PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE!!!!
Militant violence has spiraled in Pakistan over the past two years, but tough military action - backed by a public sickened by suicide bombings and concerned over Taliban territorial gains - has put the Islamic extremists on the back foot, even as Taliban attacks soar across the border in Afghanistan.
Umar was captured Monday night - the same evening that another Mehsud aide, Qari Saifullah, was picked up as he was being treated in a private hospital in Islamabad, intelligence officials said. Saifullah told police he had been wounded in an American missile strike in South Waziristan, the police said.
--more--""In Pakistan, hint of a Taliban scramble" by Associated Press | August 20, 2009
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - The deputy head of the Pakistani Taliban said yesterday that he was temporarily assuming leadership of the militant group because its chief, who Washington and Islamabad have said was almost certainly killed by a recent missile strike, was unwell.
Well, he's not ALL DEAD!!!! OMFG!!!!!!!!
The announcement by Maulvi Faqir Mohammad is another sign that Taliban commanders are jockeying for power after the reported death of Baitullah Mehsud in an Aug. 5 CIA missile strike in northwestern Pakistan’s tribal belt. A captured Taliban spokesman reportedly acknowledged to authorities that Mehsud was dead, but other commanders have insisted he is alive.
Of course the TORTURE had nothing to do with the guy's reversal, right, MSM?
Mohammad also claimed Mehsud was alive, but said he was too ill to lead Pakistan’s Taliban.
“I was the deputy leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban and now since Baitullah Mehsud is unable to perform as head of the organization due to health reasons and unable to come on the foreground, I am announcing I am assuming the role of acting chief,’’ Mohammad told the Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Aren't those OUR GUYS?
Related: The American War on Wana
He stressed his appointment was only temporary, and said the final decision on who would replace Mehsud would rest with a 42-member Taliban council, known as a shura. Pakistan’s Taliban are a loose alliance of disparate groups and tribal factions rather than one cohesive group, and government and intelligence officials have been saying that they are now embroiled in a bitter leadership struggle.
Gee, the WAR DAILY PRESS ALWAYS make them seem so MONOLITHIC!
Pakistan’s Western allies have been desperate to see a crackdown on militants who threaten the stability of the nuclear-armed country as well as the success of the US and NATO-led mission in neighboring Afghanistan, where violence is surging ahead of today’s elections.
Yeah, so HEADS UP, Pakistan! YOU are NEXT for U.S. OCCUPATION!
Gee, the REFUGEES and ACTUAL WAR sure were FORGOTTEN in a hurry by my Boston Globe, huh?
Once more it was PROPAGANDA and POLITICS dominating the "news."
