Please don't take it personally; we do it to everybody (except Israel, who we allow to suck us dry as they stab us in the back).
"4 alleged militants killed by missiles
MIR ALI — Suspected US missiles targeted a vehicle yesterday in northwestern Pakistan, killing four alleged militants, intelligence officials said. It was the 17th such attack this month — the most intense barrage since the airstrikes began in 2004. Shortly before the attack, the vehicle left a militant hideout in Datta Khel, a town in the North Waziristan tribal area that is controlled by insurgents focused on attacking NATO troops in Afghanistan, the two intelligence officials said. It is not clear exactly why the attacks have spiked (AP)."
Wasn't it to ruin the "terror threat" Europe is under?
KABUL, Afghanistan — Pakistan vehemently protested NATO helicopter strikes that killed more than 70 militants over the past three days, saying yesterday that UN rules do not allow the choppers to cross into its air space even in hot pursuit of insurgents.
Were they "militants?"
Related: Interview with family devastated by US drone attack
Once one realizes the monstrosity of the 9/11 lie and who was really behind it one considers all missile strikes and deaths derived from them as the slaughter of innocents. Period.
NATO said it launched the strikes in self-defense after militants attacked a small security post in Afghanistan near the border.
Although unmanned CIA drones frequently attack insurgents hiding on the Pakistani side where coalition forces are banned from fighting, strikes by manned NATO helicopters are uncommon there.
Pakistan’s protest, which plays to anti-American sentiment in that country, contrasts with its muted criticism of a sharp rise in suspected drone attacks in North Waziristan, a rugged, mountainous tribal area of Pakistan largely controlled by militants who stage attacks on coalition troops across the border.
The New York Times reported in today’s editions that the CIA, as part of its covert war in the region, launched 20 attacks with armed drone aircraft in September, the most ever during a single month, and more than twice the number in a typical month. This expanded air campaign comes as top officials are racing to stem the rise of US casualties before the Obama administration’s comprehensive review of its Afghanistan strategy, set for December.
Not the change I wanted from the PoS president.
The dispute over the recent helicopter strikes fuels unease between the two countries. The Pakistani military has fought Pakistani Taliban fighters, but it has resisted pressure to move against the Al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network.
Oh, the HAQQANI NETWORK again, huh?
"Haqqani.... credited with introducing suicide bombing to the region.... cultivated as a "unilateral" asset of the CIA and received tens of thousands of dollars in cash for his work.... He may have had a role in expediting the escape of Osama Bin Laden.... In July 2008, CIA officials confronted Pakistan officials with evidence of ties between Inter-Services Intelligence and Haqqani. Haqqani has been accused of involvement in the 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul...."
Are ALL the TERRORISTS working for US, America?
This is the part in the article (and post) where I start realizing I am just wading through bulls*** propaganda again.
:-(
The Haqqanis, who control vast stretches of territory in North Waziristan and the bordering Afghan province of Khost, carry out attacks in Afghanistan, but not in Pakistan.
How convenient for occupying armies.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said the US followed the appropriate protocol in the situation.
“Our forces have the right of self-defense,’’ Lapan said. “They were being attacked, and they responded.’’
I'm so sick of that EXCUSE being used to WAGE WARS and MURDER PEOPLE!
US officials say there is an agreement to notify Pakistani officials of cross-border incidents to allow the coalition to defend itself. In this instance, coalition forces could not reach the Pakistani military before they defended the Afghan forces under attack, a NATO official said.
Pakistan denied that such an understanding exists with the military coalition, or International Security Assistance Force....
This is why I no longer waste time believing anything newspapers or governments say. It's all crap if it comes from their mouth.
The top commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, speaking to reporters after a tour of the main US detention center in Afghanistan near Bagram Air Field, said the airstrike killed nearly 60 members of the Haqqani faction, which frequently attacks coalition troops....
So the war-criminal general was touring the torture chamber of Bagram as well as continuing the CIA cover story of the Haqqani's, huh? Thanks, general.
--more--"
And I just LOVE the ARROGANCE of EMPIRE!
"Pakistan warns of US repercussions if border violations continue" by Associated Press | September 29, 2010
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan has told NATO leaders it will stop protecting US and NATO supply lines to Afghanistan if foreign aircraft stage further cross-border attacks against fleeing militants, security officials said yesterday.
Now things are getting serious.
Murdering people and destroying villages, nah, but impeding the ability of a mass-murdering war machine to carry out such mayhem? Big deal!!
If carried out, such a threat would have major consequences on the war in Afghanistan as well as on Pakistan’s relationship with the United States. Analysts said there was little or no chance of Islamabad carrying through with it, however.
Oh, the CORPORATE MEDIA ANALYSTS ended up being WRONG AGAIN!
What a surprise.
The threat was seen as mostly aimed at tamping down criticism inside Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment runs high and where conspiracy theories that the US Army is poised to invade the nation from bases in Afghanistan are rampant....
Now LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING about the AmeriKan corporate media I know and love so well:
When THEY START TOSSING AROUND the words "conspiracy theories" you KNOW the CONCERNS are LEGITIMATE!!!
Although Pakistan has remained largely silent about US drone strikes in the northwest, Pakistani security officials say they are drawing a line at direct interference by US and NATO manned aircraft. They rejected NATO statements that NATO air defense teams were acting to protect an Afghan border post against militants who had attacked it, then fled to Pakistan.
--more--"
Of course, LITTLE or NO CHANCE they will GO THROUGH WITH IT, huh?
ISLAMABAD --Pakistan closed the Khyber Pass supply route for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan after a coalition helicopter attack mistakenly killed three Pakistani soldiers at a border post Thursday, raising tensions in a vital relationship for both Islamabad and Washington.
NATO said its helicopters entered Pakistani airspace and hit a target only after receiving ground fire.
Problem is nothing NATO says can be believed.
The alliance expressed condolences to the families of the soldiers and said both nations would investigate the incident.
Are condolences forthcoming for all the other innocents slaught... oh, never mind. Waiting for something like that is like waiting for truth in the newspaper. You will never see it.
A lengthy ban on supply trucks would place intense strain on the U.S.-Pakistani relationship and hurt the Afghan war effort.
Okay, REMEMBER that statement, too.
But that was seen as unlikely, as neither Islamabad nor Washington can afford a meltdown in ties at a crucial time in the 9-year-old war.
There they go again!
They said it was UNLIKELY the LINE would be CUT and HERE WE ARE!
Briefly closing the route would serve a different purpose -- a timely reminder by Pakistan of the leverage it has over the United States in Afghanistan just as the American-led coalition there is under growing public and political pressure to show success.
Who cares about "success" as defined by a war-criminal empire and its lying, agenda-pushing, war-promoting mouthpiece media?
WE WANT OUT NOW and an END to the LIES not MORE WARS!!
The blockade left 150 trucks lined up along the fabled Khyber Pass carrying fuel, military vehicles, spare parts, clothing and other non-lethal supplies for foreign troops.
If it SUPPORTS a LETHAL ENDEAVOR than it is NOT "non-lethal." The DISTORTIONS and WORD GAMES are enough to MAKE YOU SICK!
Pakistan's other main route into landlocked Afghanistan, in Chaman in the southeast, stayed open.
While NATO and the United States have alternative supply routes into Afghanistan, the Pakistani ones are the cheapest and most convenient.
Related: The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: False Flags Flying High in Afghanistan
I just thought you would like to know who we were paying off and why.
Some 80 percent of the coalition's non-lethal supplies are transported over Pakistani soil after being unloaded at docks in Karachi, a port city in the south.
One wonders why the alleged Taliban terrorists in Karachi that are always attacking other sects doesn't attack the ports instead, but then you get into that area that the war-promoting media never likes: logic, reason, and sense.
It was the third time in less than a week that NATO choppers in pursuit of militants behind attacks on coalition bases have crossed over the Pakistani border and fired on targets. Pakistani officials had warned after the earlier strikes that they would stop allowing NATO convoys if it happened again.
But ANALYSTS the newspaper talked to DID NOT TAKE THAT SERIOUSLY!!
The NATO attacks follow a recent surge in missile strikes by CIA drones at Taliban and al-Qaida militants taking shelter in Pakistan out of reach of U.S. ground forces.
While the Pakistani leadership has quietly accepted drone strikes over the last three years and even provides intelligence for some of them, closing the border crossing was a clear signal it will not compromise on allowing foreign troops or manned aircraft inside its territory.
That is why the government is hated over there.
"We will have to see whether we are allies or enemies," Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said of the border incident, without mentioning the decision to close the border.
I don't like the answer to that question when I consider my government.
And it is SO WRONG because the PEOPLE of BOTH NATIONS are ALLIES!
We BOTH WANT the SAME THING: an END to FOREIGN OCCUPATIONS and WARS and a GOOD GOVERNMENT that SERVES US!
The move shows Pakistan's deep sensitivities over foreign forces on its doorstep.
Of course, the U.S. would NOT MIND Chinese forces crawling all over the Canadian border or Iranians coming up from the south, right?
You know, if it were foreign forces building on the ISRAELI OCCUPATIONS the papers would be SCREAMING INVASION!
The LEVEL of INSULTING BIAS is REALLY DISGUSTING when you READ an AmeriKan newspaper these days!
While nominally allied with Americans against the shared threat of Islamist militants, polls show many Pakistanis regard the United States as an enemy.
I guess the ESCALATING MISSILE ATTACKS are not winning over any hearts and minds.
Conspiracy theories abound of U.S. troops wanting to invade Pakistan and seize its nuclear weapons....
And what did I say above about cover-up corporate media hollering "conspiracy theories?"
Of course, U.S. PLANNERS have THOSE EXACT PLANS DRAWN UP -- just in case!
Pentagon officials said they were trying to clarify exactly what happened and were talking to the Pakistani government. The U.S. Defense Department said it was too soon to know what impact the border crossing closure would have....
So it won't be hurting the war effort, huh?
The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is poorly defined and the terrain is rough.
Yeah, because the damn British Empire arbitrarily drew a line through the hills!
NEVER ASKED the PEOPLE THERE what THEY THOUGHT!
Sound familiar, AmeriKa?
In 2008, 11 Pakistan border troops were killed when a U.S. plane mistakenly bombed them. That same year, U.S. helicopters and Pakistani ground troops briefly traded fire, causing tensions to spike for several days.
So this is JUST ANOTHER FLAP and STAGED SHOW so GOVERNMENTS can LOOK GOOD, huh?
Frontier troops wear uniforms that resemble the traditional Pakistani dress of a long shirt and baggy trousers, which could make it hard to distinguish them from ordinary citizens or insurgents.
Translation: We do NOT KNOW WHO WERE ARE KILLING, but LET the MISSILES FLY!
NATO said the closing of the Torkham border crossing, the busiest entryway for NATO and U.S. goods into Afghanistan, had not strained the coalition's supply operation....
Oh, that is what NATO said, huh?
This is what was cut from my printed version:
Both the Khyber Pass and Chaman routes have occasionally closed for several days in recent years after major militant attacks on the road or disagreements between truckers and authorities. Pakistani security forces protect the convoys.
Yeah, whatever. I notice you read NEXT TO NOTHING about the PRIVATE CONTRACTORS crawling ALL OVER Pakistan.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told visiting CIA director Leon Panetta that Pakistan was "profoundly concerned" about the helicopter incursions and the increased drone strikes.
What an INTERESTING OMISSION for your dumb rural rube like me reading an AmeriKan paper.
"Pakistan being a front-line ally in the war against terror expects its partners to respect its territorial sovereignty," he said, according to a statement from his office.
Why? We do not respect anyone else?
Moeed Yusuf, from the United States Institute of Peace, a Washington-based think tank, said he thought a major rift in ties between Islamabad and Washington was unlikely because they need each other too much.
Like all lies and propaganda, the same thing is repeated even if not true.
The United States has few options but to rely on Pakistan's help in Afghanistan and in the fight against al-Qaida, while Islamabad cannot survive without foreign assistance.
Foreign assistance means all the tax loot the upper-crust elite stole because it has never made it to the people of Pakistan.
Related: Kerry's Pakistan Connection
Yup, that is what we call foreign aid.
It too does not want to see Afghanistan descend into chaos, destabilizing Pakistan.
What do you think they have next door now, MSM? Pffft!
"If relations erupt right now, both Pakistan and the United States lose out on what they have been trying to achieve," Yusuf said. "Their relationship is too important to allow it to be derailed by border issues."
--more--"
Then the ban should be lifted any day, right?
Related: Pakistan closes major NATO supply route (By Jane Perlez, New York Times)
I no longer read New York Times updates, sorry.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Assailants launched two separate attacks on tankers carrying fuel for foreign troops in Afghanistan yesterday, showing the vulnerability of NATO supply lines a day after the Pakistani government shut one down.
Fuel for what? The war machine? That's "non-lethal?"
Also a day after NATO said it wouldn't hurt the effort, sigh.
The events stand to complicate a difficult war in Afghanistan, especially if the Torkham border crossing along the fabled Khyber Pass remains closed for long.
Those analysts said it wouldn't close at all and would be open so... oh, never mind what the newspaper said.
They are a reminder of the leverage Pakistan has over the United States just as Washington seeks the help of its uncomfortable ally at a crucial point in the 9-year-long conflict.
Time to INVADE then because we can NONE other than ISRAEL have LEVERAGE over us!
They also highlight the importance of recently opened supply routes into landlocked Afghanistan through central Asian states to its north.
Yeah, YOU BETTER KEEP FUNDING that EMPIRE with troops and money, bankrupted and war-weary Amurkn! The LIES are SO WORTH IT!
Those routes are safer, but the Pakistani lines from the Arabian seaport of Karachi north to Kabul and Kandahar in Afghanistan are cheaper and carry most of NATO’s non-lethal supplies.
Hell of a "choice," Americans.
Pakistan shut down the Torkham border crossing, the most important NATO supply into Afghanistan, on Thursday in apparent protest of a NATO helicopter attack that killed three Pakistani soldiers on the frontier. It was the third such incursion into Pakistan in less than a week.
I was told they WOULDN'T DO THAT!
The other NATO supply line through Pakistan remained open — the Chaman crossing in Baluchistan, where it seemed likely the tankers were heading. Baluchistan.
Now there is a place you RARELY READ MUCH OF at all in the AmeriKan newspapers.
A lengthy closure of Torkham would place intense strain on the US-Pakistani relationship and hurt the Afghan war effort.
NATO said no, and the newspaper just said we had all sorts of routes!
But a long shutdown continued to be seen as unlikely.
Same people who said a shutdown was unlikely.
Had enough of the propaganda and lies yet, America?
Senior US officials acknowledged high tension between the two capitals that crested with the border closure....
That is an OFFENSIVE CHOICE of WORDS when you consider that the FLOOD COVERAGE has COMPLETELY DRIED UP!
Video that may show Pakistani military officers summarily executing insurgents threatened to undermine public and congressional support for US aid.
Oh, THAT SHOWED UP JUST as this CRISIS came about, huh? How CONVENIENT!
Of course, when OUR CIA or its paid mercenary thugs does the same thing it is considered a victory in the war on terror.
And there is NO PUBLIC SUPPORT, PoS media!
We are TIRED of TAX LOOT being WASTED and INTERFERING with OTHER PEOPLE'S AFFAIRS for the UNHOLY GRAIL of EMPIRE and service to Israel!
Meanwhile in London, Pakistan’s former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, apologized yesterday for mistakes made during his last term in office as he launched a bid to return to power.
Also see: Mr. Musharraf's Disappointing Debut
Musharraf told scores of cheering supporters that some of his decisions had negative repercussions for his nation of 175 million. But the leader who stepped down in 2008 amid protests and under the threat of impeachment stopped short of specifying what the mistakes had been.
I view him as a war criminal -- just as I view all collaborators with AmeriKan intentions.
Critics have accused him of doing little to improve Pakistan’s stagnant economy and not doing enough to clean up the political infighting that has plagued the country.
“I take this opportunity to apologize,’’ the 67-year-old former leader said. “Human beings make mistakes.’’
But that DOES NOT MEAN WAR CRIMES just WASH AWAY, guy!
--more--"
So is that SUPPLY LINE flowing yet?
"Key border remains shut in Pakistan-NATO standoff; Analysts believe political factors stalling solution" by Nahal Toosi, Associated Press | October 3, 2010
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan kept a vital border crossing closed to US and NATO supply trucks for a third day yesterday, a sign that Islamabad’s desire to avoid a domestic backlash over a NATO incursion that killed three Pakistani troops is — for now — outweighing its desire to stay on good terms with America.
Two US missile strikes that killed 16 people in a northwest Pakistani tribal region, meanwhile, showed that America has no intention of sidelining a tactic it considers highly successful, even if it could add to tensions.
Or even if it is a war crime.
Related: Obama's Airstrike Scalpel
Murderer.
The closing of the Torkham border crossing to NATO trucks has exposed the struggles and contradictions at the heart of the US-Pakistan alliance against Islamist militancy.
This is what we call PREPARING the GROUND for INVASION!
Seen it dozens of times in the newspapers over the years.
Both sides need one another: The United States gives billions in military and other aid to Pakistan, and Pakistani roads are used to transport the majority of nonlethal supplies to troops in Afghanistan.
But while the US-led coalition is busy tackling every insurgent group it can along the Pakistani-Afghan border before America’s scheduled withdrawal from Afghanistan starting in mid-2011, Pakistan has gone after only certain groups sheltering on its side — the ones it deems most dangerous to its government, not to Westerners in Afghanistan.
Is the U.S. going after those it created?
A recent surge in the CIA’s drone-fired missile strikes in Pakistan along with NATO operations along the frontier suggests that Western forces are testing how far they can push Pakistan.
Maybe into a FULL-FLEDGED WAR, huh?
There is ALWAYS HOPING, right?
Tensions heightened after helicopters from the military alliance were alleged to have crossed the border multiple times last weekend in pursuit of insurgents, killing dozens of militants with airstrikes.
Now they were alleged to have crossed!
Pakistan protested to NATO and threatened to stop aiding the coalition’s convoys into Afghanistan.
But analysts didn't take that seriously.
On Thursday, it made good on its threat to cut the supply line after two NATO helicopters killed three Pakistani paramilitary soldiers who fired warning shots at them.
Yesterday, some 150 trucks piled up near the border crossing at Torkham, waiting for the post to reopen. The truck drivers said they were worried, as militants are known to attack the supply line on a fairly regular basis.
“We are suffering and feeling fear,’’ driver Hayat Zaman said.
I'm afraid of being afraid anymore.
Analysts said they expected the border to be closed for two or three more days at least.
The SAME ANALYSTS who said it WOULD NOT BE CLOSED at all?
Pakistan would look like it was backing down if it reopened the border too quickly, but at the same time, it wouldn’t risk its partnership with the United States by keeping the crossing closed for too long, they said.
Why would we listen to what they said?
“The whole thing is so political, they cannot quickly reopen,’’ said Ayesha Siddiqa, a military analyst.
I'm sick of politics.
Related:
"Obama needs a short renewal of the freeze, and the semblance of continuing Israeli and Palestinian participation in the “peace process”, until the US Congressional elections in November. Criticism by the powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington may damage Obama’s Democratic party unless he treads a very thin line. He needs to create the impression of progress in the Middle East talks but not upset Israel’s supporters."
Also see: Democrats Tax Trap Left Empty
Yeah, it's ALL BS, folks!
Siddiqa said the Pakistani army may also view this as a chance to nudge the United States more toward its thinking on how to deal with the range of militant groups that operate in its border regions....
We only listen to Israel, sorry.
Critics of Pakistan say it is trying to avoid going after certain Afghan-focused militant groups, such as the Haqqani network, because it wants to keep them as allies once US troops leave the region....
Right -- as if U.S. troops were ever leaving!
And the HAQQANI network is the problem, huh?
Talat Masood, a political and defense analyst, said Pakistan would probably wait until after expected meetings between its officials and US representatives next week before making a decision to reopen Torkham. The fact that a smaller border crossing remains open in the southwest is a sign that Pakistan is giving the United States and NATO some breathing room, he said....
So the crisis really is NOT THAT SERIOUS then?
--more--"
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Militants attacked and set fire to at least 20 tankers carrying oil for NATO and US troops in Afghanistan early today, the third such strike inside Pakistan in as many days, police said.
Yeah, OIL that the WAR MACHINE RUNS ON is "nonlethal aid."
Police investigator Umer Hayat said three people were killed and blamed the attack on terrorists.
That line is becoming soooooo played!
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility in a telephone call to an Associated Press reporter.
PFFFFFT!
Its spokesman said a new wing of the group had been created to strike convoys and “would continue until the supplies are completely stopped.’’
The propaganda agent doesn't even give a name.
***********
The closure exacerbated tensions between Washington and Islamabad but has been welcomed by Islamist groups opposed to Pakistan’s support of the US-led war in Afghanistan....
So if anyone is happy the war machine has slowed they are a "terrorist!"
The trucks were en route or waiting to travel to the Torkham border crossing along the Khyber Pass, which is used to bring fuel, military vehicles, spare parts, clothing, and other nonlethal supplies for foreign troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s other main route into landlocked Afghanistan, in Chaman in the southwest, has remained open.
Although NATO and the United States have alternative supply routes into Afghanistan, the Pakistani ones are the cheapest and most convenient. Most of the coalition’s nonlethal supplies are transported over Pakistani soil after being unloaded at docks in Karachi in the south.
On Friday, a day after the closure of the Khyber Pass route to NATO and US traffic, there were two attacks on oil tankers headed to the country. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for at least one of them, and vowed to launch more.
Striking now gains them more media attention than normal and adds to unease between Pakistan and the United States.
Who control that, media?
The convoys take several days to reach the border after setting off from Karachi and make frequent stops. They receive little or no protection outside the frontier region and are indistinguishable from ordinary trucks and tankers that ply Pakistani roads.
Over the past two years they often have been attacked by militants, mostly in the northwestern border region where militants are strongest.
And yet we RARELY EVER READ ABOUT IT -- until NOW when it has been in the paper every day, every day, every day.
Attacks on convoys in Pakistan give militants a propaganda victory, but coalition officials say they do not result in shortages in Afghanistan. Hundreds of trucks cross into Afghanistan each day.
Have YOU HAD IT with the INSULTING LIES, readers?
Some attacks are believed to be the work of criminals, who can sell much of the vehicles, clothes, and other goods they carry. Officials have accused truck owners of having a role in some of the incidents, perhaps to claim insurance fraudulently.
But BLAME TALIBAN ANYWAY!!
Earlier yesterday, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, said on CNN’s “State of the Union’’ program that he did “not expect this blockade to continue for too long.’’
Related: Pakistan's American Face
Also see: Cynthia McKinney: Haqqani Blocked Me From Sharing Info On Dr. Aafia With Pakistan Government
Asked whether the route could be opened within the next week, he said “I think it will happen in less than that duration.’’
A Foreign Office spokesman said the route had been closed because of public reaction to the NATO strikes, and that it would be reopened once things normalize....
Normalize for who? Hated governments?
The MISSILES going to STOP?
Then NOTHING will be NORMAL at all!!
Analysts have said that the relationship between Pakistan and the United States is too important for both nations for this incident to derail ties.
Seems like I have already read so much of this, doesn't it?
Also yesterday, the bodies of three men were found along a road in the northwestern tribal region. The men were killed by suspected Pakistani Taliban militants in apparent retaliation for recent US drone strikes in the area, officials and a villager said.
The corpses were discovered in North Waziristan alongside a road that leads to Afghanistan. A note under a rock next to the bodies said, “Anyone who dares spy for the Americans will meet the same fate,’’ according to two intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Maybe it is true, maybe it is not; however, I'm sick of all the psyop prop coming from newspapers.
A local government official, Asghar Khan, confirmed the report, but refused to give further details....
Oh, now I'm convinced.
The slayings came the day after two suspected US missile attacks killed 16 people in the region, part of a recent surge in drone strikes in Pakistan along with stepped-up NATO operations along the frontier.
--more--"
Supply line flowing yet?
ISLAMABAD — Hundreds of US and NATO trucks carrying fuel and other supplies for troops in Afghanistan sit idle. Dramatic images of Taliban attacks on these convoys are splashed across front pages in this anti-American country with a US-allied government.
Better than the divisive, Muslim-hating, war-promoting propaganda splashed across ours in AmeriKa.
Pakistan’s shutting of a key supply line for coalition troops in Afghanistan and the apparent ease with which militants are attacking the stranded convoys are shaking an already uncomfortable relationship between Washington and Islamabad.
So WHEN do we OFFICIALLY ATTEMPT to OCCUPY?
The tension is occurring just as Washington is stepping up its shadow war on militants harbored in Pakistan’s border regions.
Yeah, thanks for keeping that in the shadows, MSM.
CIA missile attacks, which have killed dozens of insurgents including some high-ranking Al Qaeda operatives, are running at record levels — a sign of America’s impatience with Pakistan’s inaction in some parts of the frontier.
Yeah, "some" Al-CIA-Duh were killed, but MOST WERE CIVILIANS!
And if AmeriKa is impatient that is a BAD SIGN for Pakistan!
We got "impatient" with Iraq!
Although they are allies in the war against Al Qaeda, the recent events are a reminder that the two countries’ long-term strategic interests are not always in synch....
The United States has pressured Pakistan to strike not only its enemy, the Pakistani Taliban, but also Haqqani network militants who attack US forces on the Afghan side of the border.
Have YOU HAD IT with the Haqqani network yet?
Another CIA WHIPPING BOY like the DEAD GUY!
The Pakistani government provides vital intelligence tips that help the CIA drone strikes.
That is one reason the Pakistan government is so unpopular among its own people.
But such cooperation, to the extent that it becomes known in Pakistan, puts the government at risk of looking impotent in the eyes of its own people: A foreign power that many believe is an enemy of Islam is firing missiles and rockets on their territory.
Pakistan's relationship with us is the same as ours with Israel, AmeriKa!!
There are renewed concerns about the stability of Pakistan’s civilian government, which is struggling to deal with the aftermath of the worst flooding in the country’s history.
Oh, yeah, the FLOODS!!
Those have been FORGOTTEN!
Related: Picking Up the Pakistan Floods
In fact, the SUPPLY LINES have received WAY MORE COVERAGE for my WAR PAPERS!!
President Asif Ali Zardari is unpopular, resented by many as a US stooge who got the job on a sympathy vote after the assassination of his wife, Benazir Bhutto.
Most of ours are.
The Pakistanis closed the main NATO supply route last week to protest a NATO helicopter attack that killed three Pakistani border guards. NATO apologized for the attack, which it described as an act of self-defense.
It was the third time in a less than a week that foreign forces had flown into Pakistani airspace.
Those were only "alleged" above.
There have been four attacks on stalled convoys since then — the latest one killing four people yesterday, underlining an uncomfortable reality: the Taliban and the Pakistan government’s interests are aligned at present in seeking to punish the United States and NATO.
Can you READ the WAR DRUMS, readers?
--more--"
And yet this next article doesn't merit inclusion in my printed paper?
"NATO supplies in Pakistan hit again" by Associated Press | October 6, 2010
QUETTA, Pakistan — Gunmen in southwest Pakistan torched eight NATO oil tankers and shot dead a driver today, police said. It was the latest strike against supply convoys heading for Afghanistan since Pakistan shut a key border crossing to international forces last week.
The attack occurred in a parking area of a roadside hotel on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan Province. At least eight trucks were on fire, and around a dozen others were parked nearby, said Hamid Shakil, a senior police official. Firefighters were trying to douse the flames.
The attacks have further raised tensions already elevated by Pakistan’s decision to close the Torkham crossing in the northwest in apparent reaction to alleged NATO helicopter strikes on its territory. One of those NATO strikes killed three Pakistani paramilitary soldiers.
The tankers hit today were believed headed for a smaller border crossing at Chaman that remains open.
It was unclear who was behind the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for similar assaults on NATO supplies, including one before dawn Monday that killed four people. The militants said it was revenge for the NATO helicopter incursions.
Counting today’s attack, there have been at least six on the supply convoys since the Torkham closure.
The events of the past week have exposed the often-strained nature of the alliance between Pakistan and the United States. But analysts doubt it will reach a breaking point, because each side is so reliant on the other.
The same analysts that said a shutdown was unlikely and would be over soon.
In addition to safe passage for NATO supplies, the United States needs Pakistan to help target Taliban and Al Qaeda militants who stage cross-border attacks against foreign troops in Afghanistan. In return, Pakistan receives billions of dollars in military and civilian assistance that help keep its economy afloat.
And enrich the elites of Pakistan.
Both American and Pakistani officials have predicted the Torkham border crossing will reopen within a few days.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen tried to reduce the tension between the two sides Monday by apologizing for last week’s helicopter attack that killed Pakistani troops, saying that the casualties were “unintended’’ and that a joint investigation was underway.
Oh, a government cover-up is underway, yay!
--more--"
Not like they are not used to them in Pakistan:
"Court orders reopening of Pakistan graft case" by Associated Press | September 28, 2010
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Supreme Court again ordered the government yesterday to ask Swiss authorities to reopen a money-laundering case against the president, raising the stakes in a case that has triggered speculation over the future of the Western-backed administration.
The court proceedings follow weeks of criticism against the democratically elected government over its handling of this summer’s floods and doubts it can handle the reconstruction.
Those floods sure faded fast from the AmeriKan news coverage.
The government’s supporters dismiss such talk as baseless rumors that have regularly cropped up since it took office 2 1/2 years ago. Even some of its critics say the coalition, however bad, must be allowed to complete its term to cement democratic traditions.
Stability in Pakistan is regarded as important to US hopes of achieving success across the border in Afghanistan, as well as in the nuclear-armed country’s own fight against an Al Qaeda and Taliban insurgency.
The dispute between the court and the government has been simmering since December, when judges struck down an amnesty protecting President Asif Ali Zardari and hundreds of other politicians from prosecution on graft.
--more--"
