Then it was murder (if we take this report at face value) most foul for the worst of reasons!
For the truth on this region I rarely believe my Boston Globe anymore. To really get a better perspective on the events in the region I often put on a pair of sunglasses.
"Pakistani Taliban to choose new leader; US condemned for drone strike that killed chief" by Declan Walsh and Ismail Khan | New York Times, November 03, 2013
LONDON — Pakistani Taliban commanders met Saturday to choose a successor to Hakimullah Mehsud, their leader who was killed Friday in a US drone strike, as mainstream political leaders stepped up their criticism of the United States and vowed to press ahead with peace talks.
Yeah, the CIA got payback of sorts! Ever wonder how their papers seem to know so much?
Pakistani officials said the Taliban shura, or governing council, had started to gather at a mosque in Miram Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, on Friday night.
Early Saturday, the Taliban buried Mehsud, who had a $5 million US bounty on his head, and six others in Danday Darpakhel, the village where they were killed.
Officials said Mehsud was wounded beyond recognition, after several missiles hit the vehicle in which he was traveling as it entered a compound in the village on Friday.
Four candidates are thought to be in the running to replace Mehsud, in an opaque process riven with tribal rivalry and personality-driven tensions.
The favorite, Pakistani officials and militants said, is Khan Said, a commander who had been a rival to Mehsud and was thought to have the support of powerful factions, including the Haqqani network.
It's just not funny anymore, folks.
Speaking by telephone, a Taliban spokesman, Azam Tariq, said a winner would be decided “within a few days.”
Mehsud’s death represented another success against the Pakistani Taliban for the CIA, which killed his deputy, Wali ur-Rehman, in May.
See:
"Inside the Taliban, Rehman was seen as a conciliatory figure, who helped mediate disputes with other factions and who was opposed to the indiscriminate attacks on civilians."
And the U.S. killed peace once again. That's called success?
To the Obama administration, the killing of a high-profile enemy offered a welcome diversion from a growing debate in the United States over civilian casualties from drone strikes.
Related:
UN urges US to report civilian deaths
Civilian deaths cited in report on Pakistan drone hits
"Among the six strikes detailed by Human Rights Watch is an attack in Sarar, in central Yemen on Sept. 2, 2012, in which two warplanes or drones attacked a minibus, killing a pregnant woman, three children, and eight other people....
The researchers also examined the US cruise missile strike in al-Majalah in southern Abyan province on Dec. 17, 2009. The report said the Yemeni government described the attack as a Yemeni airstrike that killed 34 at a training camp, but a later government inquiry found the strike actually killed 14 suspected AQAP fighters, but also at least 41 civilians living in a Bedouin camp, including 21 children....
Amnesty’s report said that the grandchildren of the woman killed said that missile fire struck on Oct. 24, 2012, as she was collecting vegetables in a family field in the North Waziristan tribal area, a major militant sanctuary near the Afghan border. Three of the grandchildren were wounded, as were several others who were nearby, the victims said....
Another incident noted by the Amnesty report occurred in North Waziristan on July 6, 2012. Witnesses said a volley of missiles hit a tent where a group of men had gathered for an evening meal after work, and then a second struck those who came to help the wounded, the rights group said."
That is standard practice for CIA drone strikes, and it has been reported that the ratio of civilians killed in such things is 50 to 1; however, even if it is a fifth of that it is still an atrocious Obombernation.
What is even more disgusting than the defense of such slaughter based on lies is the the pressure brought to bear upon Pakistan to minimize the issue and the attempted embarrassment (according to top-secret CIA documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos "obtained" by the Washington Post?) of its new leader while he was here.
In a show of defiance, tribesmen opened fire with AK-47s and other small arms on US drones hovering over Miram Shah.
?????
And they didn't fire down some missiles and eliminate the whole lot?
Despite the technological prowess and laser-guided precision of US drones, their political effects can be messy and unpredictable, as has become evident yet again in Pakistan.
Meaning ONCE AGAIN AmeriKa has STEPPED IN SHIT regarding an aspect of foreign policy!
Senior ministers and opposition politicians united in condemning the drone strike, which they called a US effort to doom putative peace talks with the Taliban, with some advocating that Pakistan should cut US military supply lines into Afghanistan in response.
The strike was an obvious attempt to derail peace talks as well as divert the debate. I agree with the cutting of supply lines. It can only hasten the exit of the Empire.
The interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, said the US ambassador had been summoned to protest the strike. “It is the murder of peace in this region,” he said.
I think US leadership has been hanging out with too many Israelis.
Imran Khan, the former cricket star whose party runs Khyber Paktunkhwa province, said his party would vote Monday to cut NATO military supply lines into Afghanistan that run through the province.
Related:
"Militants have shown little appetite for talks. They have demanded an end to US drone strikes in the tribal areas. Drones are a particular touchy subject for many Pakistanis. The leader of one of the country’s main opposition parties, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, threatened Thursday to cut off NATO supplies moving through Pakistan if the United States launches any drone strikes during the talks."
And the U.S. promptly sent them down!
Also see:
Pakistan says 6 killed by US drone strike
Suspected missile attack killed seven
Two different attacks.
US drone strike kills 16 in Pakistan
Five people killed in US drone strike
Part of my new format, folks.
He described Mehsud as being ready to talk peace, and he painted the drone strike that killed him as a defining moment for the country’s political parties. “The nation is asking who does not want peace in the country,” he said at a news conference in Lahore.
In Waziristan, tribesmen also criticized the Obama administration for killing Mehsud when he was on the verge of talks. “The drones have destroyed everything,” Jamaluddin Khan, a teacher, said by phone.
That was the intent.
See:
"Some critics wonder whether Baradar’s release would signify an act of genuine good will on the part of Pakistan or rather a cynical attempt to shape the power dispensation in Afghanistan before American combat troops leave by the end of next year."
Yeah, right, it's Pakistan's motives that are in question and the Taliban making demands regarding their missing people.
Others lamented that in death, Mehsud — a flamboyant figure with a reputation both for joking and for ruthless violence — would be transformed into a hero. “One thing is clear: Anyone who is killed in a drone strike becomes a true Muslim holy warrior, no matter how sinful he is,” said a tribal elder, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Few people dared voice public support for Mehsud’s death, with the main exception being retired military officials, which highlighted an apparent divide between military and civilian thinking over the virtues of peace negotiations.
A problem that does not exist with AmeriKa's leadership.
The military has bitter experience of talks with the Taliban, having entered into several controversial agreements from 2005 to 2007 that eventually crumbled and ultimately gave the militants time to consolidate their strength.
If it seemed odd that Pakistanis were equivocating over the demise of a figure who spent his career orchestrating attacks that killed thousands of Pakistanis, the reason lied in a complex mix of politics and psychology.
Yeah, those Pakistanis are an odd and extreme lot (sigh)!
Anti-Americanism is rife in Pakistan, and the drones are widely despised — with the exception of some corners of the tribal belt, where some tribesmen quietly say they support any measure to oust militants from their area.
“It shows how society has become radicalized,” said Omar R. Quraishi, an editor at The Express Tribune newspaper. “People keep asking why the Americans are violating our sovereignty. They don’t seem to realize that, in the tribal regions, the state has lost all control.”
--more--"
I was told we were reducing strikes, that they may even end soon, but that is obviously a statement that is no longer operative.
"A scaled-back drone campaign will, at the very least, be one less issue to argue over. The drone campaign, however, is expected to continue, even if greatly diminished."
It is not anything that $1.6 billion in aid can't fix.
Also see: US strike reportedly hits Somalia rebels
Didn't want them to feel left out.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"US killing of Taliban leader stirs anger, fear in Pakistan" by Rebecca Santana | Associated Press, November 04, 2013
ISLAMABAD — Many Pakistanis had high hopes for this latest peace effort and blame the United States for fouling it up....
Also contributing to the anger are fears of a bloody backlash, plus a web of complex conspiracy theories, including the idea that militants such as Mehsud are American or Indian pawns intent on weakening Pakistan....
Yes, once again we have a certain amount of truth admitted by my mouthpiece media but it is couched around the term "conspiracy theories," therefore the supposition raised must be wrong. Standard propaganda pre$$ tactic.
Mehsud, who had a reputation as an especially ruthless warrior, was the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, as it calls itself.
Was Mehsud trying to go independent and break away from CIA control?
Related:
CIAs fake Taliban
Davis had 'close links' with Taliban
He tried to give them what?
It is an umbrella group encompassing militant organizations across the tribal areas. It has called for the overthrow of the Pakistani government, the implementation of hard-line Islamic law, and an end to cooperation with the Americans in Afghanistan.
In many ways, people across Pakistan are echoing what they are hearing from politicians and top government officials. During a news conference Saturday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan lashed out repeatedly at the United States....
Many Pakistanis question why Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country, is at war with other Muslims and its own citizens.
Good question.
Amir Sultan, a salesman at a garment business in Islamabad, said whenever Pakistan starts efforts to make peace with the Taliban, America sabotages it.
“It is an American agenda to destroy Pakistan,” he said. “It is in America’s interest to pit Muslim against Muslims.”
There is also suspicion that the United States and neighboring India — a longtime enemy — are directly promoting and funding militants as a way to weaken the country.
It's a suspicion that has been confirmed.
--more--"
I was told we were reducing strikes, that they may even end soon, but that is obviously a statement that is no longer operative.
"A scaled-back drone campaign will, at the very least, be one less issue to argue over. The drone campaign, however, is expected to continue, even if greatly diminished."
It is not anything that $1.6 billion in aid can't fix.
Also see: US strike reportedly hits Somalia rebels
Didn't want them to feel left out.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"US killing of Taliban leader stirs anger, fear in Pakistan" by Rebecca Santana | Associated Press, November 04, 2013
ISLAMABAD — Many Pakistanis had high hopes for this latest peace effort and blame the United States for fouling it up....
Also contributing to the anger are fears of a bloody backlash, plus a web of complex conspiracy theories, including the idea that militants such as Mehsud are American or Indian pawns intent on weakening Pakistan....
Yes, once again we have a certain amount of truth admitted by my mouthpiece media but it is couched around the term "conspiracy theories," therefore the supposition raised must be wrong. Standard propaganda pre$$ tactic.
Mehsud, who had a reputation as an especially ruthless warrior, was the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, as it calls itself.
Was Mehsud trying to go independent and break away from CIA control?
Related:
CIAs fake Taliban
Davis had 'close links' with Taliban
He tried to give them what?
It is an umbrella group encompassing militant organizations across the tribal areas. It has called for the overthrow of the Pakistani government, the implementation of hard-line Islamic law, and an end to cooperation with the Americans in Afghanistan.
In many ways, people across Pakistan are echoing what they are hearing from politicians and top government officials. During a news conference Saturday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan lashed out repeatedly at the United States....
Many Pakistanis question why Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country, is at war with other Muslims and its own citizens.
Good question.
Amir Sultan, a salesman at a garment business in Islamabad, said whenever Pakistan starts efforts to make peace with the Taliban, America sabotages it.
“It is an American agenda to destroy Pakistan,” he said. “It is in America’s interest to pit Muslim against Muslims.”
There is also suspicion that the United States and neighboring India — a longtime enemy — are directly promoting and funding militants as a way to weaken the country.
It's a suspicion that has been confirmed.
--more--"
