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Waziristan: The last frontier | The Economist

Waziristan: The last frontier | The Economist

The CIA Takes a Big Hit in the Afghan War

Time: The Khost death toll is second only to the record for the number of CIA staffers killed in a single day. On April 18 1983, eight members of the Agency were killed when the US Embassy in Beirut was blown up by a Hizballah suicide bomb. A retired officer who was then in active service says the Agency "was in shock for about one day... and then we got mad."

What Could a Stealth Drone Be Doing in Afghanistan? | Danger Room | Wired.com

"The Taliban do not have radar, so why deploy an expensive, stealthy done when conventional models like the Predator and Reaper work so well? And what’s the point of having a high-level, strategic craft in that theater?"Says the WIRED.COM story and it goes on:

"There has of course been plenty of speculation. Much of it is focused on the idea that while it is based in Kandahar, the Beast may be carrying out missions outside of Afghanistan, with Iran and Pakistan both being possible candidates. For both of those radar stealth could be an important asset, and the beast may be carrying out signals-intercept or other tasks (looking for traces of nuclear material?).

"This might make more sense than local operations: why risk an expensive, scarce black drone and run the chance of it being uncovered if you can do the job with other aircraft."

NYDN: Obama, tell me how this ends?

"The Long War ends not in victory but in exhaustion and insolvency, when the United States runs out of troops and out of money", says Andrew J. Bacevich. Some in Pakistan may secretly share this view - but Bacevich's argument is based on a different error:

"The [War on Terror] has no coherent narrative. When it comes to defining victory, U.S. political and military leaders are flying blind", says the New York Daily News writer. "Historically, the default strategy for wars that lack a plausible victory narrative is attrition. When you don't know how to win, you try to outlast your opponent, hoping he'll run out of troops, money and will before you do." The full story.

Guardian Reports British & American 'Boots on the Ground' in Pakistan

That was between 2003 and 2008. Now, "Disrupting the Taliban safe haven inside Pakistan is the unspoken part of Barack Obama's 'surge' announced this month. Although 30,000 troops will be deployed to Afghanistan by next summer, the Taliban and al-Qaida leadership is believed to be sheltering on the Pakistani side of the 1,600-mile border", says the Guardian report.

Why does Pakistan hate the United States? - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine

Attitude from the U.S. of A: Christopher Hitchens cannot imagine why Pakistanis are not head over heels in love with America after all these decades of favors - including overlooking "the regular interventions of its military into politics" and the funding of the Afghan Jihad. Small wonder the world is in a mess when this is the IQ of the pundits of the leader of the free world.

'The war is in Pakistan right now' | Raw Story

"The war is in Pakistan right now. There's no question about it. The question, though, is how much it's going to expand. ... These are actions that are going to destabilize Pakistan..." Scahill again.

This is a follow-up post to the previous one - it does move the story forward. For background, here is the link to the original Scahill story - The Secret US War in Pakistan - in The Nation.

Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan Nailed

Jeremy Scahill tells democracy now Blackwater is executing a secret war in Pakistan - as part of a program so secretive that top Obama administration and military officials have likely been unaware of its existence; and that Blackwater employees in Pakistan could be posting as aid workers. Does the Pakistan-US diplomatic row make sense now?

There is more: Beginning in 2006, the Pakistani government allowed the JSOC to operate in Pakistan; and that the US military involvement within Pakistan is set to increase....

Scahill broke the story in The Nation Magazine on 23 November; this video contains an interview (1:35-20:34) he gave to Democracy Now's Amy Goodman the next day. He also gives the names of a Pakistani defense contractor to which Blackwater is a subcontractor - he is naming the names. A must watch if you are trying to understand what is going on in (and happening to) our country. [Thank you to Maj. Talat Khurshid, for a tip that led me to this - how could I miss this?]

Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones - WSJ.com

$26 off-the-shelf software used to intercept video feeds from drones: "Some of the most detailed evidence of intercepted feeds has been discovered in Iraq, but adversaries have also intercepted drone video feeds in Afghanistan, according to people briefed on the matter. These intercept techniques could be employed in other locations where the U.S. is using pilotless planes, such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, they said."

A Chance for "These People" to Make a Difference

Pakistani-American Rob Asghar at Huffpo: "Diaspora-led initiatives can address challenges in ways that governments can't..."

The Year of Decision & the Year of Tumult

Goodbye to the NRO | The AfPak Channel: "The roller coaster U.S.-Pakistan relationship seems heading for another deep dive, unless cooler heads prevail."

What If We Fail in Afghanistan?: Think Tank : The New Yorker

What If We Fail in Afghanistan?: Think Tank : The New Yorker: "What would be the consequences of a second Islamic Emirate?"

How the US Funds the Taliban

How the US Funds the Taliban

Pakistani military hits Taliban in Arakzai - The Long War Journal

Pakistani military hits Taliban in Arakzai - The Long War Journal: "The Taliban have left a significant rearguard of fighters behind in South Waziristan to slow the Army advance and 'buy time for its forces to reestablish command and control in the alternate locations,' the military official said."

Pakistani Successes May Sway U.S. Troop Decision - NYTimes.com

Pakistani Successes May Sway U.S. Troop Decision - NYTimes.com: "“They are fleeing in all directions,” said a senior Pakistani security official, who did not want to be identified while discussing national security issues. “The Uzbeks are fleeing to Afghanistan and the north, and the Mehsuds are fleeing to any possible place they can think of.”"

Afghanistan Strategists Turn Focus to Pakistan - NYTimes.com

Afghanistan Strategists Turn Focus to Pakistan - NYTimes.com: "During Mr. Obama’s Situation Room briefings on his alternatives, those advocating a minimal commitment of new troops in Afghanistan have argued that the United States needs only enough forces to keep Al Qaeda “bottled up” in the mountainous tribal areas of Pakistan."

Say Nyet to Afghanistan by Jeff Huber -- Antiwar.com

Say Nyet to Afghanistan by Jeff Huber -- Antiwar.com: "Obama has rejected the four options that his national security team has presented him. It’s sounding more every day like he’s come to his senses, and understands Afghanistan is not a 'war of necessity,' and wants a way out."

Afghanistan is neither Vietnam nor Iraq | The AfPak Channel

Afghanistan is neither Vietnam nor Iraq | The AfPak Channel: "The West's war with al Qaeda must not somehow be transformed into a war with the nearly 40 million Pashtuns who live on both sides of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have neither the means nor the will to do what it would take to win such a war."

Hillary Clinton's Inner Voice

Washington gasps at Hillary charm-el-shake offensive that leaves Islamabad stunned - US - World - The Times of India: "'Her inner voice became her outer voice,' Martha Raddatz, a veteran NBC correspondent said on the network, explaining that while many in the administration believed what she said to be true (that Pakistan is coddling terrorists), it was rare for America's top diplomat to say it publicly."

Pakistan’s strategic interest in [Afghanistan] is non-negotiable

Globalist - Britain Resolves, U.S. Wavers - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com: "The Taliban are a Pashtun movement. Pashtunistan straddles the porous Afghan-Pakistani border. Afghanistan has always been ungovernable without a Pashtun buy-in. Pakistan’s strategic interest in that buy-in is non-negotiable. These are basic — but long ignored — building blocks of successful strategy."

مکین لدھا میںحتمی جنگ

‭BBC Urdu‬ - ‮پاکستان‬ - ‮وزیرستان جنگ کے مقاصد کیا ہیں؟‬: "جنوبی وزیرستان کے شدت پسندوں کو اپنی جنگ ایک ایسے علاقے میں لڑنی ہے جو زیادہ ناسازگار ہے کیونکہ اس ایک تو پانی کم اور پھر جنگل کی پناہ بھی دستیاب نہیں ہے۔ اس لیے غالب امکان یہ کہ غیر ملکیوں سمیت شدت پسندوں کی بڑی تعداد علاقے چھوڑ کر بھاگ جائے گی اور ان کے لیے آسان ترین یہ ہو گا کہ گومل پاس کے راستے بلوچستان کے وسیع تر ویرانے میں لاپتہ ہو جائیں۔"

Nuclear engineer from Cern lab arrested for al-Qaeda links

Times Online: "Fears that al-Qaeda is planning an attack on the nuclear industry in Europe were renewed yesterday after French secret agents arrested a physicist working at an atomic research centre."

Why are scientists such bad spies? | FP Passport

FP Passport: "a U.S. scientist was brought down yesterday for trying to sell state secrets to Israel."

"...little bits of Waziristan throughout Pakistan..."

The battle for 'terror central' in Pakistan - Telegraph: "To put it bluntly, part of Pakistan has been Islamised as a result of American action. And now it is Pakistan that has to deal with the consequences, fighting battles in the way America wants against some of its own people."

The Taliban Surge!

Taliban strength in Afghanistan nears military proportion - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON -- A recent U.S. intelligence assessment has raised the estimated number of full-time Taliban -led insurgents fighting in Afghanistan to at least 25,000, underscoring how the crisis has worsened even as the U.S. and its allies have beefed up their military forces, a U.S. official said Thursday."

The Obama administration has already begun to escalate the fighting in Pakistan...

AlterNet: Why Obama Has No Business Trying War in the Nuclear-Armed Powder Keg of Pakistan: "The Obama administration has already begun to escalate the fighting in Pakistan, a policy that could make even the Nixon-Kissinger destruction of Cambodia seem like a pleasant memory."

Graham E. Fuller: Obama's Policies Making Situation Worse in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Graham E. Fuller: Obama's Policies Making Situation Worse in Afghanistan and Pakistan

It's time to get ruthless in Pakistan By Dov Zakheim | Shadow Government

It's time to get ruthless in Pakistan By Dov Zakheim | Shadow Government

Saving Afghanistan from Pakistan By Christian Brose | Shadow Government

Saving Afghanistan from Pakistan By Christian Brose | Shadow Government

Saving Pakistan one dowry at a time By Christian Brose | Shadow Government

Saving Pakistan one dowry at a time By Christian Brose | Shadow Government

Arms Given by U.S. to Afghan Forces May Be Leaking to Taliban - NYTimes.com

Arms Given by U.S. to Afghan Forces May Be Leaking to Taliban - NYTimes.com

TNR: The Cheney Fallacy

The Cheney Fallacy

U.S.-Pakistani Relations Can Make ‘Strategic Hedge’ Moot, Top Officials Say

U.S.-Pakistani Relations Can Make ‘Strategic Hedge’ Moot, Top Officials Say

Google Blog Search: "Seymour Hersh" Cheney Bhutto "Stanley McChrystal"

"Seymour Hersh" Cheney Bhutto "Stanley McChrystal" - Google Blog Search

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion: Sy Hersh DID Claim Cheney Ran "An Executive Assassination Ring"

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion: Sy Hersh DID Claim Cheney Ran "An Executive Assassination Ring"

Casualty of War - TIME

Casualty of War - TIME

Google Search: "Seymour Hersh" Cheney Bhutto "Stanley McChrystal" - Google Search

"Seymour Hersh" Cheney Bhutto "Stanley McChrystal" - Google Search

Hersh did not say Cheney ordered Bhutto assassination

Hersh did not say Cheney ordered Bhutto assassination

Dawn says Seymour Hersh claims Cheney had Bhutto killed | The Best Defense

Dawn says Seymour Hersh claims Cheney had Bhutto killed | The Best Defense: "http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/05/did-newly-announced-top-afghan-general-run-cheneys-assassination-wing/"

The Raw Story » Did newly announced top Afghan general run Cheney’s assassination wing?

The Raw Story » Did newly announced top Afghan general run Cheney’s assassination wing?

amspectatorhershcheneybhutto.jpg (JPEG Image, 1002x641 pixels)

Cheney Ordered Bhutto Assassination: American Spectator Screenshot

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