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POPSThe Savagery of a Surge That Failed He didn't scream. Instead, the sight induced a sort of catatonia; he picked up the head, cradled it in his arms, and started walking aimlessly. He carried on like this for days, until tribal elders pried the head from his hands and convinced him to deal with his loss more constructively. He decided he would get revenge by becoming a suicide bomber and inflicting a loss on some American family as painful as the one he had just suffered. The Taliban are as uninterested in social services and human rights as the Karzai government or the international forces, but they know how to turn a world of poverty, insecurity, and death from laser-guided missiles to their advantage. Washington spends about $100 million a day on this war - close to $36 billion a year - but only five cents of every dollar goes towards aid. From this paltry sum, "a staggering 40% has returned to donor countries in corporate profits and salaries".
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POPSPetreaus is No Fool - He'd Talk to His Enemies Not surprisingly Petreaus, who understands insurgency and the vicissitudes of modern warfare possibly better than anyone in this country, would talk to his enemies. As he says, he has done so. I wonder who he thinks will win the election
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POPSAfghanistan Unwinnable? Ask the Russians about winning a war in Afghanistan. It reminds me of the Mony Python sketch - "Not much fun in Stalingrad?" Existing strategies probably don't allow "victory" because of our myopia on drugs and the hearts and minds of the populace.
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POPSWomen Test Limits "Now, women are taking courses run by nongovernmental organizations, getting educated and learning ways to improve their family incomes. Most important, the women have won over the men, she said. “Their minds have changed,” Najiba said. “They want to share decisions, not too far, but they want to give us some share.”
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POPSAfghan president Karzai calls for peace with Taliban Our correspondent says that many Afghan and western officials believe that the insurgency cannot be defeated militarily and that a political accommodation must be reached, but there has been fierce disagreements between Western countries and the Afghan government as to how this process should proceed. Correspondents say that earlier attempts to negotiate with the Taleban have been beset by difficulties, especially when foreign powers have been involved.
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POPSThousands flee fighting in Somalia David Shinn, a former US diplomat who teaches at the George Washington University, said fighters from the hardline al-Shabab militia were trying to assert their authority in order to force the Ethiopians out. They are trying "to show that they are in a position to perhaps even take control of Mogadishu if the Ethiopian forces were to leave", he told the BBC.
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POPSThirty killed as Mogadishu is shelled
Islamic militants with ties to al-Qaida have been fighting the government and its Ethiopian allies for control since their combined forces pushed the Islamists from the capital in December 2006. Within weeks of being driven out, the Islamists launched an Iraq-style insurgency that has killed thousands of civilians to date. In recent weeks, the militants appear to be gaining strength and sidelining the fragile government. The group, known as the Council of Islamic Courts, has taken over the port town of Kismayo, Somalia's third-largest city, and dismantled pro-government roadblocks. They also effectively closed the Mogadishu airport by threatening to attack any plane using it. "We keep recruiting new fighters to prepare them for the holy war against Ethiopian troops in our country and their Somali stooges," said Sheik Muhumed, a commander with al-Shabab, the group's military wing. The United States considers al-Shabab a terrorist group, raising fears Somalia could become a have
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POPSMaliki Blames Bremer; and the Larger Story continued; "The Iraqi administration and all government offices are suffering the consequences of Paul Bremer's mistakes," he said. Following the 2003 war on Iraq, Bremer served as the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority and exercised power over the civil administration. He is widely criticized over the insurgency in Iraq that has partly resulted from his reportedly unilateral decision to formally dissolve the Iraqi army in May 2003. The comments by al-Maliki came after Time magazine reported that Bremer had embezzled $9 billion of the oil-rich country's reconstruction budget.
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POPSPentagon To Expand Intel Ops at US Prison in Afghanistan
What incredible crap they sling at us... Originally built as a Soviet air base in the 1980s, the Bagram prison was meant to be a short-term holding site. Bagram has been a flash point in the debate over U.S. treatment of detainees. The International Red Cross has negotiated with U.S. officials about conditions and access to detainees. After peaking at nearly 700 prisoners in 2006, the population at Bagram has hovered for the past year at its 600-prisoner capacity, according to Central Command figures provided in response to a USA TODAY inquiry. The intelligence hires are to be in place before next summer's scheduled completion of the new detention center that will hold 1,000 prisoners, an increase in capacity by 65%. "In 2001 ... we never thought we'd still be (at Bagram) today," said Brig. Gen. Robert Holmes, deputy operations chief at U.S. Central Command, which oversees Afghanistan operations. "Now that we see this as a sustained activity, there were improvements to be mad
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POPSTo Pakistanis, Taliban looks like anti-colonialism "Some Pakistanis believe the Taliban insurgency is the latest in a long line of anti-colonial militancy stretching back to the mid-19th century uprisings against British rule. The Pakistan army, in contrast, is seen as an agent of the United States" "Without adequate political leadership, eradicating sympathy for the Taliban may prove more difficult than eradicating their hideouts in frontier Pakistan. But as long as NATO and the United States continue unilateral strikes in Pakistan that kill civilians, the real battle - for hearts and minds - will be lost"
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POPSJapan seeks to withdraw military from Iraq Japan's foreign minister, Masahiko Komura, said even if the airlift mission left Iraq, Japan would continue to support Iraq in nonmilitary ways. However, he was not specific. "Even if we withdraw the Air Self-Defense personnel, our resolve to support Iraq will not change," he said.
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POPSPakistan Furious Over U.S. Insurgency Everything that Bush accused Russia of (not respecting sovereignty of Georgia) suddenly does not apply. Every invasion of Bush's imperial storm troopers (or under Clinton too for that matter, like Kosovo) is always justified, and any other country acting in self-defense or to defend their jurisdictions (e.g. Russia-S. Ossetia) is condemned. And for you hypocritical democrats who want Obama, he already stated he would do the very same thing, invade Pakistan for the "war on terrorism"! (Objective commentary based on principle must spare none who violate it). The hypocrisy is self evident, yet the MSM does not expose it. The wars will NEVER end until the people make the government stop and refuse to support ANY leader who violates the very restrictive principles of just war and the Constitution.
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POPSMexican Gangs Inspired by War in Iraq Perhaps inspired by the insurgency in Iraq, Mexican drug gangs have started to use mass beheadings as a macabre public relations tool. There goes my dream of visiting Mexico!!!!
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POPSPakiston ruling coalition splits after six months Zardari is the Peoples Party's candidate to replace Musharraf as president. Now that he appears to be the front-runner, the Peoples Party is in no hurry to take away the president's power to dissolve Parliament – another sticking point with Sharif. "Zardari becoming the president would be the most unfortunate event in Pakistan's history," said engineer Raheel Rehman, 27. "A thug is going to be the president of this country," said palm reader Tawakkul Hussain, 35. "We have no options ahead of us. Once again, they are taking turns in power. This is Zardari's turn. After that, it will be Nawaz's turn. He is equally irresponsible and corrupt." The provincial and national assemblies will vote for the president Sept. 6.
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POPSWhy more troops won't help Afghanistan The nature of the conflict has changed from regional to a nation-wide warlord/Taliban alliance fueled by a separate and huge opium-poppy economy. This is what the Soviets failed to defeat, despite massive infusions of blood and capital.
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POPSThe Surge Works In Thailand, too against the MILF another AlQ affilitated group that has a habit of blowing up buddhists, teachers and others.... Once the local population feels they can help against the terrorists, they do... imagine that! Could this be the prelude to the Thai Awakening?
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POPSMcCain's Elitist Response to Military Donor Story But aside from the fact that the McCain campaign lied is confused, does anyone catch a whiff of elitism here? Is support from within the ranks somehow more credible if it comes in the form of a general officer or an admiral? If so, that would be strange. . .since flag officers aren't the ones fighting the insurgencies in Iraq or Afghanistan. This comes as no surprise--and it reinforces the message: It's clear that McCain values the opinions of flashier, high-ranking, inside-the-wire types over the views of the grunts, the medics, and the lieutenants who wade waist-deep through the muck and blood and shrapnel of insurgency, day in and day out. And while he may easily dismiss the actual combatants of these wars in a moment of political self-defense, those same troops will not so easily forget his bellicosity, his foreign policy ignorance, and his general lack of respect for them when it comes time to vote in November.
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