Taliban burns 10 trucks on Afghanistan-Pakistan supply route

L.A. Times ^ | February 5, 2009 | By Zulfiqar Ali and Laura King

[BlackVeil]

A day after blowing up a crucial land bridge, Taliban militants torched 10 supply trucks returning from Afghanistan to Pakistan on Wednesday, underscoring the insurgents' dominance of the main route used to transport supplies to Afghan-based U.S. and NATO troops.

Months of disruptions on the route from the Pakistani port of Karachi through the historic Khyber Pass have forced NATO and American military authorities to look for other transit options. About three-quarters of the supplies for Western forces in Afghanistan -- mainly food and fuel -- are ferried through Pakistan by contractors, usually poorly paid, semiliterate truckers. Many now refuse to drive the route because of the danger.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, said last month during a visit to the region that routes outside Pakistan had been found, but he provided no details and gave no timetable for their use. ....In response to dozens of Taliban attacks, the Pakistani military launched an offensive late last year in the Khyber tribal agency, which borders Afghanistan, and subsequently declared the Khyber Pass secure. But, as has happened before when the Pakistani army carried out short-term operations in the tribal areas, militant attacks resumed almost immediately after the troops left.

...

Tuesday's bombing of a 100-foot-long bridge over a dry riverbed about 15 miles west of Peshawar stranded hundreds of truckers.

Pakistani and U.S. officials said the bridge was expected to be repaired soon and that some trucks had been able to cross via a makeshift road.

NATO and U.S. officials in Afghanistan have said the disruption to the supply lines is militarily insignificant so far. Weaponry is transported to Afghanistan by air ...

[BlackVeil]

"The attack follows the destruction of a crucial bridge, creating transport concerns for U.S. and NATO forces."

[BlackVeil]

More developments about the supply lines.

[Pikachu_Dad]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Stories from English History, Part Third by Alfred J. Church

THE KHYBER PASS

I AM going to tell the story of the greatest disaster that ever happened to a British army.

In 1838-39 the Indian Government sent an army into Afghanistan. Its object was to restore a certain prince, Shah Soojah by name, who had been driven into exile nearly twenty years before. It hoped that he would be grateful for what had been done for him, and that the country which he ruled would be a valuable ally. Unfortunately, Shah Soojah was a feeble creature, and his people hated him because he had been put over them by foreigners.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=church&book=english3&story=pass

[Pikachu_Dad]

I wonder if he was their ‘liberal political’ officer.

>>>>>>>>>> Then the civil officer, Macnaughten by name, to [183] whom the generals had to look for orders, resolved to negotiate with the enemy. The Afghan chiefs made delay after delay, but at last, on December 11, they agreed to a treaty. Twelve days afterwards, when Macnaughten rode out from Cabul to have a conference with the chiefs, he was seized and murdered. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=church&book=english3&story=pass

No word on if they CUT HIS HEAD OFF. What do you think? I’ll bet they did.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Or perhaps he was just their bravest conservative. They must have still had liberals in command, because they still wanted to talk.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Still, even after this, the English officers went on negotiating. They thought that they could neither remain in Cabul nor force their way back to India, and that therefore nothing could be done but accept the terms which the enemy offered them. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

They raised the white flag... And tried to flee in the dead of winter...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Briefly, these were that they were to evacuate the country, and, in consideration of this, were to be allowed to return unhurt, with their arms and property. On January 6, 1842, a bitterly cold day, with the snow lying deep on their road, all that was left of the British army, with the women and children that belonged to them, left the city. There were 4500 men in all, of whom 690 were Europeans, an army quite strong enough to hold its own even then, if it had been well commanded. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

[Pikachu_Dad]

Oh this was smart. They left their fort and went and camped in the open in the snow...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>All the day was occupied in moving out, and from the first the enemy broke in the cruellest way the promises made by their chiefs that the British should be allowed to retreat in safety. The first day only six miles of march were accomplished. The army and its followers bivouacked in the snow, without fire, shelter, [184] or food. Many soldiers and camp-followers, accustomed to the warmth of an Indian climate, perished of cold. During the night a part of the native troops deserted. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Now WHO would have guessed that the enemy would NOT keep their word?

Anybody?!?
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=church&book=english3&story=pass

[Pikachu_Dad]

>>>>>>>>>>>Five months afterwards the British army again entered Cabul. The great Bazaar, in which the heads of Burnes and Macnaughten had been paraded, was burnt, and the two places at which British regiments had been slaughtered were also destroyed. This done, the army returned to India. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Well, that answers the HEAD question.

The article is REMARKABLY quiet on the question of RELIGION.

[BlackVeil]

It was hoped that he would be grateful for what had been done for him, and that the country which he ruled would be a valuable ally. Unfortunately ...

Nuff said.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Ah ‘grateful’.

I’ll bet the Indians knew better. They have had extensive dealings with Muslim radicals.

Now that I know so much more about the religious fanatics we are dealing with, the story is shown to be completely unrealistically written.