Posted on 12/12/2001 3:24:53 PM PST by Askel5
| Global Offensive against Terrorism to Enter its Second Phase (Nezavisimaya Gazeta) A campaign against radical Islam gives a chance to crack down by Alexei Andreyev The fall of Kunduz and the landing of U.S. paratroopers near Quandahar marked an an end to the first phase of the U.S.-led military operation in Afghanistan. During that phase NATO heavily relied on help of its Afghan-based allies, namely the United Islamic Front (the anti-Taliban coalition) which is more widely known to the world public as the Northern Alliance. NATO provided aerial support for the Nothern Alliance troops while Russia, in turn, delivered weapons to the anti-Taliban forces. The U.S. and British special operations troops carried out short and limited ground operations in Afghanistan and retreated each time they encountered tough Taliban resistance. Now, the Pentagon has announced the start of a ground operation in Afghanistan. Unlike the Soviet propaganda in the 1970s and the 1980s, which spoke only about a limited military contingent in Afghanistan in a bid to conceal the shameful Soviet presence in Afghanistan, the Americans are open about their aims and objectives. The diplomatic representations of countries members of the anti-Taliban coalition have sent out victorious transmissions in recent weeks saying that the Taliban are surrendering in thousands and that the movement's fighting spirit has been broken. A recent rebellion of imprisoned Talibs near Mazar-I-Sharif, which held out much longer against the Northern Alliance's offensive than Kunduz, has also contributed to the "Northerners" PR campaign. The imprisoned Taliban warriors, including 300 foreign volunteers, managed to seize a fortress in Kala-i-Jangi on November 25. Hundreds of people were killed in the day-long battle. The rebellion was suppressed only after the U.S and British forces interfered. The doomed resistance of foreign volunteers from the Arab countries, Pakistan and Chechnya in Kala-i-Jangi is clear. The Northern Alliance soldiers have little mercy for them. Reports about ruthless executions of foreign prisoners keep coming in. It is not accidental that Kunduz was closed to journalists shortly after its fall. The new power is concerned about its international image. Therefore, it does not need publications, not to mention films or footages, about bloody reprisals even against mercenaries. A new factor has appeared in the Afghan campaign in recent days. The long-awaited Pathan anti-Taliban opposition has ultimately emerged in the country's military and political scene. Abdul Jabbar, one of the most active Pathan commanders operating near Quandahar, has established a direct contact with the U.S military. The military and political success has emboldened the United Front leaders. The foreign minister of the anti-Taliban government, Doctor Abdullah Abdullah, was too quick to announce that the Northern Alliance had encircled the Taliban stronghold of Quandahar where Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden were hiding. However, the minister deemed it necessary to add that he could not speak about any final success until the operation was fully completed. In the meanwhile, the Northern Alliance has mixed feelings towards the anti-Taliban Pathan opposition. On one hand, it is glad that the long-awaited and necessary understanding has been achieved representatives of the historically dominating Afghan ethnic group. The United Front leaders have long tried to alienate themselves from the name of "Northern Alliance", a cliché coined by foreign politicians and journalists, because it clearly indicates the movement's association with the country's northern regions dominated by the Uzbeks, Tajiks and other national minorities. On the other hand, the United Front is afraid of a new strong rival in the struggle for power which might arise if the Pathan majority really turns its back on the Taliban. The NATO allies are coming to play a more tangible role in the U.S-led operation along with the Afghan partners. The first 100 soldiers of the British special operations troops landed near Bagram more than two weeks ago. Several thousand British servicemen will be airlifted to Afghanistan soon via the British transshipment base in Oman. The Germans have also become more active. The German Defense Ministry has radically increased the delivery of munitions and auxiliary cargoes from Ramstein, the Rhineland-Pfalz federal land, to Afghanistan via NATO's Incirlik base in eastern Turkey. Turkey has made its valuable contribution to the anti-terrorist cause by granting the Incirlik base to NATO long in advance. Therefore, the Turkish government obviously overacted in its desire to fight terrorism when it decided to send Turkish special forces to Afghanistan. The move aroused heated debates in Turkish parliament. The current political situation has offered a good chance to Mr. Burhanuddin Rabbani, the President of the Islamic State of Afghansitan and the United Front leader, to play his own role in international politics. Rabbani unexpectedly visited the United Arab Emirates on the eve of the Bonn conference of representatives of Afghan religious, political and ethnic groups. Rabbani enlisted the UAE support for "a national unity government" or a "transitional government" that will assume all the executive powers before the Loya Jirgah convenes in Afghanistan. The UAE Defense Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said that his country would contribute to Afghanistan's revival and pledged economic and military aid to the new government. Rabbani used Abu-Dhabi's agreement to sponsor the formation of Afghan statehood as the trump card at the Bonn conference. Rabbani's opponents, especially among Pathan politicians, have been reproaching Rabbani for his close links with Moscow. Whether that criticism was right and justified is another question. The thing is that too many of the Afghan field commanders have been suspicious of the Mujahideen collaboration with the former occupiers. The more so, that the Pakistan authorities have arrested 20 employees of the Taliban consulate in Karachi on suspicion of terrorist links, apparently, in an act of goodwill to the old and new power in Afghanistan. Some unofficial reports also say that Rabbani met Pakistani officials during his visit to the Arab Emirates. Apparently, he tried to persuade Islamabad to officially recognize his government. The fact that he suggested including some Taliban elements who had severed all links with their former leaders in his government is a convincing proof to that. The former Taliban deputy interior minister, Mullah Haksar, whom Rabbani has never regarded to be a mullah, is the first in the row. Rabbani said upon greeting Haksar that he was ready to resign as soon as Afghanistan's major political forces agreed on a new government. In the meanwhile, Washington is studying new plans for expanding the geography of its military campaign against terrorism. The victorious breakthrough in Afghanistan has enabled the United States to open new fronts. The U.S. special operations troops have left for the Philippines, and U.S. aircraft have started reconnaissance flights over Somalia. Washington is being tempted to rub out unsuitable regimes in any part of the globe in the name of the anti-terrorist campaign.
If President Bush really decides to open a new front, he will choose a suitable place for a quick and effective victory.
In fact, support for loyal regimes in countries like Algeria, the Philippines and Yemen in the struggle against local religious radicals can also turn into a new U.S objective. The United States is absolutely sure that Saudi Arabia and Oman will support an operation in support of President of the Republic of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh because their elites want to exterminate "revolutionary Islamists" on the Arabian peninsula. __________________________________________________
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Strange, given the fact we've been prepared for exactly this since Day One. Toward a More Perfectly Sustainable War on a Noun
- Scott McConnell: Questions About 'Phase II' -- Chris Matthews asks McCain a few
- News/Current Events Editorial
Source: Antiwar.com
Published: December 11, 2001 Author: Scott McConnell
14 comments.
Ground Zero by Scott McConnell Antiwar.com December 11, 2001 Questions About 'Phase II' Chris Matthews asks McCain a few Not only is it not clear what will be "Phase II" of the war against terror, it is not yet clear whether there will be any real public debate on the subject – one that matches the one reportedly going on behind the administration's closed doors. The options for future courses of action could not be more different. Version one is an intensified police action against the remaining Al Qaeda networks, a program of freezing assets, arrests, and close cooperation with ...
10622199 posted on 12/10/01 10:21 PM pacific by ouroboros
- The War In Afghanistan Enters A New Phase
- Foreign Affairs Editorial
Source: Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
Published: November 28, 2001
The war in Afghanistan continues to go well, a credit to the U.S. military and its strategy of coordination with Northern Alliance forces, as well as a reflection of the Taliban regime's evident weakness. But the relatively easy triumphs so far should not blind Americans to dangers and difficulties that lie ahead. The war effort and attempts to secure a post-Taliban peace have entered a critical phase. This phase, while made possible by the routing of the Taliban, is complicated by Afghanistan's rough military and political terrain. The ousting of the Taliban theocracy, it must be remembered, was never ...
10382253 posted on 11/29/01 11:08 AM pacific by Stand Watch Listen
- On to Phase II
- Foreign Affairs Editorial Editorial
Source: Washington Post
Published: 11/27/2001 Author: Robert Kagan
5 comments.
Welcome to Phase II of the war on terrorism. Yesterday President Bush talked tough about Iraq, and you don't need to read tea leaves to sense the administration's shifting focus. Saddam Hussein senses it. According to news reports, he's begun hiding his military equipment. Maybe it's when he heard Condoleezza Rice call him a "threat to us because he is determined to acquire weapons of mass destruction." Or when Undersecretary of State John Bolton declared that "beyond al Qaeda, the most serious concern is . . . Iraq's biological weapons program." Or when Donald Rumsfeld said there was "no question" ...
10328711 posted on 11/26/01 9:38 PM pacific by Pokey78
- War Is Entering Dangerous Phase, Bush Says
- Foreign Affairs News
Source: Reuters
Published: 11/26/01 Author: Randall Mikkelsen
5 comments.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) said on Monday the war against Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s Taliban was entering a dangerous phase and casualties were possible, as U.S. Marines hit the ground near the Taliban's last stronghold. ``This is a dangerous period of time. This is a period of time in which we're now hunting down the people who are responsible for bombing America,'' Bush told reporters. ``No president or commander in chief hopes anybody loses life in the theater, but it's going to happen. Bush also demanded that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - ...
10317692 posted on 11/26/01 11:19 AM pacific by dead
- Bush says war entering risky phase and could widen
- News/Current Events News
Source: Reuters via Yahoo
Published: Thursday November 22, 5:38 AM Author: Adam Entous
2 comments.
FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (Reuters) - President George W. Bush warned U.S. troops -- and the nation -- on Wednesday that the war on terrorism was entering a dangerous phase in the mountains of Afghanistan and said the fight against al Qaeda must be extended beyond the Central Asian country's borders. "Afghanistan is just the beginning on the war against terror," Bush told cheering troops clad in green, black and maroon berets at Fort Campbell, home to the Army's 101st Airborne, as U.S. bombers pounded the last Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan. "We've made a good start," Bush said. But with al ...
10245781 posted on 11/21/01 2:17 PM pacific by JeanS
- Bush Says `Most Difficult' Phase of War on Terror Lies Ahead
- Foreign Affairs Front Page News Keywords: WAR - NEXT PHASE
Source: Bloomberg
Published: Nov. 21 Author: Holly Rosenkrantz and Heidi Przybyla
2 comments.
Fort Campbell, Ky., Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush told U.S. army troops ``the most difficult steps'' in the U.S.-led war on terrorists in Afghanistan still lie ahead. ``Our enemies hide in sophisticated cave complexes located in some of the most mountainous and rugged territory,'' Bush said in a speech here to the 101st Airborne, dubbed the Screaming Eagles. ``Success against these cells may come more slowly. but we'll prevail.'' Bush's appeal for patience comes as the U.S. steps up efforts to find Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks on the World ...
10244963 posted on 11/21/01 1:25 PM pacific by Tumbleweed_Connection
- Officials say second phase of war is under way in Asia, Middle East
- News/Current Events Front Page News
Source: Miami Herald Online
Published: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 Author: By Jonathan S. Landay
3 comments.
Officials say second phase of war is under way in Asia, Middle East By Jonathan S. Landay Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON - Even as U.S. and British commandos pursue Osama bin Laden and the remnants of his inner circle, the second phase of the U.S.-led military campaign against the al-Qaida network has begun far from the mountains of Afghanistan. The new phase, said senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, is aimed at eradicating al-Qaida cells, operations and allied terrorist groups elsewhere in Asia and in the Middle East, North Africa and perhaps even on the high ...
10233592 posted on 11/21/01 1:50 AM pacific by JohnHuang2
| Russia as "the Potemkin's America" (Russki Zhurnal) Russia's PR-related foreign policy task is to appear not so much as a West-friendly nation but rather a West-like one by Kirill Yakimets After Sept. 11 terrorist acts, Russian foreign policy has been fashioned according to the tenets of [Russian Press Minister] "grandfather Lesin". The gist of it has not changed: to try to solve domestic political problems by foreign policy means. The means have changed, too, mostly growing in number.
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With Love to America (Vesti. ru) Russians seem to be fond of America again. But why? Vladimir Zhirinovsky explains by Laurenty Pugachev Full story: "Political Consequences of Terrorist Attack on US" Now, the US has obtained a new friend. He is the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) Vladimir Zhirinovsky who has declared: "We are discarding anti-American and anti-West sentiments in our ideology". Zhirinovsky said he was greatly impressed by the effectiveness of the US-led anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. "I would compare the May of 1945, when Berlin was taken, and the November of 2001 when Kabul was taken. Back then, and nowadays we were acting as allies. Today, Russia and US must cooperate, there is every prerequisite for that". However, the LDPR leader is prepared for the new friendship not unconditionally. Hailing what he called "a restoration of ally relations and the end of the Cold War era", Zhirinovsky at the same time pointed out that "these changes won't have a negative impact on Russia's ties in the south, with China, India, Iran, Iraq , Syria, Egypt and other countries". LDPR leader has always been very sensitive to ever-changing political winds, more sensitive than many others. His recent declaration introducing the changed position towards the US is the best evidence that the Russian public opinion is changing. In the last six years, hatred for Americans has been a sign of virtue. Defiance towards America was the result of Russia's disappointment in capitalism, which proved to be poorly rooted on the Russian soil. Now the attitude towards America is changing. America has not done anything supernatural. It has simply eliminated the Taliban regime - and did it together with Russia. Almost every Russian secretly was afraid of Islamic fundamentalists. Aliens from the other age were a threat, and fighting this threat could have been Russia's century-long headache. The US has solved the problem - very fast. The change in the Russian public opinion do not mean that the US has become for the Russians an object of love. But Americans are now respected in Russia. In this country's age-long tradition of assessing a nation, the capability to wage a war has been the touchstone of merit. After mullah Omar and bin Laden have been subdued by the US military machine, Americans deserve even more respect from Russians. The changes are taking place in the mass public opinion, in the opinion of a man in the street. That's what America's new friend Zhirinovsky is taking into account.
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We flatten The Taliban, and Osama "escapes"...
We hear that he is in Pakistan. Flatten Pakistan, Osama "escapes"...
We hear that he is in Iraq. Flatten Iraq, Osama "escapes"...
We hear he is in Lybia. Flatten Lybia, Osama "escapes"...
He becomes the "Flying Dutchman" of the Muslim world, where ever he is sighted, disaster follows.
It won't be too long before NOBODY wants him in their back yard. Pretty hard to be a martyr under those circumstances.
Also we can have "reliable reports" from "secret sources" that he has been spotted anywhere we want him to have been spotted...
I think the wind up was when Bush met with Putin during the propaganda period building Iraq up as the next target.
Then instead of implicating Iraq, on say Anthrax, Bush throws a softball about weapons inspections. Which allows for NGO inspectors and possibly even the Russians. Who could presumably maintain their trade with Iraq while at the same time "destroying" WMD facilities.
And the price to the US is petroleum deals with the Russians.
Yes?
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