Free Republic

The Taliban could be admired for their religious conviction and their sense of loyalty to each other, the new bishop for the Armed Forces said. The Rt Rev Stephen Venner called for a more sympathetic approach to the Islamic fundamentalists. The Church of England’s Bishop to the Forces said it would be harder to reach a peaceful solution to the war if the insurgents were portrayed too negatively. His comments in an interview with The Daily Telegraph came as the Prime Minister visited Afghanistan and claimed that the Taliban was fighting a “guerrilla war” aimed at causing “maximum damage”. Gordon...

Did not Jesus say not to throw pearls before swine?

High alert in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Gujarat A top Union Home Ministry official on Monday said that Taliban-trained ‘fidayeen’ (suicide squad) have entered the country to carry out attacks at "specific" installations, including Bhaba Atomic Research Centre Kolkata, Mumbai and the national capital, besides Gujarat, have been put on high alert following intelligence inputs that Taliban-trained terrorists have sneaked into these cities to target vital installations. A top Union Home Ministry official on Monday said that Taliban-trained ‘fidayeen’ (suicide squad) have entered the country to carry out attacks at “specific” installations, including Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, defence establishments among...

SNIPPET: "The US military targeted a Taliban commander in eastern Afghanistan who was behind the kidnapping of a Norwegian journalist in November. The Taliban commander, who is known as Haji Mohammad Dawran Safi or Qari Dawat, was the target of a November 26 airstrike in the eastern province of Kunar. Qari Dawat "is known for attacking innocent civilians in the Kunar region, as well as international forces and bases," the US military noted in a press release on Nov. 27, one day after the strike. Qari Dawat was not named, however. An Afghan Police commander confirmed the airstrike and said...

SNIPPET: "PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Taliban militants blew up a girls' school in Pakistan's Khyber district Monday, officials said, as two soldiers and seven insurgents were killed in clashes in the northwest tribal belt. The pre-dawn school attack took place in Saddokhel town in northwest Khyber tribal district, where militants detonated explosives planted around the building, destroying all five school rooms but causing no injuries. "They are Taliban. They are the same people who do not want children to get an education," senior administration official Rahim Gul Khattak told AFP. Islamist militants opposed to co-education have destroyed hundreds of schools, mostly...

U.S. Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the military's focus now is the rapid deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and the initial elements of the surge will begin arriving next week. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Admiral Mullen says orders have been issued to combat infantry, engineers and civil affairs experts to deploy to Afghanistan, with 1,500 Marines expected to arrive in southern Helmand Province next week. Mullen indicated there is a sense of urgency at the Pentagon to implement U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to send tens of thousands of...

The Rt Rev Stephen Venner called for a more sympathetic approach to the Islamic fundamentalists that recognises their humanity. The Church of England’s Bishop to the Forces warned that it will be harder to reach a peaceful solution to the war if the Afghan insurgents are portrayed too negatively. His comments came as the Prime Minister visited Afghanistan and warned that the Taliban was fighting a "guerilla war" aimed at causing "maximum damage". Gordon Brown said soldiers were discovering improvised explosive devices every two hours. Mr Brown stayed overnight in the Allied base in the southern city of Kandahar, the...

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFP) – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown vowed a renewed effort to defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan as he made an unannounced visit to troops in the field Sunday. Brown made the visit two weeks after ordering the deployment of 500 extra British troops to Afghanistan alongside a surge of 30,000 US forces, part of a sweeping new strategy to turn around the eight-year war. He held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a military base in Kandahar, the southern province where the Taliban first emerged and one of the deadliest battlefields for Western troops...

The Republican Party, the Party of Reagan has been nearly smothered and suffocated by the RINO-virus which has spread more rapidly than any swine flu pandemic, the GOP has been infected from the top down, and IF it is to avoid the fate of the Bull Moose Party, the principles of Reagan conservatism must be re-established, the fair weather collaborators and Quislings (that means YOU Juan McCain and your butt buddy Lindsey 'Goober' Graham!) MUST be driven out and banished and if they join up with the traitorous 'Rats, so be it. Force them to show their true colors. The...

SNIPPET: "Well, the English-language Voice of Jihad site seems to be down at this address – I’ll share the new one once I find it. In my hunt, though, I ran across this version of the Voice of Jihad page, in Arabic (GoogleEnglish translation here, PDF at non-terrorist site here) with only a slight difference in the address (alemrah.info, instead of alemarah.info – note the extra “a” in the second version, which brings you to the Arabic news site). The fundraising site URL seems to be registered with a company in Westchester, California (WHOIS results – PDF of results here)....

Osama says, "Before I found this site my love was limited to the beasts of the field.

WASHINGTON — The plan President Obama unveiled last week for Years 9 and 10 of the war in Afghanistan left a basic question begging for an answer: If Al Qaeda is the threat, and Al Qaeda is in Pakistan, why send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan? In his address Tuesday night, the president mentioned Pakistan and the Pakistanis some 25 times... --snip-- That land is not on any map, but it’s where leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban both hide. It straddles 1,000 miles of the 1,600-mile Afghan-Pakistani border. It is inhabited by the ethnic Pashtuns, a fiercely independent...

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was sent to RFFM.org by Major John Birch, a retired U.S. Army Intelligence officer. It was written by a U.S. Marine currently serving in Afghanistan. For obvious reasons, the Marine's name has been redacted. RFFM.org has not edited the Marine's comments in any way. It is not politically correct and it contains language not meant for children. It is an account of life on the front lines from a member of America's military who is telling it "like it is." Letter From A U.S. Marine On The Front Line!!! From a Recon Marine in Afghanistan From...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) – Pakistan's military on Friday killed 20 insurgents in operations against Taliban strongholds, as the prime minister warned that militants were striking back with attacks in big cities. Armed forces this year launched multiple operations across the northwest tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, the stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban and a haven for Al-Qaeda fighters and other militants. In Orakzai district in the centre of the tribal belt, nine militants were killed and two hideouts destroyed in airstrikes on the villages of Ghiljo and Mamoonzai, paramilitary force spokesman major Fazalur Rehman told AFP. The UN said Friday that...

A high-ranking al-Qaida figure was killed Thursday in an attack by a drone aircraft in northwest Pakistan, U.S. officials told NBC News. The officials did not identify who was killed, except to say that it was not al-Qaida’s supreme leader, Osama bin Laden. If the report is confirmed, it would be the first time coalition forces had killed a top al-Qaida figure in almost a year. The officials said the killing was the result of stepped-up operations targeting al-Qaida leaders in recent weeks.

December 10, 2009, 0:00 a.m. Through Our Enemies’ EyesEnough about you; what did Mullah Omar think of Obama’s West Point speech? By Clifford D. May We’ve heard a lot in recent days about how conservatives and liberals are responding to President Obama’s plans for Afghanistan. But what does the enemy think? Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Afghan Taliban leader, clearly would have been happier had Obama taken Michael Moore’s advice and begun to withdraw, rather than increase troop levels in Afghanistan. Just before the president took the stage at West Point, Mullah Omar issued a message calling upon his fighters...

In recent weeks, a renewed epidemic of suicide bombings has swept Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, climaxing in huge blasts in Baghdad that killed 130 innocents on Tuesday. The Obama administration says these bombings have nothing to do with religion. It's purely coincidental that the perps preach severe Islam. The attacks are merely meant to destabilize governments. Once again, we grasp at a comforting explanation, deceiving ourselves. Yes, Islamist fanatics want to disrupt Pakistani society and Iraq's upcoming elections. But they're not butchering thousands of Muslims just over ward politics.

The Taliban continue to adapt to new NATO tactics for detecting roadside bombs in Afghanistan. The current trend is to rely on more elaborate methods of deception. One troubling trend (especially for animal lovers) is the use of pack animals. These are common throughout rural Afghanistan, especially donkeys. In this case, the goods the animal carries is mostly explosives. A donkey can carry at least a hundred pounds of explosives, even counting material to hide the true nature of the load. Wheelbarrows and bicycles are also used, and carry about the same load of explosives. These bombs usually are left...

The Taliban in Pakistan have made a big deal about eliminating non-religious schools Nearly 500 have been destroyed in the last two years. Most of the damage was done in the tribal territories, where the need for education is greatest. In the tribal territories, schools that educate girls are the main target, while outside the tribal areas, all schools are potential targets. This anti-education (except in religious schools, where Islamic radicalism is a primary subject) policy is very unpopular with the general population, the Taliban don't seem to notice or care. The Taliban believes that they are doing God's will...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2009 – Achieving success against extremists in Afghanistan is a challenging, yet attainable mission, the commander of U.S. Central Command said at a Capitol Hill hearing here today. Success in Afghanistan “is of enormous importance, and it is attainable,” Army Gen. David H. Petraeus told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “But achieving our objectives will not be easy,” the four-star general told senators, noting “the challenges are great.” Petraeus said he supports President Barack Obama’s revised Afghanistan strategy, part of which involves the deployment of 30,000 extra U.S. troops there over the next several months....

Bewildered by what fanatic Muslims do, some conclude that Muslims are brainwashed. Otherwise, how can their totally illogical belief system and barbaric behavior be explained? But the notion of “brainwashing” that is bandied about is the stuff of science fiction and Hollywood movies such as the Manchurian Candidate. The human person arrives in this world with his brains already washed in the sense of being what John Locke called tabula rasa, blank slate—ready for experience to imprint its script on it. John Locke was only partly correct. The brain also arrives with numerous predispositions already in place. It is a...

The jihadi war room is now aware that the administration has narrowed its scope to defeat the so-called al-Qaida organization while limiting its goal to depriving the Taliban from achieving full victory, i.e. depriving them "from the momentum." In strategic wording this means that the administration won’t give the time and the means, let alone the necessary long term commitment to fully defeat the Taliban as a militia and militant network. The jihadist strategists now understand that Washington’s advisers still recommend talking to the Taliban, the entire Taliban, but only after the latter would feel weak and pushed back enough...

HELSINKI, Finland, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Speaking during a joint news conference with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said: "We have a shared interest in promoting prosperity and stability in the Asia Pacific region. We have a common stake in peace and development in Afghanistan and in defeating terrorism in South Asia and beyond." Singh clearly noted that progress in Afghanistan translated to broader security benefits for the entire Asian region. Perhaps not coincidentally, his visit to the United States occurred roughly on the first anniversary of the Mumbai terrorist attack, which killed 173...

War On Terror: The anti-war crowd says the small number of enemy fighters inside Afghanistan doesn't justify sending 30,000 fresh troops there. They fail to understand the larger problem. Sen. Barbara Boxer complains al-Qaida is scarcely in Afghanistan. She cites an intelligence report leaked to ABC News that only 100 fighters are actually present inside the country, along with several thousand Taliban fighters. "I do not support adding more troops," the California Democrat argued, "because there are now 200,000 American, NATO and Afghan forces fighting roughly 20,000 Taliban and less than 100 al-Qaida." In other words, why are we even...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2009 – Combined Afghan and international forces killed seven militants and detained several suspected insurgents in operations today in Afghanistan. A combined force killed seven militants and detained four others in Laghman province while pursuing a Taliban bomb maker responsible for several suicide attacks in the region. "We are aware of civilian casualty allegations, however there are no operational reports to substantiate those claims of harming civilians, including women and children, during this operation," said Navy Capt. Jane Campbell, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command spokeswoman. The force targeted a compound near Armul village in the Mehtar...

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 8, 2009 – A previous fear of the Taliban would have kept the people of Amir Agha hidden in their compounds as Marines patrolled through their fields and town, but their willingness to talk has increased with a growing sense of security. Marine Corps Sgt. Stephen G. Patten talks to a villager during a patrol through the fields and town of Amir Agha in Garmsir, Afghanistan, Dec. 2, 2009. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dwight Henderson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "We want to help you. We need to talk to you. It...

KABUL (AFP) – President Hamid Karzai told visiting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday that Afghanistan would need aid to fund its security forces for up to 20 more years, calling for a long-term US commitment. The newly re-elected Karzai said his government would work to assume responsibility for Afghanistan's security within five years, but that the impoverished country lacked the funds to foot the entire bill. Gates, who held talks with Karzai on implementing a new war strategy that involves sending 30,000 extra US troops to fight the Taliban, reiterated that the United States intended to start withdrawing...

I received this e-mail today. Pray for our troops and our Marines who have been in the forefront of the assault since Monday. I hope you enjoy this wonderful read from a "so-called" can't do anything else John Kerry called him. He can write for me anytime. From a Recon Marine in Afghanistan. You got to read this!!! Scroll down. From the Sand Pit. It's freezing here. I'm sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains , along the Dar 'yoi Pomir River, watching a hole that leads to a tunnel...

MULTAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Militants armed with rocket-propelled and hand grenades and a car bomb attacked an office of Pakistan's main security agency in the city of Multan on Tuesday killing nine people, officials said. The bomb attack in the eastern city was the third in Pakistan in two days and underscored the relentless security troubles facing the U.S. ally whose help is vital in efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan. The violence coincides with rising political tension with the Supreme Court hearing challenges to an amnesty order that could heap pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari.

SNIPPET: "Al-Qaida's network in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen) has released the audio-recorded wills of two mujahideen operatives who were recently "martyred" in clashes with local security forces -- including former Guantanamo Bay detainee #114 Yusuf Muhammad Mubarak al-Jebairy al-Shehri. The younger brother of a senior Al-Qaida member, al-Shehri first left his home in Saudi Arabia in mid-2001 in order to wage jihad alongside the Taliban because he "thought that participating in jihad with the Taliban was the right thing to do... the Taliban were good Muslims.” In the midst of fleeing the crumbling Taliban frontline in late 2001, Yusuf al-Shehri...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2009 – Afghan and international forces detained several suspected militants, including a bomb cell leader and Taliban commander, in operations in Afghanistan over the past three days, military officials reported. An international security force conducted an air strike today, destroying a known Taliban stronghold consisting of bunkers and enemy defensive positions in Kunar province. The force targeted the stronghold near Tsangar Darah village in the mountainous Watapur district after intelligence sources indicated militant activity there. Also today, an Afghan and international security force in Khost province detained a suspected Haqqani terrorist network bombing cell leader and several...

Billions of rupees of loans written off from Pakistan's state-owned banks...Army led institutions plundered the Army Welfare Trust, Rs14.49 million. General Kuli Khan, two Allied Bank loans written off: Rs1.8 million and Rs1.6 million against Janana De Malucho Textile Mills, owned by his father General Habibullah Khan. His brother Gohar Ayub Khan, Rs7.2 million written off against Rehana Woolen Mills.Lt General Azhar, Rex Breen Batteries, Rs16 million, Major General Mumtaz, Lt Colonel Shaukat, Major Tajuddin Rs1.2 million, Major General Ghaziuddn, Major General Umar, Rs8.5 million written off, Agriculture Development Bank.Air Marshal Azeem, Rs15 million written off, Pakistani Kuwait Investment Co....

Obama told us throughout the 2008 campaign that Afghanistan was the war we should be fighting. The conflict where we supposedly took our eyes off the ball (even though Bush handed control over to NATO long ago, as the left wanted) and the conflict where most of our resources should go to. So he becomes President and nominated McChrystal to head it up and sent over 21,000 more troops. He then told McChrystal that his mission was to destroy the Taliban. Then he forgot all about Afghanistan as he pursued his Socialist utopian dreams onto this country. Well, McChrystal took...

Two Taliban ‘commanders’ among 20 killed SNIPPET: "MINGORA/KOHAT: Two Taliban ‘commanders’ were among 20 militants killed in clashes and air strikes in Swat and Orakzai Agency on Thursday. In Swat, 13 insurgents were killed in clashes with security forces on Thursday. According to Swat media centre, security personnel came under fire when they raided a Taliban hideout in Sigram area of Koza Bandai. During an exchange of fire, 10 militants and one soldier were killed. Detained militant commander Mohammad Naseem alias Abu Faraj was with the troops and he was also killed in the clash. Abu Faraj, a close aide...

The Manmohan Singh government on Thursday said it was imperative for the international community to continue putting pressure on Pakistan to dismantle the safe havens that export terror into the neighbourhood. Responding to President Barack Obama’s Afghan policy, MEA spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said Pakistan has to be persuaded to root out these safe havens. `` India believes that it is in the interest of the international community to impress upon Pakistan that it must use all its influence and resources to implement its commitments to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and to deny sanctuary to all terrorist groups who operate...

SNIPPET: "The Taliban have struck again in the heart of Pakistan's military garrison city of Rawalpindi. A Taliban suicide assault team estimated at between three to five men entered a mosque in the city and opened fire on the worshippers and detonated their vests, killing 40 and wounding 83 more. The attack killed two senior generals and wounded another. Two of the members of the suicide assault team have been killed. The assault team was not interested in taking hostages or negotiations, according to the Pakistani military. "They exploded bombs inside the mosque," Major General Athar Abbas, the top military...

President Obama's speech this week to the nation about his "plan" for the war in Afghanistan doesn't please very many in this country and apparently doesn't impress the enemy. It took a day to get the translation done, but the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban) now has a response. It is a warning for America: Get ready to die. Here is the Obama "plan" as outlined Tuesday evening: 1. Rather than 40,000 troops surged to the war zone as his general recommends, Obama will "dribble" in 30,000 over the next 12 months. Why only 30,000? We weren't told. 2. As...

Here is a video report on the progress of Operation "Cobra's Anger," launched by nearly 1,000 U.S. Marines today against the Taliban in the Southern part of the country. This report says a Marine source says the Taliban have been "caught off guard," and are "confused and disorganized." The Marines dropped into the area overnight, an area that has been a Taliban stronghold. . . . (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2009 – As the Pakistani military achieves success against extremists operating in Pakistan, the campaign also is aiding anti-insurgent efforts in Afghanistan, the commander of U.S. Central Command said today. In fact, the months-long Pakistani offensive is putting the Taliban, al-Qaida and other extremists in the region “under significant pressure,” Army Gen. David H. Petraeus told National Public Radio host Steve Inskeep during a segment of the “Morning Edition” news program. The Pakistani campaign is assisting U.S. and coalition efforts in Afghanistan, Petraeus said, noting Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar “is generally thought to be located most...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2009 – A combined force detained several suspected militants and members of the International Security Assistance Force targeted a Taliban commander in Afghanistan in recent days, military officials reported. An Afghan-international security force detained several suspected militants in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province today after searching a compound known to be used by a Taliban operative. The force searched the compound near the village of Nurayo Kariz, about 10 miles northeast of Kandahar City in Arghandab district, without incident and detained the militants, including the suspect. No shots were fired, and no one was injured. Meanwhile, international forces targeted...

WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago in Pakistan, Central Intelligence Agency sharpshooters killed eight people suspected of being militants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and wounded two others in a compound that was said to be used for terrorist training. Then, the job in North Waziristan done, the C.I.A. officers could head home from the agency’s Langley, Va., headquarters, facing only the hazards of the area’s famously snarled suburban traffic. It was only the latest strike by the agency’s covert program to kill operatives of Al Qaeda, the Taliban and their allies using Hellfire missiles fired from Predator aircraft controlled...

WEST POINT -- President Obama's address here last night was the single finest moment of his presidency. It was also the worst. For one of the first times, Americans saw Obama faithfully fulfill his first duty as commander-in-chief. Having rocketed from obscurity to the presidency on an antiwar platform, Obama made the courageous and politically selfless decision to escalate the unpopular war in Afghanistan because he knows it is in the best long-term interests of his country -- no matter the political consequences. It was far and away the most difficult decision he has made in the White House Obama...

Counterinsurgency is a marathon, but President Obama wants to sprint. The most troubling aspect of Mr. Obama's strategy for Afghanistan is the cramped timeline for his surge. He wants a quick in and out. The 30,000 new troops he is sending as reinforcements will be rushed into theater in the spring of 2010, and the drawdown will commence in July 2011. The message to Afghans is that this president lacks the will to sustain the fight.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2009 – The 30,000 additional troops President Barack Obama is sending to Afghanistan will focus on reversing the Taliban’s momentum, a senior Defense Department official said last night during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable following the president’s announcement of his new strategy. “What we are sending into Afghanistan by the end of next summer will be more troops, more quickly than any other proposal before the president,” said David S. Sedney, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia. “What we are doing here is we are putting in the hands of General McChrystal more...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2009 – Tens of thousands of additional U.S. forces slated for deployment to Afghanistan will be employed to target and eliminate terrorist leaders and assist the Afghan government to better safeguard and provide a brighter future for its people, the commander of U.S. Central Command said today. President Barack Obama last night announced the deployment of 30,000 extra U.S. forces to Afghanistan over the next several months, which would bring the total U.S. troop strength there to about 100,000. Officials are finalizing plans as to exactly where in Afghanistan the additional troops will be deployed, Army Gen....

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2009 – A combined Afghan-international security force detained several suspected militants in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province today at a compound known to be used by a Taliban financier and facilitator, military officials reported. The force searched the compound, about five miles southwest of Kandahar City, without incident and detained the suspected militants, including the Taliban financier and facilitator. No shots were fired, and no one was injured. In other news, international forces conducted an air strike against a Taliban commander in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan yesterday, officials said. The Taliban commander was the target of the...

This is a reprint of an article from October which reminds us all why we must fight and WIN in Afghanistan. This is an article that says what Obama wouldn't say and can't say. This is about the human factor, life and death, not popularity politics.

The Taliban say they will step up their fight in Afghanistan, after pledges by the US and its allies to send large reinforcements to the country. A Taliban commander told the BBC that if more US troops came, more would die. US President Barack Obama, announcing a long-awaited strategy on Tuesday, said another 30,000 American troops would be deployed quickly in Afghanistan. Defence Secretary Robert Gates told the US Congress that curbing the Taliban was essential for regional security. Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mr Gates stressed that the US goal in Afghanistan and Pakistan was to defeat...

President Obama’s vacillation, and delay in making any decision at has left our overseas ally’s in confusion as to the genuine commitment of the United States to winning the war against terror. British Defense Secretary, Bob Ainsworth has publicly blamed Obama for declining British public support of the war in Afghanistan.

Just plain nuts: That's the only possible characterization for last night's presidential declaration of surrender in advance of a renewed campaign in Afghanistan. President Obama will send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan -- but he'll "begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011." Then why send them? If you're going to tell the Taliban to be patient because we're leaving, what's the point in upping the blood ante? For what will come down to a single year by the time the troops hit the ground? Does Obama really expect to achieve in one year what...