Posted on 12/22/2008 12:37:53 AM PST by happinesswithoutpeace
"US drone attacks are believed to have been largely on target, hitting Taleban and al-Qaeda hideouts in the north-western Waziristan tribal region."
/Keeping the pressure on right up til January.
Well, there goes another wedding reception, ruined by the indiscriminate murder of seven innocent women and children by the sadistic Americans.
I was surprised by the “largely on target” quote in the article.
Maybe the global MSM is preparing to alter their reporting style a tad with the incoming US admin : )
I have mixed feelings about strikes in Pakistan and Syria. Fighting terrorism is one thing. Violating the borders of other, uninvolved (I know, I know...) countries could in principle be a medicine that causes more trouble than the problem itself (Pakistan is a nuclear power and is having sort of a permanent standoff with India anyway, so in a state of super-alertness).
If anyone has a valuable analysis on offer they are welcome, of course.
The problem with the tribal areas is that Pakistani military will go in, take and inflict casualties, and then negotiate a local cease fire with the Tribes/Taliban and it is all back to square one.
Pakistan has walked the razors edge for years with trying to cooperate with the US WOT (and has handed over to US many of the high value AQ members we currently have in custody) and not enrage the population to the point of losing the entire country.
The Predator strikes have kept AQ off balance and trying to just keep themselves alive. At this point it has been the best workable solution as opposed to a heavy/sustained air campaign or large scale air assault operations over the border.
IMO of course.
It will be interesting to see how Obama and Gilani deal with each other, especially with some of Obama’s past comments about Pakistan.
Okay thanks.
Where are you from? I noticed on another thread that you felt that "western nations" had unfarely used too much oil. Are you from the Middle East?
Thanks for your comments. I am from Holland, a very Western nation, and I am not an immigrant either. In fact, when exposed to sunlight I get red and get blisters.
Now, the main point. Western nations have not unfairly used too much oil, that is your interpretation of my words. About your claim that the West produced that much oil for its own needs I have my doubts (no offense meant in any way, mind). I was taught that we (the West) are for a very long time now dependent on crude oil production in Arab states (non-democratic, lots of poverty), Russia, and others. That is not good. It gives others, among them rogue states, leverage over us in many respects.
I don’t want to step in any climate change discussion at this point. But IMHO we have reached a point in time where we can fortify our positions in the world by investing in solar energy, hybrid car technology, nuclear energy (e.g. as a stopgap until nuclear fusion is in our reach), and so on. If there’s one part of the world where all of this can be done in a sound, competitive way, it’s here. I would consider it a grave mistake to regress and cling to old-fashioned ‘gas-guzzling’ obsessions - not because I fear that the earth will heat up so much in the next decades, but we simply might lose the competition. I reiterate: Putin is looking at us, and so is China.
I hope I clarified a couple of points.
I didn't mean the west produced most of its oil, my consumption statement was about the US and its western sources for oil. The US still uses more of our own oil than we import from any other single nation. Canada is our largest external supplier followed closely by Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Venezuela. 3 out of 4 of our million barrel a day suppliers are from the Western hemisphere (4 out of 5 if we include ourselves).
http://www.damonclifford.com/blog/2008/08/01/nozzle-rage-americas-dependency-foreign-oil-opec/ http://www.damonclifford.com/blog/2008/08/01/nozzle-rage-americas-dependency-foreign-oil-opec/
We are fighting a war in Afghanistan and if these dirtbags are fighting us there we should get them wherever they go. Attacking us and then running back across a “border” and being safe from our attack is ridiculous.
Your response makes good sense to me.
Ping
One day, we will either all die or we will have to destroy islam everywhere it infects... until it ceases to exist. I know this is very un-PC... but history (Crusade) shows us it is true. It also teaches us that we did not finish the job the first time.
BTW, hussein will stop everything that concerns you... and then those same tactics will come to visit us here.
LLS
That's 3:00 AM - Darkness provides no protection to these cockroaches...
"Two vehicles fitted with guns were destroyed in two separate attacks that also damaged a house," the official said, adding that the eight people killed were all inside the vehicles. The strikes caused huge fires in both villages, sending panicked residents running into the streets, he said
Doncha just love a feel good story at Christmastime?
LOL!
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