Ground offensive begins in Pakistan al-Qaida haven (South Waziristan Stronghold Stompdown begins)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 10/17/09 | Ishtiaq Mahsud and Munir Ahmad - ap

[NormsRevenge]

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan – More than 30,000 Pakistani soldiers launched a ground offensive against al-Qaida and the Taliban's main stronghold along the Afghan border Saturday, officials said, in the country's toughest test yet against a strengthening insurgency.

The United States has long pushed the government to carry out an assault in South Waziristan, and it comes after two weeks of militant attacks that have killed more than 175 people across the nuclear-armed country. That has ramped up pressure on the army to act.

Pakistan has fought three unsuccessful campaigns since 2001 in the region, which is the nerve-center for Pakistani insurgents fighting the U.S.-backed government. It is also a major base for foreign militants to plan attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan and on targets in the West.

After months of aerial bombing, troops moved into the region Saturday from several directions, heading to the insurgent bases of Ladha and Makeen among other targets, intelligence and military officials said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic or because they were not allowed to brief the media.

They said the operation was expected to last around two months.

[Dog]

Ernest dont get your hopes up..

Hey swarthy how long before the jihadists sending the Pakistanis running like a scolded puppy.

[NormsRevenge]

Hopefully, Pakistan is serious about cleaning out the terrorist Rats nests this time.

at least $7.5 billion worth of serious.. , that is what O signed off on an aid bill to Pakistan this week.

[TomasUSMC]

I see two or three Afghans that should be in the military defending their own damn country instead of standing around in their shops.

[Perdogg]

Sorry, but the ISI has probably tipped off the leadership.

[Quix]

ISI???

Don’t recall what that is.

[mapmaker77]

It occurs to me that now is a bad time to launch an offensive in those mountains, especially considering every villager on both sides of the border knows you are coming.

[Son House]

30,000 Pakistani soldiers launched a ground offensive against al-Qaida and the Taliban’s main stronghold

^
Didn’t Obama just try to play nice with the Taliban?

[Perdogg]

The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (also Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI) is the largest intelligence service in Pakistan

[ksm1]

Pakistan now has the political will, and likely, also the training now. Let’s face it: Pakistan does NOT have a first-world army. There were reports in 2007 that the Pakistani Air Force used Google Maps to plan air strikes. Hopefully now our Special Forces have the Pakistani Army ready for this round.

[Straight Vermonter]

The Taliban had at least two weeks warning so I suspect the Pakistanis will “capture” some empty camps and declare victory.

[VOA]

My point-of-view maybe be non-expert and naive.

But my initial thought is “shame on Obama...now that an ally exerts
the political will and devotes resources to kick some @$$, Obama
dithers, then decides to devote resources to punishing FOX News,
not the Taliban and Al-Queda.”

Of course, I must be a racist for thinking such a thing.
(/SARC)

[NormsRevenge]

Didn’t Obama just try to play nice with the Taliban?

— kind of, but it was aimed at Afghanistan more so.. not sure it included the Paki side of things

[ASOC]

BINGO

To the the Paki have “internal problems” would be an understatement of massive , no, epic proportions.

And while they are tackling the ‘tribes’ they have to keep an eye on India....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The Taliban is telling the people we will be leaving soon....watching the Cspan replay of a House hearing...if the Dems have their way that will be the case...they have other concerns like Healthcare in this country.

Vietnam,...the Cole incident;...Kybar Towers...Lebanon got mentioned./...

Urge everyone to catch the hearing on CSPAN...I don't have any times but would expect to see it on again...

It is Tedious to watch./..lots of hedging...etc...But Ret Gen Jack Keane layed it out pretty good that retreat will have consequences...

A Paul Pillar says it won't....( That is my interpretation of what he was hinting at!)

A Rep Congressman from California...Buck McKeon forced the panel to be less Obtuse...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Rep Buck McKeon Website

*********************************

News and Press Releases :: October 14, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lindsey Mask

McKeon Opening Statement for Hearing on Afghanistan Strategy

Washington, D.C.—The U.S. House Armed Services Committee today held a hearing with outside experts, including the former Vice Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army, to gather strategy recommendations for the war in Afghanistan.  Ranking Member Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) released the following opening statement for the full committee hearing:

“Mr. Chairman, I commend you for holding this hearing. In early September General McChrystal provided the Secretary of Defense his sixty day assessment on the security situation in Afghanistan. With the release of the McChrystal assessment and the President’s ensuing strategy review, our country finds itself in a debate over our future commitment to the conflict.  The debate has largely taken place in the media with the Congress and White House as largely passive players.

 

“That is why today’s hearing is so important. A true national debate on the war cannot be packaged in made for TV two minute sound bites and 700-word op-ed columns heavy on rhetoric. The Congress is where national policy debates belong and the Armed Services committee is Congress’ designated venue for addressing matters of war.  

 

“We must recall that is the President who called for public discussion of the war in Afghanistan. In the absence of the Commander-in-Chief leading the debate, I think the best way this Congress and the American people can evaluate our next steps in Afghanistan is to have General McChrystal testify. Chairman Skelton and I sent letters to Secretary Gates requesting General McChrystal’s testimony before this body. We are still waiting for an answer.

 

“So where are we in the debate? After nine months in office, President Obama's Afghanistan policy is in the same place where he found it in January: in a state of drift and lacking direction. Six months after outlining a strategy which calls for ‘executing and resourcing an integrated civilian-military counterinsurgency (COIN) strategy’, the President has once again called for a review of our strategy and now questions the underlying assumptions of that strategy. The current strategy review has put into question the nature of the threat we face in Afghanistan and whether we have the right strategy to defeat the threat.

 

“While the question of whether to send additional forces into Afghanistan may seem to be a detail of a larger debate, I think it is the correct place to begin the discussion. The President’s response to General McChrystal’s request for forces will reveal how he views the threat and what strategy he intends to pursue in Afghanistan.  As we’ve recently learned, words on a White House white paper are easily erased. It is the forces you put in the field that demonstrate the true nature of our commitment to our military, our country, the citizens of Afghanistan, and our enemies.

 

“I’m in agreement with Chairman Skelton on what must be done in Afghanistan. I believe that to prevent al-Qaeda from returning to Afghanistan we need to leave that country in a stable position. I think the President’s March strategy had it right: a fully resourced counterinsurgency strategy is the best way to ensure that the Taliban will not run a shadow government out of Kandahar and play host to al Qaeda. A fully resourced COIN mission has a proven track record of defeating insurgencies and is General McChrystal’s lowest risk option.

 

“Presently, we find ourselves in a stalemate in Afghanistan and the Taliban has the momentum. As General McChrystal stated in his assessment, ‘Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months)…risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible.’ In other words, time is of the essence. Our forces need a strategy that everyone in the chain-of-command supports in word and in deed.

 

“Given the urgency of the situation, I have a number of concerns about how the debate in Washington will affect the war in Afghanistan. First, I’m concerned about the continued drift of our Afghanistan strategy. It is unfair to our forces in theater to fight a war while the strategy remains in limbo. Last week the President told members of Congress that his decision will be timely. My hope and expectation is that the President will make a decision on resources in the coming week and stick with it. We cannot win if we conduct quarterly strategy changes. To be sure, nips and tucks are appropriate, but wholesale reconstructive surgery is a recipe for disaster.

 

“My second concern is the looming intelligence hook. Proponents of a minimally resourced strategy—of which there a few if any who are military experts—question the nexus between the Taliban and al-Qaeda. If the intent is to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda, goes the argument, then defeating the Taliban is less of a concern. To date, I have not seen any intelligence that disaggregates al-Qaeda from the Taliban. I’m worried that we’re going to see ‘new’ analysis that justifies a more limited war strategy on the basis that we can now tolerate Mullah Omar’s Taliban in Afghanistan. We all know the perils of driving intelligence analysis to fit preferred policy outcomes.  

 

“My last concern is that the debate is muddying the clear national security interest at stake in this war. If the conflict in Afghanistan is not worth the costs then what conflict is worthy? In my view, Afghanistan is ground zero when it comes to the risk of a world where al Qaeda, safe havens, narco-traffickers and nuclear weapons connect. If there is a venue for a military that has been reoriented to fight irregular forces then Afghanistan is the place. Our military has spent eight years refining how to execute this fight; now that expertise risks being shelved.

 

“In my view, if the President departs from the March strategy he will be rejecting key assumptions about the threats we face and strategies we need to prevent another 9/11. A half measure in Afghanistan is tantamount to a doctrinal shift away from all the lessons learned since al-Qaeda attacked our homeland over eight years ago. This will endanger our homeland and put our forces at risk.”

###

Video at his website....with the above statement.

[edpc]

They’ve only announced this offensive way in advance. Any high value targets split long ago. Pakistan is NOT our ally in the WOT.

[Marine_Uncle]

"North Waziristan will still be hanging out there like a sore thumb. This whole area is infested. Swat, Dir, Buner,, it will take time,, but at least the Pakis are taking hits to deliver blows."
Fully agree. So many rat nest to be cleared over the next few years, but at least they are starting to get serious. And the more the goons squads hammer innocents into the ground during car bomb explosions and further disgust the majority who want no part of jihad, the more will side with the government, and accept their decision to start going after the Taliban, and their associates.

[Marine_Uncle]

I should have added. One only has to read the long list of terrorist jihadist groups HQ and with affiliate bases in S. Waziristan at Bill's site to understand the dire need for their elimination.
Perhaps someone in the US military/CIA should show some Pakistan officers of high rank a UTube or the like from the Patton movie where the good general makes it clear who the enemy is....wade into their guts, blow their faces off, we will use their guts to grease our tanks.......well after you put your hand into the goo that was your best friend's face.... well.........you will know what you have to do.
They could dress up a Paki actor to mimic Patton, Pakistan uniform, adjust the words to best meet their cultural style. Then play it to their troops on mobile big screens.
Point being. The Pakistan soldier must fully understand they are at war. War with people that blow up their families in market places and elsewhere and have no value for human life.
They must come to know, if they value a better country for themselves and their families the old custom of sitting on their asses and doing nothing must end.

[BradyLS]

You don’t often see streets paved that way. Wonder how old it is?

[LtKerst]

Bin Laden’s Days are numbered.....

But I distrust the Paki army Generals....

We should watch their Back to see who they let slip out???

and Kill every dirty night shirt with an AK..