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Pakistanis Leave for War Against US in Afghanistan
AP ^ | October 27, 2001- 8:57 a.m. ET | Associated Press

Posted on 10/27/2001 8:22:33 AM PDT by codeword

TEMERGARAH, Pakistan (AP) -- In buses and trucks, pickups and vans, more than 5,000 people rolled out of a northeastern Pakistan village Saturday morning, bound for the Afghan frontier and vowing to fight a holy war against the United States.

Thousands of Pakistani men, young and old, had massed in Temergarah on Friday night with assault rifles, machine guns, even rocket launchers. A few even carried axes and swords.

Their mission, they said: to enter Afghanistan's Kunar province and help the country's ruling Taliban defend against any ground incursions by American troops.

``I am an old man. I consider myself lucky to go -- and to face the death of a martyr,'' said Shah Wazir, 70, a retired Pakistani army officer. In his hands Saturday morning, he carried a French rifle from about 1920.

Organizers said similar-sized groups were massing in other towns across North West Frontier Province, an enclave of ethnic Pashtuns with ties to -- and deep feelings for -- neighboring Afghanistan.

Volunteers gathered in scores of groups of 20, sitting on the ground to be briefed on the ways of jihad -- Islamic holy war -- by military commanders wearing black turbans and full beards similar to the Taliban militia. One key rule: obedience to leaders.

``It is a difficult time for Islam and Muslims. We are in a test. Everybody should be ready to pass the test -- and to sacrifice our lives,'' said Mohammad Khaled, one brigade leader. Would-be warriors embraced and chanted anti-American slogans.

Hussain Khan, 19, a carpenter from the area, carried a Kalashnikov and stood with his friend. He said he was leaving behind a fiancee and joining a just cause.

``Whether I come back alive or I am dead, I'll be fortunate because I am fighting in the service of Islam,'' Khan said.

The call for holy war came this week from Sufi Mohammad, an outspoken Muslim cleric who runs a madrassa, or religious school, in nearby Madyan. He exhorted ``true Muslims'' to mass and prepare to go to Afghanistan -- to repel any U.S. ground incursions.

How they will get there, and what they will do upon arrival, is uncertain. Their way station before entering Afghanistan is Bajur, a borderland tribal village where volunteers from different area will come together this weekend.

In this region of Pakistan, Mohammad's organization, Tehrik Nifaz Shariat Mohammadi Malakand, or Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Laws, has been embraced.

And the cleric's message -- that, despite its insistence to the contrary, the United States is waging war on Islam itself -- hits home.

``This is a strange occasion of world history,'' Mohammad said Friday. ``For the first time, all the anti-Islamic forces are united against Islam.''

It was impossible to verify how many supporters were actually en route to join him. In recent weeks, many militants have claimed far more backing than rallies eventually produce.

However, the numbers in Temergarah on Saturday morning -- and the people jammed into trucks and on bus rooftops -- suggested support was heavy. Mohammad's backers say the number to enter Afghanistan will reach 100,000.

``We are not worried about death,'' said Khaled, the brigade leader. ``If we die in jihad, it is something much more greater than to be alive. And we will be taken into paradise.''

The night before, men had massed by the thousands in Temergarah and other wind-whipped mountain villages in northeastern Pakistan's mountains.

Out-of-towners, their conversation crackling with anticipation, roamed Temergarah's streets. Pickup trucks patrolled town with loudspeakers attached, calling people to assemble with a chant: ``Afghanistan will be a graveyard for Americans.'' Men huddled around radios, listening for news about the conflict; most tuned in to the BBC.

People camped on porches, beneficiaries of local hospitality. Others slept on floors of public buildings. Mosques lodged as many as they could, and supplied food and blankets.

``I cannot tolerate the bombing and the cruelty of Americans. I must go,'' said Mamoor Shah, a medicine salesman who, at 18, already has a wife and child. ``Muslims cannot keep silent.''

For many young men, this is no mere rite of passage. It is religion -- and it is blood, heritage and family.

``I'm going. My mother sent me to fight for our faith,'' said Farooq Shah, 21, a student from Buner, 50 miles away. When she told him to go, he had no Kalashnikov. So she went out, sold her jewelry and bought him one.

Another young man, Zabih Ullah, listed the people to defend in his jihad, or holy war -- Osama bin Laden, his Arab friends, and Afghanistan itself.

And, Ullah said as he prepared for a war, no one will be permitted to get in the way.

``If anybody stops us, according to Islamic law we are allowed to fight jihad against him also,'' he said. ``We will not put our arms down until the end of the American aggression.''


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1 posted on 10/27/2001 8:22:33 AM PDT by codeword
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To: codeword
I wonder what the Afghanistan word for "incoming" is:

Because that is what every convoy entering Afghanistan should be saying every five minutes.

2 posted on 10/27/2001 8:30:02 AM PDT by Fzob
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To: codeword
Repeat after me: Islam is peace; peace is war; war is good; good is paradise; paradise is Islam; Islam is peace, etc.
3 posted on 10/27/2001 8:31:38 AM PDT by gaspar
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To: Fzob
A good time for a cluster-bomb raid on a caravan.
4 posted on 10/27/2001 8:32:09 AM PDT by Goatroper
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To: codeword
Nothing here some cluster bombs can't deal with.
5 posted on 10/27/2001 8:33:30 AM PDT by fso301
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To: Goatroper
``I am an old man. I consider myself lucky to go -- and to face the death of a martyr,'' said Shah Wazir, 70, a retired Pakistani army officer. In his hands Saturday morning, he carried a French rifle from about 1920.

you've gotta be kidding. Looks like he's going to get lucky.

6 posted on 10/27/2001 8:35:03 AM PDT by mostlyundecided
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To: codeword
``I cannot tolerate the bombing and the cruelty of Americans. I must go,'' said Mamoor Shah, a medicine salesman who, at 18, already has a wife and child. ``Muslims cannot keep silent.''

Good. We can get them all clumped together and send the whole fanatical smelly lot of them off to their promised land. The entire culture is based on hate. They build nothing and only wish to bring others down to their pathetic level. I have no problem with killing all of them.

Richard W.

7 posted on 10/27/2001 8:35:39 AM PDT by arete
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To: arete
Picture this devotion to a cause and compare it with the response from the NATO nations.
8 posted on 10/27/2001 8:40:00 AM PDT by gaspar
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To: codeword
Well, maybe it's best that they gather all these militants into one place so they can be picked off. I have a strong feeling these are the people in the bus the Taliban said we hit. These are the "civilians" the Taliban has been talking about.
9 posted on 10/27/2001 8:40:38 AM PDT by McGavin999
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To: codeword
The prospect of an additional 100,000 joining the fight is truely disturbing. These will be many small groups that will not be easy to hit via air strikes. The Taliban and their allies are proving to be a more formidable foe than we thought. We better start fighting for real and stop bombing them with sheetcakes and canned peas.
10 posted on 10/27/2001 8:44:02 AM PDT by theflagwaver
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To: codeword
The Associated Press, huh.
Figures.

Apparently, these 5,000 warriors never viewed pics of the Iraqi soldier's "caravan" caught flat-footed leaving fleeing Kuwait stuffed with booty after a few Apaches finished with 'em, eh?

There were an awful lot of martyrs charred remains scattered along that road...

11 posted on 10/27/2001 8:45:07 AM PDT by Landru
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Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: theflagwaver
The prospect of an additional 100,000 joining the fight is truely disturbing

Well, they've been saying that we don't have many targets. These people are nothing more than cannon fodder and better they be out in the open in Afganistan than sitting across the border where we can't bomb them. You have to remember also that Muslims breed faster than cockroaches and that makes life very very cheap in that part of the world. What difference does it make to them if they have 12 kids that they can't feed of only 6 that they can't feed?

Richard W.

13 posted on 10/27/2001 8:54:06 AM PDT by arete
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To: codeword
How they will get there, and what they will do upon arrival, is uncertain. Their way station before entering Afghanistan is Bajur, a borderland tribal village where volunteers from different area will come together this weekend.

Hmmm...

This sounds like a good carpet bombing target to me.

Hopefully Bajur will be nothing but a smoking hole after this weekend.

14 posted on 10/27/2001 8:59:40 AM PDT by MCH
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To: gaspar
This is one of the great differences in this clash of civilizations. We have specialized: we depend on professional soldiers with technological advantages and a doctrine of force protection. They are an undisciplined rabble. I'd bet they don't even have a fire department in many of their towns.

However, if transportation could be arranged and leadership issued the call, I think that a lot of Americans and Europeans would step up to the challenge ala Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders.

15 posted on 10/27/2001 9:11:32 AM PDT by El Pato Lukas
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To: gaspar
Not to overlook the anti American vermin on our college campuses. That is the part that really makes you wonder about the survival instinct being gone in some people.
16 posted on 10/27/2001 9:15:19 AM PDT by willyone
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To: codeword
Oh my God, this latest development must have the pacifists in our administration like Colin Powell shitting their pants. "DOESN'T THE WORLD REALIZE THAT THIS IS ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE A PHONEY WAR" A modern day Sitzkreig.
17 posted on 10/27/2001 9:37:49 AM PDT by beatnik
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To: codeword
Pakistan convoy reaches destination

18 posted on 10/27/2001 9:42:02 AM PDT by Rain-maker
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To: Rain-maker
Pakistan convoy makes for thriving scrap metal business in Kabul

19 posted on 10/27/2001 9:47:17 AM PDT by Rain-maker
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To: mostlyundecided
One Tomahawk coming up for old Lucky.
20 posted on 10/27/2001 9:53:46 AM PDT by drstevej
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