SECRET PAKISTANI AIRLIFT AIDED TALIBAN, AL QAEDA FIGHTERS

The DrudgeReport ^ | January 20, 2002

[longleaf]

"Never believe a report until it is officially denied."

Maybe someone can help me out on whose quote that was. I'm thinking it was Bill Safire.

[servantoftheservant]

Fact: There were numerous Pakistani military 'advisors' on the ground in Afghanistan, including in Konduz. When the areas were overran by NA, there were no Pakistani military there. There have been many reports, particularly at Konduz and Kandahar, that Pakistani flights were allowed in and out to remove their people.

I tend to believe these reports. Notice Rumsfeld's wording.."No one, that I know, in—connected with the United States in any way, has saw any such thing as a major air exodus out of Afghanistan into Pakistan." All depends on how you define 'major air exodus' now, doesn't it?

[servantoftheservant]

Exactly. BUMP

[Dog Gone]

This is a good example of a piece of pure BS written by Debka is dangerous. Many of Debka's defenders bemoan the people here who voiciferously attack its falsehoods, saying that if people don't like it, they should simply not read it and quit the attacks.

Rubbish.

False stories have a tendency to get picked up by other news organizations, and before you know it, it seems to have some credibility because it's been "widely-reported."

It's the same thing that happened this weekend with the reports that Saudi Arabia has asked the US to leave the airbase there. It's completely false, but many here believe it because a headline said so.

[Howlin]

Thanks for pointing that out.

[Howlin]

Or because they want to.

[CreekerFreeper]

No, we were on the wrong side in that war...we sided against Christian armies and with Muslims.

[MississippiMan]

Folks, I like Rumsfeld a lot. He's one of my favorites in the administration. But if you can't clearly read that transcript, whether you saw the interview or not, and see the stuttering, stammering, and wishy-washy way he handled that, your BushBlinders are on way too tight. Rumsfeld is normally right to the point, no crap. But this answer reads like something from a Clinton official.

Mark it down. We knew.

MM

[Dog Gone]

Or because they want to.

Absolutely, and thanks for pointing that out.

[CreekerFreeper]

The story reads that there was a US established corridor for the Pakistani Air Force to operate within.

[Pal10523]

50 to 200 flights? The way these group travel, hearded like cattle, its barely 20 flights, if that. Do not exagerate just for the sake of making a point.

[angkor]

Still it was from Kunduz, and it is hard to believe that the only source would be Indian military intelligence.

It just seems implausible that dozens of Pakistani military planes would have been landing and departing and no one noticed.

[Geronimo]

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24 2001

US 'allows Pakistani fighters to escape'

FROM ZAHID HUSSAIN IN ISLAMABAD

PAKISTANI fighters trapped in the besieged city of Konduz have been airlifted to safety in Pakistan with the apparent consent of the United States, according to sources inside Pakistan.

Several Pakistani aircraft and helicopters are believed to have flown into the city over the past few days as hundreds of Pakistanis fighting with the Taleban were surrounded by Northern Alliance forces.

The Times...

I think The Daily Telegraph also had an article about this...

[Dog Gone]

I think this is sad. Because Rumsfeld denied the existence of a major air exodus, which was exactly the allegation he was addressing, people are parsing his words and saying that he is basically admitting a minor air exodus.

We have bestowed the worst characteristic from the worst President on people who do not deserve that. If Rumsfeld had a track record of misleading us, and telling us it depends on the meaning of "is" is, then I could see it. But he doesn't.

[mikeIII]

The New Yorker is probably even less reliable than the Indian press.

MSNBC: The ‘airlift of evil’ "
Nov 19: The United States took the unprecedented step this week of demanding that foreign airlines provide information on passengers boarding planes for America. Yet in the past week, a half dozen or more Pakistani air force cargo planes landed in the Taliban-held city of Kunduz and evacuated to Pakistan hundreds of non-Afghan soldiers who fought alongside the Taliban and even al-Qaida against the United States. What’s wrong with this picture?
...
"

These reports must be true, but may also be understandable, given that Musharaff has been warning repeatedly that his position will collapse if we didn't do this or do that. Now, he thinks OBL is dead!

We may be getting screwed here! I Think we've been putting too many baskets on one egg!

[vbmoneyspender]

Rumsfeld has specifically denied this previously. In fact, he was questioned about this by a number of reporters about a month ago and his denial was specific and to the point. So what you are saying is that we should believe that Seymour "I lie when my pen moves" Hersh is a truthteller and Rumsfeld is a liar. I don't believe that for a second and until a better source than Seymour Hersh is obtained, neither should you.

[fella]

I always trust unnamed sources in a liberal mag, don't you?

[Howlin]

I'm beginng to believe that's the main reason. And I wonder why we should ever worry about liberals; some of "us" are determined to bring "us" down.

[vbmoneyspender]

Fact: There were numerous Pakistani military 'advisors' on the ground in Afghanistan, including in Konduz.

Source?