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Locked on 10/01/2006 6:19:30 PM PDT by Lead Moderator, reason:
October thread here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1711848/posts |
Posted on 09/01/2006 8:57:29 PM PDT by nwctwx
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Even as I type, the final battles of the summer are raging between NATO troops and Taliban fighters. However, some key point need to be reviewed and I currently have the time to summarize them.
Taliban Establish a Safe Haven
In the spring, the main fighting was between Pakistani forces and Taliban/AQ in the mountainous regions of Waziristan. Here, Taliban and AQ forces have found support from many tribes who have controlled the region for years and are fiercely independent of the Pakistani government. This safe haven would provide a base to strike back into Afghanistan in an effort to regain a foot hold in the country and reverse the democratic trend of the country. By early summer, the Pakistani troops were adequately blocked out of the region, permitting Taliban forces to focus their attention on establishing their influence in southern Afghanistan.
Taliban Summer Offensive
The Taliban had some early gains against Afghanistan forces and moved into southern portions of the country adjacent to their Pakistani bases. These attacks were on a large scale and more conventional than the small scale hit and run seen in the past. At the same time, Taliban attempted to duplicate the Iraqi terrorist use of IEDs against US/Coalition forces and Afghanistan government. While troublesome, these IED attacks were not significant.
The US and coalition forces (including Afghani units) began their counter attacks by June. Rather than melt back into the hills as they had done before, Taliban remained in larger groups and stood their ground more. This resulted in some significant clashes, however once US airpower arrived on scene, the Taliban stands resulted in high causality rates for the terrorists and they were forced back. Not learning from this, Taliban continued to try to move in larger formations, yielding bigger targets for airstrikes and resulting in more Taliban causalities. Thus the ‘great success’ touted by the MSM would be considered disastrous if it had occurred with US forces.
Switch Over To NATO
Perhaps much of the fight lead by the Taliban was an effort to disrupt the taking over of security operations from the US by NATO forces. The thought being that NATO would be less likely to try to force them from territory gained than the US would.
As operations have switched over to NATO, the Taliban discovered that they were facing an opponent not as well equipped as the US forces and suffering from even a greater lack of commitment to the war effort than US forces. This caused the Taliban to become bolder and more aggressive. NATO forces have called for additional forces in the face of this increased aggression. The minor successes the Taliban have had against NATO so far have been bought at a great loss of Taliban fighters. It now also appears that NATO has gained the upper hand has the summer season is quickly changing to winter. Taliban elements are being forced back into Pakistan and I anticipate that southern Afghanistan will return to a much lower level of combat soon.
Pakistan Capitulates to Taliban
Probably the most significant turn of events is the ‘treaty’ between the Pakistani government and the tribes, Taliban and AQ present in the Waziristan region. The failure of Pakistan to pursue the fight indicates that the Taliban and AQ base in Pakistan is more secure than before. However, this may make them more vulnerable to cross-border strikes by Coalition forces with ‘token’ opposition by President Musharraf. Unless this is altered and Pakistan once again tries to deny the Taliban use of the region, then the stage is set for years worth of summers like this years. On a longer term basis, this decision by Musharraf may take some of the fundamentalist heat off him for a while.
Long Term Outlook
I expect the NATO forces to continue to push the Taliban back, although less efficiently as US forces. Winter will see Taliban regrouping and preparing for next summer, only this time with out the interference from Pakistan. An uncertain variable is the extreme losses inflicted on the Taliban this summer. They lost hundreds of fighters in the attempt to maneuver in larger formations and were sitting ducks for air attacks. It apparently didn’t affect this year’s recruitment of fighters, but how long can they continue to lead with their chin. NATO will be better prepared (hopefully) for next summer’s offensive, and if the Taliban continue as they have, they will again suffer great losses for very limited gains. It has been estimated that the Taliban suffered 20-30 causalities for every causality inflicted on US/Coalition forces. In recent fighting, an Australian unit reportedly killed about 150 in one battle. Clearly, these kinds of losses cannot be sustained for any extended period with any hope of winning back Afghanistan. Barring any surprises, it appears that the Taliban capabilities were maxed out this summer and that they will not be able to do any better than this summer next year. They may make some early gains, only to lose them and a lot of fighters as the season goes forward.
A Lot Of Hype And A Lot Of Hot Air
In short, the reporting of the gains by the Taliban were greatly over inflated and unsustainable. The gain of a more secure safe haven in Pakistan is not a good thing in the long run and ensure a repeat of this summer’s action.
>>>may be as many as four gunmen involved.
Whoa. Preliminary reports are often wrong and I certainly hope it's wrong in this case.
Meant to ping you to the ongoing 'perfume' discussion above. ;-)
Reports say four people injured in shooting at Montreal college
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1700803/posts
I jumped over to FreeDominion to see if they had more news about this and they do have a thread going. Now it seems as if there was only one person who was doing the shooting and he was dressed in a black, long overcoat, from which he pulled a "long gun" and started shooting.
It's live on CNN now.
Still unsure if one shooter or more.
Saying the one guy was in fatigues.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1700803/posts?page=48#48
Great live radio link at post #48
Very conflicting information coming out.
Hi Vel: Have you seen any follow-up on the story about the guy in fatigues who tried to open the exit door on the Dulles flight yesterday? I haven't found anything else on it and I don't think they released a name in the original story.
Just checked on that:
Unruly passenger subdued by travelers, air marshals say
A man wearing military fatigues and throwing punches into the air tried to open the exit door of a jet during a cross-country flight on Tuesday night, airline officials and passengers said.
United Airlines Flight 890 from Los Angeles landed as scheduled at Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:35 p.m., said Amy Kudwa, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman. No one was injured.
Carlos Alberto De Oliveira, 43, of Brazil, faces charges of interfering with the operations of an aircraft, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates Dulles airport.
An initial appearance in Loudoun County General District Court was canceled Wednesday and rescheduled for Thursday after sheriff's deputies had to put him in restraints. (SNIP)
http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=5402669&nav=S6aK
Another headcase?.....
Looks that way.
Feds won't be pressing charges, per the article.
Informant Asks for Sen. Clinton's Help
NEW YORK (AP) - An unusual exchange of letters between an undercover informant and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's office has apparently angered authorities and may have complicated the case of a man convicted of plotting to bomb a busy subway station.
Osama Eldawoody - a paid New York Police Department informant who was instrumental in exposing the 2004 subway scheme - told The Associated Press that he wrote to Clinton last month, complaining that his law enforcement handlers misled him with false promises of a better life and asking her to intervene on his behalf. (SNIP)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6077682,00.html
(Note: I'll post most of my updates on the thread as they come in.)
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THANKS to a Special Freepmailer;velveeta;burbankkarl;fanfan for the ping to this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1700803/posts
"Reports say four people injured in shooting at Montreal college (At Least 4 Dead, 16 Injured)"
http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/cp_n091331A.xml.html ^ | Sep 13 1:28 PM US/Eastern
Posted on 09/13/2006 10:42:27 AM PDT by BenLurkin
MONTREAL (CP)
THANK YOU Godzilla for this summary.
My updates for now are finished for Canada.
Off Topic...
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/13/MNGUBL4RG110.DTL
"S.F. State prof stranded in Canada gets his visa"
Tanya Schevitz, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "(09-13) 10:40 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A San Francisco State Arabic professor who has been stranded in Canada for three months while waiting for the U.S. State Department to give him security clearance and issue him a visa can now return home.
Assistant professor Mohammad Ramadan Hassan Salama, who traveled to the U.S. Consulate in Toronto on June 20 and was stuck there after the consulate canceled his scholar visa, was called by the consulate in Toronto, Canada, today and told that he could pick up a new visa on Thursday, his attorney Clark M. Trevor said.
"We have an immense burden removed," said Paul Sherwin, dean of the College of Humanities at San Francisco State. "He is somebody who is very dear to me and he has worked so hard, and for somebody to have to undergo such an ordeal is awful. We are most concerned about him, but clearly we are also concerned about the students and how this has impacted them."
His classes at San Francisco State University have been covered by a temporary replacement.
"My client is ecstatic after 90 days in Canada," Trevor said. "He can get on a plane and come back here and resume teaching his classes. He is the kind of person this country needs in these tumultuous times. He is doing great service in advancing knowledge about Islam.""
Note: The following post is a quote:
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1700911/posts
NYPD BOOM: BOMB SHOCK (Bought components for Okla City bomb, drove around city raised no eyebrows)
NY Post ^ | 09/13/06 | GEOFF EARLE and MURRAY WEISS
Posted on 09/13/2006 1:20:23 PM PDT by presidio9
Two undercover NYPD cops in a sting operation used $7,000 and the Internet to build a truck bomb big enough to blow up a skyscraper, officials revealed yesterday. In what was dubbed "Operation Kaboom," every purchase the cops made was legal - and aroused little suspicion - even driving their simulated truck bomb throughout the city.
Although the two cops had no specialized knowledge of bomb-making, they were able manufacture an explosive more powerful than the one used in the 1993 World Trade Center attack.
"We did it with no difficulty whatsoever," said James Falkenrath, the NYPD's top anti-terror cop, who testified at a congressional hearing yesterday and disclosed the making of the bomb.
When the operation was complete, the officers drove the simulated bomb around the city's bridges and tunnels, sources said. They were not detected and the bomb was not functional.
Key components were intentionally left out to minimize danger. The bomb was put together and later detonated at the NYPD's firing range at Rodman's Neck in The Bronx, The Bronx, just to prove that it could have been deadly, police officials said.
The cops - part of a group in the NYPD's counterterrorism division - were assigned the task in September 2004, three years after the 9/11 attacks and 11 years after the first attack on the Twin Towers.
But the main model they used was the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
After setting up a mail drop in Brooklyn, the agents went shopping. Their main purchase: 2,450 pounds of ammonium nitrate, bought from distributors upstate in Rensselaer County in the town of Schaghticoke and in Yardley, Pa., sources told The Post.
The bargain basement price: only $700. They rented a storage facility in The Bronx for $339 a month for a period of two months, and
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2006/09/013080print.html
September 13, 2006
"One Arab's Apology"
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http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/one_arabs_apology_opedcolumnists_emilio_karim_dabul.htm
"ONE ARAB'S APOLOGY"
By EMILIO KARIM DABULSeptember 12, 2006
Note: The following post is a quote:
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1700708/posts
At universities, little learned from 9/11
Boston Glob ^ | September 13, 2006 | Harvey Mansfield
Posted on 09/13/2006 8:25:30 AM PDT by bitt
FIVE YEARS have now passed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and what have our universities been doing? I can tell you about Harvard, and the answer is not reassuring.
Harvard has just welcomed the former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami to give a little talk. Harvard thinks this is free speech, but in fact the university has allowed itself to be used as a platform for sweet-talk in the service of a regime that hates, and wants to bamboozle, America. Note, too, that Harvard professor Stephen Walt and a Chicago professor have just written an exposé of the Israeli lobby's influence on American politics. They encourage the belief that Israel is the main problem we face .
Nor has Harvard relaxed its hostility to ROTC on the campus. The pretext is the military's policy discriminating against gays by requiring them to keep silent about being gay. Never mind what would happen to gays or defenders of gays if the Islamic fascists took over.
These are not isolated incidents but signs of the prevailing attitude at Harvard and other elite universities. There is lots of griping against the Bush administration but little activist dissent of the kind seen in protest against the Vietnam War. Cindy Sheehan's movement has not caught on.
All to the good, one might say. A university is not a political actor and should not be drawn away from its own business by too much concern for current events.
Yes, agreed. A university is an institution of learning, and as such takes a broad view of things. But this means it should learn from events if not try to control them. What has Harvard learned from Sept. 11? Very little.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Or Tuesday the 23rd....
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=GLOBALJIHAD
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=Jihad
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=Jihadpropaganda
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=propaganda
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=Iran
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ON THE NET...
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=22550_Former_Head_of_Washington_Islamic_Center_on_Iranian_TV&only
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
"Former Head of Washington Islamic Center on Iranian TV"
SNIPPET - QUOTE:
Appearing on an Iranian TV 9/11 special, the former head of the Islamic Center in Washington DC, Muhammad Al-Asi, accused the US government of carrying out the September 11 attacks. (Video courtesy of MEMRI TV.)
Please note: earlier this month Al-Asi presented a paper titled “Islamophobia: Its Causes and Cures” at the second annual conference of the Muslim Congress in Houston, Texas.
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http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/pdf/MCBrochure2006.pdf
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http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1264#
QUOTE:
Clip #1264
#1264 - Iranian TV 9/11 Special: Western Experts Say Both 9/11 and Pearl Harbor Were Planned by the American Administration
Iran Ch.2 - 9/10/2006 - 00:02:19
You are viewing Clip #1264 only.
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http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=22536_9-11_Conspiracy_Monkeys_at_WTC&only
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
"9/11 Conspiracy Monkeys at WTC"
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