Bill's Bites: Pakistan

Monday, 18 June 2007

2007.06.18 Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan/Pakistan Roundup

Who Killed the Americans in Karbala?

January's attack on U.S. forces at the Iraqi government complex in Karbala has become a kind of epic unsolved mystery among troops at Forward Operating Base Iskan, where soldiers from the unit involved are based. There is no shortage of theories among the roughly 30 troops who were there as to whom was responsible for the attack. Many soldiers believe the attackers, who appeared wearing U.S. military uniforms and speaking English, were Iranian operatives from the notorious Quds Force. Some think the assault party that entered the complex in a convoy of SUVs was a rogue cell of the Mahdi Army. Still others suspect the hit team was a kind of all-star insurgent squad, with skilled fighters from the Mahdi Army, Iran and the Badr Brigade, another Shi'ite militia.

While much has been said about the attackers who stormed the compound from the outside, little has been revealed about the possible involvement of Iraqi Police who were inside at the time. But the final report of the official military investigation into the incident says there is some evidence to suggest that Iraqi Police who'd been working with U.S. forces in Karbala for over a year helped orchestrate the attack.

Below the fold:

Latest Haditha Prosecution Implosion

See also:

*** *** *** Fold (but please don't spindle or mutilate) *** *** ***

War Funding Cutoff Vote Fails
Pass the popcorn... Can I have a beer while you're at it?
By streiff (H/T: Lorie Byrd)

Yesterday the scrappy but embattled Senate Majority Leader took time out from managing his real estate empire to hold a "test vote" on a proposal to cut off funding for the war in Iraq. The vote was on an amendment to a water bill and was defeated by a vote of 67-29 In the words of the NY Times.:
Congressional Democratic leaders signaled on Wednesday that they were ready to give ground to end an impasse with President Bush over war spending after the Senate soundly rejected a Democratic plan to block money for major combat operations in Iraq beginning next spring.

The 67-to-29 vote against the proposal demonstrated that a significant majority of Senators remained unwilling to demand a withdrawal of forces despite their own misgivings and public unease over the war.
The proposed amendment was clean and straightforward:

[...]

What this shows is that for all the tough talk Senate democrats are unwilling to go out on the limb and actually vote to back up their anti-war rhetoric ...

So, why am I passing the popcorn?

House democrats found out how impatient the anti-war Frankenstein's monster they've created when they voted to continue funding the war but with a timeline for withdrawal. Reid's announcement after the vote can hardly make them any happier than they were after the House vote:
After the vote, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader and a co-sponsor of the Feingold plan, said he was committed to delivering legislation acceptable to Mr. Bush by the end of next week. He conceded that the compromise was likely to disappoint war opponents who had pushed Congress to set a pullout date.

“On this issue, Democrats in the Senate start with 49 votes, and the opposition has 50, so it is a little hard to flex your muscles too much when you start one vote behind,” said Mr. Reid, referring to the general split on war issues in the Senate.
As very few in the anti-war movement can count to 50 and seem to think shouting "mandate" in an ever louder voice means something other than the onset of schizophrenia, I think both Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are going to be in for a fun few weeks..

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Pressure Mounts for Clinton, Obama,
Feingold, Biden, Reid to Resign From Senate
Hatched by Dafydd ab Hugh

[Wednesday's] humiliating vote on the bill by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI, 100%) to set a hard date for American withdrawal from Iraq -- the bill needed 60 votes to break the Republican filibuster; it got 29 votes, a scant 31 votes short -- puts more pressure on the 28 Democrats who voted for it, including all Democratic presidential candidates still in the Senate, to resign from that august body in disgrace.
The proposal lost 29-67 on a procedural vote, falling 31 votes short of the necessary votes to advance. Of the 67 senators who opposed Feingold's proposal, there were 19 Democrats, 47 Republicans and Connecticut Independent Joseph Lieberman. Of the 29 supporting, 28 were Democrats and Vermont Independent Bernard Sanders.
(Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, 100%, is undisgraceable, so is excused from the calls for mass resignation.)

Everyone knew that the bill wouldn't be able to clear the 60-vote hurdle; but Majority Leader Harry "Pinky" Reid (D-Caesar's Palace, 95%) was stunned by how little support he actually had within his own Democratic conference: The bill passed among Democrats by only 60% - 40%. In contrast, Republicans were solidly united against it; not even Sens. John Warner (R-VA, 64%), Olympia Snowe (R-ME, 36%), Susan Collins (R-ME, 48%), Charles Grassley (R-, 88%), or Chuck Hagel (R-, 75%) voted in favor. Sources within the Senate who do not wish to be identified say this signals an impossible task for the pro-surrender wing of Congress.

In a clear sign of a dangerous divorce from reality, Majority Leader Reid announced that a 60-40 split is an example of party unity:

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Clinton aide forfeits law license in Justice probe
By Jerry Seper (H/T: Michelle Malkin)

Samuel R. Berger, the Clinton White House national security adviser who was caught taking highly classified documents from the National Archives, has agreed to forfeit his license to practice law.

In a written statement issued by Larry Breuer, Mr. Berger's attorney, the former national security adviser said he pleaded guilty in the Justice Department investigation, accepted the penalties sought by the department and recognized that his law license would be affected.

"I have decided to voluntarily relinquish my license," he said. "While I derived great satisfaction from years of practicing law, I have not done so for 15 years and do not envision returning to the profession. I am very sorry for what I did, and I deeply apologize."

In giving up his license, Mr. Berger avoids being cross-examined by the Board on Bar Counsel, where he risked further disclosure of specific details of his theft. The agreement is expected to be formalized today. ...

***

Congress's War Dodge
They're for the war but also against it.

Democrats in the Senate yesterday demonstrated, once again, that they neither have the votes for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq nor a real policy on the war.

Wednesday's vote to cut off funding by March 31, 2008, was voted down 67-29, with 19 Democrats joining every Republican in opposing the measure, which was submitted as an amendment to an unrelated bill. Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, who put forth the measure with Majority Leader Harry Reid, noted optimistically that a majority of his caucus voted for the measure, which is one way of defining majority down.

There seemed to be some ambivalence, moreover, even among the 29 who supported the measure. Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both voted for Mr. Feingold's amendment, but they also indicated that it was more about sending a message than setting policy. We recall Bob Dole's legendary advice to a freshman Republican that he couldn't go wrong voting for a bill that failed. The two Democrats thus don't give competitor John Edwards any running room on the antiwar left, but they also don't have to take responsibility. Ah, war-time leadership.

The Democrats, in other words, remain trapped in the land of symbolism over the war. Taking up the responsibility that the "power of the purse" gives them does not seem to be on the agenda. They'd rather posture, appeasing their party's left wing without taking ownership of war policy. This evasiveness won't let them off the hook, however. The political consequences of defeat won't only belong to President Bush. To the extent that Democrats are making the conduct of the war more difficult and less certain, they already bear responsibility for the war's outcome whether they like it or not. ...

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Pakistani Christians Seek Government Protection
After Threats to Convert by Pro-Taliban Forces

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Christians in a Pakistani town beset by pro-Taliban militants sought government protection Wednesday, the eve of a deadline for them to convert to Islam or face violence.

About 500 Pakistani Christians in Charsadda, a town in the North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, received letters earlier this month telling them to close their churches and convert by Thursday or be the target of "bomb explosions."

Several Christians, a tiny minority in the predominantly Muslim country, have fled town and others are living in fear, community leaders said.

Some complained that police were not taking the threat seriously.

"Police say someone is joking with us by writing these letters," Chaudhry Salim, a Charsadda Christian leader, said during a news conference in Islamabad. "They have deployed only two policemen at our churches ... this is the kind of security we are getting now."

Don't miss Bryan Preston's excellent related post here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 17, 2007 at 02:41 AM in Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 03 April 2007

ABC News Exclusive: The Secret War Against Iran
Brian Ross and Christopher Isham

A Pakistani tribal militant group responsible for a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials since 2005, U.S. and Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News.

The group, called Jundullah, is made up of members of the Baluchi tribe and operates out of the Baluchistan province in Pakistan, just across the border from Iran.

It has taken responsibility for the deaths and kidnappings of more than a dozen Iranian soldiers and officials. ...

Allahpundit is less than impressed with the idea:

ABC News: U.S. hookin’ up with Pakistani terrorists to target Iran

Bad, bad, bad idea. We played the friend-of-my-enemy game with these degenerates once before, when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. We all know how the movie ends. Let’s not go for the sequel.

I don’t know much about Jundullah, but according to Wikipedia they’re aiming to carve out a Taliban state in southwest Pakistan. And an article in a Pakistan periodical called “Newsline” from 2004 says that’s not the only similarity:
Coming from a similar middle-class ground, Attaur Rehman is yet another face of the new Islamic militancy in Pakistan. A graduate from Karachi University, he was arrested in June for masterminding a series of terrorist attacks in Karachi. A tall and heavily built man in his early 30s, Rehman was associated with Islami Jamiat-Talba, the student wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami. He later broke away from the Jamaat to form his own militant group, Jundullah (Army of God), which draws its cadres mainly from the educated and professional classes.

According to police, Rehman is closely associated with Al-Qaeda’s network in Pakistan, which has grown in strength despite the capture of hundreds of its operatives over the last few years. A well-knit cell comprising some 20 militants, most of them in their 20s and 30s, Jundullah is one of the new and, perhaps, the most fierce of the militant groups behind the recent spate of violence in Karachi. The group hit the headlines after a daring attack last month on the motorcade of Karachi’s Corps Commander. The general narrowly escaped death, but 11 people, including eight soldiers were killed. It was the most serious terrorist action targeting the military since the two failed assassination attempts on President Musharraf in Rawalpindi in December last year. Jundullah has also been involved in attacks on rangers, police stations, as well as the twin car bombings outside the Pakistan-US Cultural Center last month.

Jundullah is but one of several small terrorist cells that have emerged after the government’s crackdown on ‘jihadi’ elements. According to police officials, some 20 cells, largely splinters of the banned militant outfits, are operating in Karachi, which has become the main center of terrorist activities in recent months. “Many of those involved in the recent terrorist attacks in the city received training in camps in Waziristan,” says Tariq Jamil, chief of the Karachi police. “Jundullah has close ties with Al-Qaeda.” These splinter groups are trying to cash in on the rising popular disaffection against Musharraf’s domestic and foreign policy actions, particularly his pro-American tilt.
Rehman and 10 other members of Jundullah were sentenced to death last February for the attack on the convoy. The Pak Tribune says they chanted “Allahu Akbar” as the sentence was pronounced. A counterterror analyst interviewed by ABC describes the new leader, Abd el Malik Regi, as “part drug smuggler, part Taliban, part Sunni activist.” Part future amateur jet pilot, too, no doubt.

As for the article itself, I enthusiastically question the timing. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on April 3, 2007 at 11:29 PM in Iran, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 21 March 2007

Taliban And Al-Qaeda At War In Wana?
Ed Morrissey:

It's getting to the point where people need a scorecard in Waziristan to keep all of the players straight. A battle broke out today between Taliban elements in Waziristan and Uzbeki terrorists from al-Qaeda who overstayed their welcome in the Pakistani mountains:
Nearly 50 people have been killed after rising tension between local tribesmen and foreign militants in north-west Pakistan erupted into fierce fighting.

Heavy shelling has raged since Monday near Wana in the South Waziristan tribal area close to Afghanistan.

Most of those killed were militants from Uzbekistan suspected of links with al-Qaeda, officials said. ...
Once again, we return to the underlying role of tribalism in the Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 21, 2007 at 02:57 PM in Afghanistan, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 18 March 2007

Pakistan cedes more territory to Al Qaeda

Pakistan signs the Bajaur Accord
Pakistan signs its third “peace deal” with the Taliban in the tribal agencies
Bill Roggio

The much anticipated Bajaur Accord – a peace agreement purportedly with the local tribal leaders of the Mamoond tribe and the government - has been signed in Pakistan's lawless tribal agency. The details of the agreement are not yet available, however the Daily Times has described it as “a step towards a North Waziristan-like peace accord. Bajaur Agency.” Pakistan conveniently finished negotiations as international attention is on the crisis over the removal of Pakistan's chief justice.

It appears, like in the North and South Waziristan deals, that the government has openly negotiated with the Taliban and al Qaeda. “We hope that a North Waziristan-like deal is also reached between the government and tribal militants, led by Faqir Mohammad,” sources told Dawnon condition of anonymity. Faqir Muhammad is a senior leader within the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM, or Movement for the Implementation of Mohammad's Sharia Law), the “Pakistani Taliban” who has sent over 10,000 foot soldiers to fight alongside the Taliban during the U.S. invasion in 2001.

Hat tip: Allahpundit, who comments here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 18, 2007 at 03:51 PM in Afghanistan, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 15 March 2007

The Gravest Terror Threat
By John Noonan

Is Pakistan, according to my buddy Steve Schippert.

Weekly Standard:
Pakistan certainly has elements which pose a threat of future (and current) acts of terror. However, the unsettling potential convergence of Pervez Musharraf and an assassin's bullet or bomb is all that separates a developed nuclear arsenal from these developed international terrorist networks. Should this happen to a steadily weakening Musharraf, it could give rise to the envisioned Islamist-run power in place of the current Islamic State of Pakistan, perhaps led by former ISI chief and Osama bin Laden friend, Hamid Gul.
The same Pakistani intel honcho who tipped off Bin Laden to inbound American cruise missiles in 1998: ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 15, 2007 at 06:32 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 12 March 2007

Dances with Osama?

Native American trackers to hunt bin Laden
Hat tips: Jules Crittenden, Dan Riehl

WASHINGTON: An elite group of Native American trackers is joining the hunt for terrorists crossing Afghanistan's borders.

The unit, the Shadow Wolves, was recruited from several tribes, including the Navajo, Sioux, Lakota and Apache. It is being sent to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to pass on ancestral sign-reading skills to local border units.

In recent years, members of the Shadow Wolves have mainly tracked smugglers along the US border with Mexico.

But the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan and the US military's failure to hunt down Osama bin Laden - still at large on his 50th birthday on Saturday - has prompted the Pentagon to requisition them.

US Defence Secretary Robert M.Gates said last month: "If I were Osama bin Laden, I'd keep looking over my shoulder."

The Pentagon has been alarmed at the ease with which Taliban and al-Qa'ida fighters have been slipping in and out of Afghanistan. Defence officials are convinced their movements can be curtailed by the Shadow Wolves. ...

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Michelle Malkin has more here, A J Strata wonders why it took so long to think of the idea.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 12, 2007 at 06:17 AM in Afghanistan, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 09 March 2007

CIA goes a-huntin' in Pakistan

US Enters Pakistan On Bin Laden Hunt
Ed Morrissey

The US has sent CIA special operations units into Pakistan to hunt down fresh leads on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders, the London Telegraph reports. The action comes just a few weeks after American officials presented Pervez Musharraf with evidence of AQ's growing presence in Waziristan and demanded action to destroy them:
America is stepping up its hunt for Osama bin Laden by dispatching additional CIA operatives and paramilitary officers to Pakistan to kill or capture the al-Qa'eda leader.

US officials said that the mission is intended to intensify the pressure on the terrorist leader, who turns 50 tomorrow, and perhaps force him into making a mistake. He is widely believed to be hiding in the region bordering Afghanistan. ...
Intelligence officials believe that Osama normally goes on the move in March, when the bitter winters in that region finally dissipate and travel can resume. Movement makes people more vulnerable, and the US wants to catch him in transition. They believe that he has built the camps with the aim to run the Taliban and AQ operations directly and in person, and hope to catch him either at the camps or on his way to them. ...

[Read the whole thing.]

See also:

AP exclusive: Top Afghan warlord splits from Taliban?
Update: U.S. arrests Taliban commander — in Pakistan

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Musharraf Deal Bad For Pakistanis, Too
Ed Morrissey

With the deal between Pervez Musharraf and the Waziris widely acknowledged as a problem for the US and NATO in Afghanistan, some forget that Pakistanis also suffer from its effects. The Los Angeles Times reports on the ascendancy of the extremists and terrorists in Pakistan since Musharraf signaled a retreat on his prosecution of the war on terror, and what that means for moderates opposed to jihadism:
For weeks, there had been whispers that Akhtar Usmani, a young teacher at a Muslim religious school, was speaking out against the growing presence of Islamic militants in his home in the tribal area of Waziristan.

Then one day last week, the schoolteacher's corpse, with the head severed from the torso, was found in a bloody sack dumped beside a desolate road. A note on his mutilated body called him a spy for America.

Such grisly reprisal killings have become a recurring feature of life in Waziristan, a rugged border zone that is in the global spotlight because of U.S. intelligence claims that elements of Al Qaeda are regrouping there. ...
Musharraf's retreat wasn't just a betrayal of his allies in the war on terror, but also a betrayal of the moderate Muslims he claims to lead. The Waziristan deal has allowed the extremists out of the shadows and into the open, and they have predictably acted to impose their religious tyranny on everyone in sight. Just as the Taliban did in Afghanistan, they have banned music, threatened barbers, shuttered movie theaters, and forced schools that teach girls to close.

It's not just Taliban fanily values that have afflicted Waziris and others in the region. They have also started conducting kidnappings to bolster terrorist finances, another form of terrorism on the local civilians. The Taliban have turned themselves into an Islamic Mafia, conducting protection rackets, truck hijackings, and the ubiquitous drug smuggling that occurs in the region regardless of who is in charge.

The civilians have not quietly accepted their fate as Mullah Omar's vassals. They have organized their own response to Islamist terrorists, conducting attacks on their own. A gang of tribal warriors attacks Uzbek terrorists last week in a battle that left 19 dead.

[Read the whole thing here.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 9, 2007 at 11:58 AM in Afghanistan, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 05 March 2007

Osama's last stand? -- Update

See previous: Osama's last stand?

Dead in Afghanistan: Will Any High Value Targets Be Among Them?
Gretchen Peters and Habibullah Khan Report:

Efforts are now underway to identify the dead following a U.S. and NATO strike in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan over the weekend, according to Afghan officials.

ABC News reported a major strike may have targeted a high-value al Qaeda target in the village of Mandaghel in Kunar province.

The U.S. military on the ground in Afghanistan continues to officially deny there was anything other than "routine military operations" in the eastern province over the past three days.

But U.S. and Afghan government officials said over the weekend that an operation was taking place. They declined to identify who the operation was targeting but indicated they were after a "High Value Target" (HVT).

Official sources would not rule out that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden himself was the intended target. Afghan officials said the target could be another senior ranking al Qaeda leader.

[Read on.]

Allahpundit's skeptical, as usual,

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 5, 2007 at 04:02 PM in Afghanistan, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 01 March 2007

Report: Pakistan arrests Taliban’s #3

Number 3 Taliban Leader Arrested In Pakistan
A J Strata

OK, for those skeptical about Pakistan’s backbone regarding the Islamo Fascists they just arrested the number 3 Taliban leader:
Pakistani security forces have captured a high-ranking Taliban leader in the southwestern city of Quetta, a senior Pakistani security official and Taliban sources said on Thursday.

The capture of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund marked the first time Pakistan had arrested a senior leader of the Islamist militia since it was driven from power in Afghanistan in 2001, and thousands of its fighters fled into Pakistan. ...
... This will definitely be a test of Pakistani and Musharaaf resolve. There will be a backlash. So we will know soon enough if Islamabad is serious about the war on terror. ...

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Report: Pakistan arrests Taliban’s #3
Allahpundit

Some Pakistani officials are denying it, but even Taliban sources tell Reuters it’s true. It’s the first big pinch of a senior Talib commander since the invasion of Afghanistan. How big? The Blotter:
Pakistani officials identified one of the men as Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, considered the third in command of the Taliban…

“His arrest would be huge, if confirmed,” said Barnett Rubin, a New York University professor who testified today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the resurgence of the Taliban in Pakistan…

Intelligence sources said Akhund may know the secret whereabouts of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and perhaps of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahri.
Guess where he was arrested. Right, in Quetta — the same city where, according to a captured Taliban spokesman, Mullah Omar is hiding out with the protection of Pakistan’s CIA and the same city that’s been rumored for years to be a Taliban stronghold, despite vehement denials by Pakistani officials. I guess Cheney made his point, huh?

The Counterterrorism Blog has good background on this turd. Once upon a time he was Afghanistan’s defense minister under the Taliban regime; he surrendered to the Northern Alliance shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2001 — and then was promptly released as part of an “amnesty deal,” despite the fact that he was “considered by American intelligence officials to have been one of the Taliban leaders closest to Mr. bin Laden.” He appears to have spent most of the last few years waging jihad and dialing up news agencies to call Hamid Karzai a puppet. Presumably he’s on his way to the waterboard now.

Before we ask him about Osama, maybe we should ask him about this guy. He’s been awfully chatty lately. ...

***

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 1, 2007 at 09:23 PM in Afghanistan, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Move Over, Omar

Mullah Dadullah Rocks!
Jules Crittenden

He’s got the latest, flashiest pajamas. Double barrelled disco tiger-stripe RPG. MTV pimped his technical. No way Rule No. 19 applies to Mullah Dadullah … you know he’s gotta have mobs of beardless boys swooning over him … he’s like a Taliban rock star!
If Osama bin Laden likes being in the global spotlight, he’s likely a bit depressed in his hideout these days. The leader of the al-Qaida terrorist organization hasn’t made an appearance on the evening news for quite some time. What’s more, the Taliban no longer need bin Laden as a figurehead. Western intelligence agencies warn that the Taliban now have “their own star” in their struggle against Western soldiers and the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai. The new nightmare from the Hindu Kush Mountains is called Mullah Dadullah. He sports a pitch black beard, always wears a military jacket and these days, he is omnipresent in the media. ...

Bloodthirsty propaganda is everywhere in northern Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan. Virtually every CD salesman in Peshawar is selling the latest films released by the Taliban leader. “Oh, you want the Dadullah tapes,” says one. “They’re very popular right now.” He disappears for barely a minute and then returns with an entire stack. He charges about €3 ($4) per film. Those who buy several get a discount. But he doesn’t want his picture taken. He says Pakistani police already causes him enough trouble when they find terror DVDs in the suitcases of journalists at the airport.
Mullah Dadullah is totally sick, dude! Asstastic. Sexellent. That one-eyed Mullah Omar is so 2001. ...

***

Move Over, Omar
Ed Morrissey

The Taliban have a new commander and a new public face for their terrorism. Mullah Dadullah has become the new rock star of the jihad in Waziristan, and his emergence could portend an especially tough spring for Afghanistan and its NATO defenders:
If Osama bin Laden likes being in the global spotlight, he's likely a bit depressed in his hideout these days. The leader of the al-Qaida terrorist organization hasn't made an appearance on the evening news for quite some time. What's more, the Taliban no longer need bin Laden as a figurehead. Western intelligence agencies warn that the Taliban now have "their own star" in their struggle against Western soldiers and the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai. The new nightmare from the Hindu Kush Mountains is called Mullah Dadullah. He sports a pitch black beard, always wears a military jacket and these days, he is omnipresent in the media. ...

Western intelligence agencies believe the Taliban have used the winter to thoroughly tighten their organizational structure. Some Taliban commanders are even reporting that Taliban leader Mullah Omar -- who disappeared from the scene entirely for years -- is once again writing letters to his supporters, congratulating successful commanders and the parents of suicide bombers and reminding militants of their "Islamic duties" via audio recordings. For years, one-eyed Omar had disappeared without a trace -- likely afraid of being tracked down by the CIA.

But Mullah Omar seems to be feeling more secure these days -- as does Mullah Dadullah, who only recently outlined his vision for the coming months. Behaving almost like any normal politician, he invited al-Jazeera journalists to visit him in the mountains. His words were alarming despite being full of rhetoric and propaganda. Dadullah said he commands 6,000 men who have volunteered for suicide attacks, and that their offensive is "imminent." He added that some of his men are already set off on their mission, which he described as a "bloodbath for the occupiers." This week's symbolic attack on US Vice President Dick Cheney is reason to fear that Dadullah is issuing more than just empty threats.
The Taliban have taken comfort in the internal divisions within the NATO alliance, especially those which demonstrate a lack of enthusiasm for manning the front lines. As a whole, they have engaged their supporters much more openly than any time since their ejection from Kabul. The films of their camps feature far more open faces, and the jihadis seem unafraid to give their full names.

Some of this is patently fake. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 1, 2007 at 01:52 PM in Afghanistan, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Monday, 26 February 2007

Pak It Up

Bush To Musharraf: Try Harder
Ed Morrissey

Pervez Musharraf insisted that the peace deal he signed with tribal chiefs would not interfere with the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. No one really bought it, but the Bush administration put the best face on it in order to keep Musharraf in the fold. Now that seems to have ended, and the White House has decided on a different, tougher approach to the Pakistani president:
President Bush has decided to send an unusually tough message to one of his most important allies, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, warning him that the newly Democratic Congress could cut aid to his country unless his forces become far more aggressive in hunting down operatives with Al Qaeda, senior administration officials say.

The decision came after the White House concluded that General Musharraf is failing to live up to commitments he made to Mr. Bush during a visit here in September. General Musharraf insisted then, both in private and public, that a peace deal he struck with tribal leaders in one of the country’s most lawless border areas would not diminish the hunt for the leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban or their training camps.

Now, American intelligence officials have concluded that the terrorist infrastructure is being rebuilt, and that while Pakistan has attacked some camps, its overall effort has flagged. ...

Pak It Up
Jules Crittenden

Cheney shows up unexpectedly and tells Musharraf what he doesn’t want to hear:
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 — Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced trip to Pakistan on Monday to deliver what officials in Washington described as an unusually tough message to Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, warning him that the newly Democratic Congress could cut aid to his country unless his forces become far more aggressive in hunting down operatives with Al Qaeda.

Mr. Cheney’s trip was shrouded in secrecy, and he was on the ground for only a few hours, sharing a private lunch with the Pakistani leader at his palace. Notably, Mr. Cheney traveled with the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Steve Kappes, an indication that the conversation with the Pakistani president likely included discussion of American intelligence agency contentions that Al Qaeda camps have been reconstituted along the border of Afghanistan. ...

… Congressional Democrats have threatened to review military assistance and other aid to Pakistan unless they see evidence of aggressive attacks on Al Qaeda. The House last month passed a measure linking future military aid to White House certification that Pakistan “is making all possible efforts to prevent the Taliban from operating in areas under its sovereign control.” ...
Pakistan is a difficult case, and Musharraf as the article notes has to watch his back. Pakistan, though long in bed with Islamic extremists, has suffered repeated al-Qaeda attacks beause of Musharraf’s stance, and the Paks have arrested and handed over a number of top al-Qaeda leaders. Pakistan also launched an offensive into the tribal areas that was only marginally successful before it sat down to deal with the tribal leaders last summer. That deal has demonstrably failed.

As the article notes, the Bush administration has been bringing pressure and working closely to get the most out of Musharraf without jeopardizing his position for years. Now, the Dem Cong provides a conveient diplomatic tool: Cheney says, “Look, you know what I have to deal with back home, it’s out of my hands.” Now Musharraf can turn around and do the same, and make it about money. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 26, 2007 at 01:58 PM in Afghanistan, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 21 February 2007

A long, long, time ago, in a galaxy ...

How Al-Sadr Became the Most Powerful Man in Iraq,
and other stuff that happened a long time ago, elsewhere
Jules Crittenden

have to think this Foreign Policy article by the NYT’s Dexter Filkins on Moqtada al-Sadr’s rise power and how he is now waiting in the wings, with no mention of how far into the wings he has now retreated, suffers greatly from a 20th-century production schedule, not to mention superficiality that renders the headline overhype. But because Filkins is a good reporter who was been around the block several times in Iraq,* I wouldn’t mind reading a more thorough update:

How a radical Shiite cleric became the most powerful man in Iraq

[...]

* Filkins was the one the media ethics handwringers were clucking about because he started carrying a gun after an ugly crowd incident early on in the occupation, late 2003 or early 2004. Not normal behavior for an NYT scribbler.

I missed Filkins by a week in Muzzafarabad, Azad Kashmir, in 1998, but heard all about him and his amazing satellite phone from Tariq, the Kashmiri freelancer we both hired as a translator. Tariq described a James Bondian suitcase phone with a little dish antenna that Filkins set up on his balcony at the Sangum Hotel, overlooking the horrific torrent of the Neelam River.

“With this he spoke direct to Los Angeles,” Tariq explained. He had never seen anything like it.

Back then, neither had I. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 21, 2007 at 02:03 AM in Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 19 February 2007

Hatred Fails To Derail Friendship Express
Ed Morrissey

Terrorists bombed the Friendship Express, a new train service between Pakistan and India commemorating their peace treaties, killing 64 and wounding many more. Two blasts tore through two passenger cars, leaving a trail of destruction:
... Two blasts ripped through two passenger coaches, as the Samjhauta Express passed through Panipat, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of New Delhi, said Northern Rail spokesman Rakesh Saxena. ...
The train eventually continued to Pakistan without the two destroyed cars. The bombers may have killed dozens of people, but they could not stop the Friendship Express. With any luck, this will serve as an analogy for the entire war on terror.

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 19, 2007 at 01:23 AM in Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Al Qaeda Spring

NYT: Everything comin’ up roses for Al Qaeda in Waziristan
Allahpundit

The stories about AQ taking over the Pakistani border areas are the Sunni jihadist equivalent of the Iranian nuclear saga: it’s a slow-motion train wreck, it gets worse with each passing moment, and there’s seemingly nothing the west can do short of watered-down sanctions that won’t make the problem considerably worse. Bryan called the Waziristan peace deal between Musharraf and the tribal elders a “surrender” days after it was announced; it was obvious within weeks, as cross-border attacks on coalition troops in Afghanistan increased, that it was a disaster; and the Times itself finally administered the last rites in an article back in December, declaring that the tribal areas had become “a Taliban mini-state” infested with foreign fighters and would-be suicide bombers. AQ groupie Peter Bergen warned WaPo readers back in July not to assume the leadership was finished, either. That warning proved prescient a month later when the UK airline plotters were linked to higher-ups in Al Qaeda, and it proved prescient again a few weeks ago when the Daily Mail claimed that a “senior AQ terrorist with close links to Osama Bin Laden” was behind the cell that planned to kidnap and behead British Muslim soldiers. Meanwhile, Musharraf’s looking to expand the treaties with the tribal elders and Pakistan’s foreign minister wants NATO to make a deal with the Taliban, even as suicide bombs are going off inside Pakistani courtrooms and captured AQ operatives are accusing Pakistani intelligence of sheltering Mullah Omar.

Which is a long way of saying that nothing in tonight’s Times article, including the news about the training camps, should come as a surprise. ...

***

Al Qaeda Spring
Jules Crittenden

NYT, citing intel sources who don’t want to discuss details, says al Qaeda is on the upswing in North Waziristan:
WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 — Senior leaders of Al Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established significant control over their once battered worldwide terror network and over the past year have set up a band of training camps in the tribal regions near the Afghan border, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials.
American officials said there was mounting evidence that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan. Until recently, the Bush administration had described Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri as detached from their followers and cut off from operational control of Al Qaeda.

The United States has also identified several new Qaeda compounds in North Waziristan, including one that officials said might be training operatives for strikes against targets beyond Afghanistan. ..
Very interesting. If al Qaeda is ”gaining strength despite more than five years of a sustained American-led campaign to weaken it,” it sounds like it has a way to go. Recent track record spotty. A few days ago, Stratfor suggested that al-Zawahiri’s deference to the one-eyed mullah Omar boded ill for Osama. In any case, more reason to lean on the Paks to get serious about Waziristan.

***

Rice: US Disappointed By Waziristan Truce
Ed Morrissey

Spring in Afghanistan usually means another Taliban offensive, and NATO forces expect an unusually energetic effort from the radical Islamists this year. The truce given by Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf to the tribes of Waziristan has given the Taliban more latitude in building up their forces for the offensive, a situation that Condoleezza Rice finds disappointing:
Fears that Taliban militants are preparing to launch a spring offensive from Pakistan's tribal areas are straining relations between President Pervez Musharraf and his US-led allies.

American officials are increasingly vocal about the dangers of Taliban safe havens inside Pakistan and in particular North Waziristan, one of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal agencies, where General Musharraf struck a controversial peace deal last September. American generals say cross-border incursions have soared since then.

On Friday Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, spoke of "problems and disappointments" with the situation in Waziristan. ...
... Rice has it right when she calls the situation disappointing. None of us understood why Musharraf would have trusted the Taliban and signed off on an agreement like this with people who want him dead. Everything we've seen since confirms the original diagnosis.

***

AQ Making A Comeback In Waziristan, Part II
Ed Morrissey

Following up on the story I posted below on Condoleezza Rice's "disappointment" with Pakistan over its truce with tribal leaders in Waziristan, the New York Times reports on how that truce has allowed not just the Taliban but also al-Qaeda to make a comeback. A series of blows to AQ by the US and its allies had relegated Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri to mostly inspirational roles among jihadists. Now Zawahiri, at least, has become much more operational, thanks to the breathing room provided by the Musharraf deal:
Senior leaders of Al Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established significant control over their once-battered worldwide terror network and over the past year have set up a band of training camps in the tribal regions near the Afghan border, according to American intelligence and counterterrorism officials.

American officials said there was mounting evidence that Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, had been steadily building an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan. Until recently, the Bush administration had described Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri as detached from their followers and cut off from operational control of Al Qaeda.

The United States has also identified several new Qaeda compounds in North Waziristan, including one that officials said might be training operatives for strikes against targets beyond Afghanistan. ...
Counterterrorism experts analyze the stability and robustness of AQ in part by reviewing the frequency and timeliness of its broadcasts to the world. In 2006, the number of messages from bin Laden and Zawahiri doubled over the previous year, and the messages referred to events in a more timely manner -- sometimes within days, rather than several weeks as before. It demonstrates an ability to move tapes via courier much faster than before, which indicates a more stable network surrounding what American officials call "core al-Qaeda".

Western intelligence and military agencies are unsure how to proceed. American military strikes on these bases will violate Pakistani sovereignty, but Musharraf has not been willing to take on the task himself. The West cannot allow AQ to operate so easily, and the Bush doctrine certainly would apply here. However, if people thought Iraq was such a "meatgrinder", as one CQ commenter recently put it (and later retracted), it would be a walk in the park compared to an invasion of Waziristan and an occupation of that region. It would almost certainly pull down the Musharraf government in Islamabad, and its replacement would almost certainly be Islamist. Its army and intelligence services would immediately begin to attack American positions in the mountainous country, and we would then be at open war with a nuclear power. Plus, the lines of communication would make it difficult to resupply our troops even if that war went reasonably well; we could not hope to hold Waziristan for a significant period of time. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 19, 2007 at 12:55 AM in Afghanistan, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 15 February 2007

Good News Bad News
Jules Crittenden

Lots of news from and about Iraq, Iran, Waziristan, all these places. Good, bad, ugly and irrelevant. How’s it stack up? Let’s have a look: ...

Good news from Iraq: Strategypage mulls it all and sees great loss of credibility for al Qaeda in Iraq and Shiite militias in disarray.

More good news from Iraq: even the AP can’t ignore the voices of Iraqis who want the surge to succeed, though they bury them as deep as they can in the story.

More good news from Iraq: raid on Baghdad’s largest Shiite mosque turns up weapons, allows US to say surge is being applied evenly on Shiites and Sunnis … although arrests of top al-Sadr aides indicated it was head that way anyway. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on February 15, 2007 at 10:03 PM in Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan, Politics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 17 January 2007

A Guest Of The ISI

Spokesman says Mullah Omar being sheltered by Pakistani intel
Allahpundit

Yeah, but who’d believe a filthy terrorist’s filthy mouthpiece?

In this case? Me, that’s who.
Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar is alive and well and living in Pakistan under the protection of the Pakistan intelligence agency, according to the captured spokesman for the Taliban, Mohammad Hanif.

Hanif was captured in Afghanistan yesterday, and today the Afghan government released video footage of him in which he claims to know the location of Omar.

“He is living in Quetta,” says Hanif, “and the ISI [Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency] is protecting him.”
They’ve probably got him under “house arrest,” so that he can’t get to Musharraf — and we can’t get to him.

According to secret U.S. military documents purchased by ABC News from an Afghan in front of Bagram air base, the spokesman’s telling the truth about his location.

Update: ...

Read the whole thing. Captain Ed has more here.

***

One-Eyed Mullah in the Land of the Blind?
Jules Crittenden

The great thing about captured Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif claiming that Mullah Omar is in Quetta, Pakistan, under the protection of Pakistan’s ISI, is that it is entirely believeable. And yet, Hanif in his phone calls to the Associated Press was often a bald-faced liar. It’s his job. He is, after all, a propagandist. So he could be covering for Omar and trying to make trouble for the ISI, drive the wedge between the US and Pakistan a little deeper. Or not. Karzai has also said recently he thinks the one-eyed mullah is there. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 17, 2007 at 01:50 PM in Afghanistan, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 16 January 2007

Pakistan Hits Al-Qaeda Hideouts
Ed Morrissey

Pakistan has scored more hits on al-Qaeda operations, this time in South Waziristan. Their army announced the successful missions tonight, which resulted in several AQ casualties:
Pakistan's army destroyed three suspected al-Qaida hideouts in an air strike near the Afghan border on Tuesday, killing several members of the terror group, an army spokesman said.

The military carried out the operation in South Waziristan tribal region after receiving information that 25 to 30 al-Qaida members were hiding there, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan.

"We believe most of them were killed, but we don't have a body count," he said. ...

***

Gateway Pundit has more here, including a map showing the area in question.

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 16, 2007 at 02:41 AM in Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Monday, 15 January 2007

Pakistani Atomic Energy Officials Kidnapped

Four officials of Atomic Energy Commission kidnapped
By Abdul Sami Paracha (Hat tip: See-Dubya)

KOHAT, Jan 14: At least four officials of the Atomic Energy Commission based in Banda Daud Shah tehsil of Karak district were kidnapped from their office by armed men on Sunday, sources said.

Police officials said five staff members were in their office when four armed men entered the compound and demanded keys of vehicles of the commission from the drivers. They took away four officials and three vehicles. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 15, 2007 at 09:57 AM in Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 13 January 2007

War? -- What War?
Victor Davis Hanson

Reader Responses

I have learned a great deal reading the responses to these essays, and often try to predicate the next entry on the concerns of the readers.

So one reoccurring topic is the controversy over just how serious is the threat of radical Islam. I get a great deal of furious mail, suggesting that Bush & Co. for a variety of reasons (fill in the blanks: oil, Halliburton, etc.) have created a bogeyman out of a few ragtag terrorists, and dangerously and gratuitously set us on a path of war in the Middle East.

Such critics are emboldened by the luxuries of relative world peace. Remember, we enter into year six without an attack on the United States homeland comparable to September 11. That fact, taken together with the absence of a clearly-identified enemy nation state, has suggested to many that there is hardly a present threat comparable to dangers posed by Nazis, fascists, Japanese imperialists, or Soviet and Chinese communists of the past.

But how true is that really?

I. -Isms and –Ologies Are More Deadly

Global ideologies pose greater threats than particular bellicose states. Nazism, for example, was more dangerous than Prussian militarism because it much more easily appealed across national boundaries.

The same was true of communism versus, say, Japanese militarism that was predicated on unique thoughts about racial superiority rather than Pan-Asian communitarian solidarity. Bushido appealed to few non-Japanese.

Jihadism, however, resonates with Muslims in Pakistan, the Arab World, the Philippines, or Indonesia. Race, language, landscape, or nationality are not always predictable in our enemies, only a certain shared derangement guided by the idea that the West and its modernization have eclipsed Islam and are in some way responsible for radical Muslims’ current sense of inferiority and lost entitlement.

II. A Dirty Bomb Versus a Salvo or Air strike? ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on January 13, 2007 at 11:51 PM in Africa, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 28 December 2006

Airline-Plot Mastermind Will Face Trial After All

Ruling dropping charges against Rauf suspended

ISLAMABAD: A high court in Pakistan on Wednesday suspended a lower court’s ruling that dropped terrorism charges against a British suspect in a plot to bomb trans-Atlantic passenger jets out of Britain, according to a lawyer.

The British Muslim, Rashid Rauf of Pakistani origin, was arrested in August, and Pakistani officials identified him as a “key person” in the airline terror plot.

The uncovering of the alleged plot by British police triggered a pre-emptive security alert that saw mass cancellations of flights to and from London’s Heathrow Airport for several days in August. ...

Hat tip: See-Dubya, who has more here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on December 28, 2006 at 04:28 PM in Great Britain, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 19 December 2006

Afghanistan Nabs Pakistani Intelligence Agent with AQ Ties
Greg Tinti (H/T: Allahpundit)

It seems that Afghan authorities have caught a pretty big fish here. Not only did ISI operative Sayed Akbar have documents with him that allegedly prove he was involved in covert actions against Afghanistan, but he is believed to have close ties with AQ, including at least once playing personal escort to OBL himself. Via The Beeb.
Afghanistan says it has arrested a Pakistani intelligence agent who acted as a key link with al-Qaeda leaders.

Presidential spokesman Karim Rahimi said the agent had been detained in eastern Kunar province carrying documents which proved his guilt.

The announcement came a day after an Afghan army general was arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan.

Afghanistan has long blamed Pakistan for cross-border attacks by the Taleban. Islamabad denies the charges.

Mr Karimi named the man arrested as Sayed Akbar, who he said worked for Pakistan's controversial Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. ...
It's been rumored openly and for quite some time that Pakistan's ISI has been aiding the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, but this the first example that I can find where a Pakistani agent has been arrested for it, not to mention with documentation allegedly proving it. ...

Update: Also of note, Afghan officials have also arrested an Afghan army general named Khair Mohammed who worked at the Afghan Defence ministry in Kabul. He allegedly provided the ISI with information on US and NATO troops positions and information about employees of the Defence ministry. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on December 19, 2006 at 05:32 PM in Afghanistan, Islamism Delenda Est, Pakistan | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 13 December 2006

Pakistan drops terror charges against alleged UK plot mastermind -- Update and bump: ... so he can be extradited to Great Britain?

Pakistan drops terror charges against alleged UK plot mastermind
Allahpundit

There’s really no good news anymore, just “bad” and “less bad.”
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has dropped all terrorism-related charges against the British citizen who, U.S. authorities say, is the mastermind behind the U.K. terror plot to bomb a series of airplanes this summer…

Rauf’s lawyer told the Agence France-Presse today that the prosecution had claimed Rauf was in possession of 29 bottles of the chemical hydrogen peroxide, which was meant to be used to blow up the passenger jets.

“But they failed to produce any evidence to support the allegations,” the lawyer, Hasmat Habib, said. “This chemical is also used to heal wounds.” ...
The less bad news: he might end up in a British jail anyway. ...

*** Update and bump. Original timestamp 12:36

Heathrow terror suspect set to be extradited

Pakistan today cleared the way for the handover of Rashid Rauf, the Briton alleged to have masterminded the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic passenger planes, after a surprise move by a judge to drop terror charges against him.

British officials have been trying to extradite the 25-year-old from Birmingham for five months.

The dramatic ruling by a court in Rawalpindi is being seen as part of an a

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