Category Archives: Mission to Afghanistan

Afghans protest over reported Koran desecration at U.S. base

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Once again, Muslims show us that Islam is more of a fetish than a religion. “You hold this thing sacred for no reason other than I will hurt you if you do not” defines fetish. Religious people tend to hold things sacred because there is something of great personal value and meaning to them inside it.

YAHOO NEWS

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (Reuters) – About 2,000 Afghans protested outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan on Tuesday over a report that foreign soldiers improperly disposed of copies of the Koran.

U.S. helicopters fired flares to try to break up as many as 2,000 demonstrators who massed outside several gates to the base, chanting anti-foreigner slogans and throwing stones.

Roshna Khalid, the provincial governor’s spokeswoman, said copies of the Muslim holy book had been burnt inside Bagram airbase, an hour’s drive north of the capital Kabul, citing accounts from local laborers.

“The laborers normally take the garbage outside and they found the remains of Korans,” Khalid said.

NATO’s top general in Afghanistan attempted to contain fury over the incident, which could be a public relations disaster for the U.S. military as it tries to pacify the country ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops in 2014.

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Handcuffed, blindfolded and shot in the back of the head: Taliban releases horrific video of executions of 15 Pakistani soldiers

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These are the people that many US and allied soldiers have died fighting, sometimes because Obama has given them full miranda rights on the battle field.

From The Daily Mail:

  • The paramilitary troops were abducted on December 23
  • ‘God is greatest’ the Taliban yelled as they fired AK-47 rifles
  • Horrific video has been copied and distributed in street markets

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Last updated at 8:28 AM on 23rd January 2012

 

Blindfolded and handcuffed to each other on a barren hilltop, Pakistani soldiers wait for death at the hands of a merciless Taliban fighter.

Fifteen men were lined up for execution, the chilling scene captured on film by the Taliban for a video released as a warning to the Pakistani army operating near the Afghan border.

The Frontier Corps soldiers were seized last month in what the Taliban said was an operation to avenge the deaths of insurgents in Pakistan.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Disturbing footage: The paramilitary troops were abducted by Pakistan's Taliban on December 23 and in the video, they are shown to be handcuffed, blindfolded and lined up, before being shot at point-blank rangeDisturbing footage: The paramilitary troops were abducted by Pakistan’s Taliban on December 23 and in the video, they are shown to be handcuffed, blindfolded and lined up, before being shot at point-blank range

 

The men are standing quietly until fighters stepped up and took turns pumping bullets into the men, some of which were wearing green military uniformsThe men are standing quietly until fighters stepped up and took turns pumping bullets into the men, some of which were wearing green military uniforms

 

Fighters stepped up and took turns pumping bullets into the men, some of which were wearing green military uniformsEach time a soldier collapses, the man standing next to him is pulled in that direction by the handcuffs

In the video Taliban chanting can be heard: 'We will cross all limits to avenge your blood,' it said, referring to fighters killed by Pakistani security forcesIn the video Taliban chanting can be heard: ‘We will cross all limits to avenge your blood,’ it said, referring to fighters killed by Pakistani security forces

The video shows one of the killers from the Pakistan Taliban, or TTP, holding an AK-47 rifle and speaking with fury about revenge.

‘Twelve of our comrades were besieged and mercilessly martyred in the Khyber Agency [area],’ said the militant. ‘Our pious women were also targeted.

‘To avenge those comrades, we will kill these men. We warn the government of Pakistan that if the killing of our friends is not halted, this will be the fate of you all.’

 

 

One of the abducted soldiers, sitting alongside his comrades with their arms folded and legs crossed in front of Taliban banners, describes on the video how dozens of insurgents stormed their fort in the north-western Tank district of Pakistan. ‘They attacked us with rockets, killed a sentry,’ he said. ‘One ran away.

‘The Taliban entered the fort and captured us with our weapons. They tied our hands, put us in a Datsun and took us away.’

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090165/Taliban-releases-horrific-video-executions-15-Pakistani-soldiers.html#ixzz1kIrR3ZuR

Pakistan says U.S. drones in its air space will be shot down

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MSNBC

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news service reports

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan will shoot down any U.S. drone that intrudes its air space per new directives, a senior Pakistani official told NBC News on Saturday.

Asghar Achakzai / AFP – Getty Images file

Pakistani security personnel examine a crashed US surveillance drone inside Pakistan in August.

According to the new Pakistani defense policy, “Any object entering into our air space, including U.S. drones, will be treated as hostile and be shot down,” a senior Pakistani military official told NBC News.  Continue Reading →

It May Not Be “Formal Doctrine,” But the Marine Corps Is Teaching Islamic Law

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part of the article from:

Diana West.net

 

Written by: Diana West
Thursday, December 01, 2011 12:28 PM 

“Hey Jack, which way to Mecca?”

Peter Arno, The New Yorker, 1938

—

This week’s syndicated column:

Having written countless columns and blog posts arguing that the see-no-Islam counterinsurgency strategy (COIN) has led to failure in two wars in the umma and the dhimmification of the U.S. military, it’s almost funny to see the debate more or less officially joined over my recent column on what appears to be simply the gross-out, PG-13 movie topic of peeing toward Mecca. Or, rather, not peeing toward Mecca.

The latter is the lesson that an Afghan Muslim contractor has been teaching Marines before they deploy to Afghanistan, in accordance with an Islamic canonical hadith called “The Prohibition of Facing the Qiblah When Relieving Oneself.” But maybe the debate had to take this excretory turn with the Pentagon awash in the phony fundamentals of Greg Mortenson’s discredited “Three Cups of Tea.”

Scatological or not, what we are talking about here is an untenable invasion of privacy of American citizens in uniform via religious dictate as taught by the U.S. Marine Corps.

The Nov. 28 print edition of Marine Corps Times carries both an article and a lead editorial on what the paper is politely calling “excretory etiquette” regarding Marines and Mecca – which, incidentally, is about 2,000 miles from Afghanistan. But this isn’t just about etiquette. Given its Islamic religious derivation, the Marines’ excretory instruction strikes me as a violation of religious freedom. Who is the U.S. Marine Corps to instruct American citizens to bring their personal hygiene practices into accord with Islamic law? The Corps in this case is acting as a vehicle of Islamic law, which comprehensively rules on all manner of personal habits, as well as on civil and legal affairs.

Needless to say, the Marine Corps doesn’t see it that way. Its spokesmen have contended narrowly that this lesson taught by a contractor (hired by the Corps) isn’t “formal Marine Corps doctrine,” as the Marine Corps Times editorial puts it. Formal or not, the editors also don’t think this Marine Shariah (Islamic law) is a bad idea. Headlined “Respect differences,” the editorial states: “Thing is, there’s value to this sort of insight.” Perhaps in the name of respecting “differences”?

Heavens, no. This is all about respecting Islam, not “differences.” After all, if it were about “differences,” the respect in question would extend to the non-Islamic belief that not all bodily functions taking place on planet Earth must key off the location of a town in Saudi Arabia. To each his own.

That’s not the editorial’s subject. The value, it says, comes “in light of the tense conditions under which both groups must coexist.”

Tense conditions – as in border firefights? Roadside bombs? No, again. The editorial refers to tensions between Muslims and infidels inside the wire. “Consider that in the last four years,” the editorial continues, “nearly 60 coalition troops have been killed by their Afghan counterparts.”

Please click through for the rest of this article.

Life for women in Afghanistan much better while US present. But at what cost?

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I suspect that pretty much every word this woman says is the verbatim truth. But even if it is, it raises some difficult and harsh questions. Exactly how much blood and treasure should Canada or the US etc. spend to make life less awful for women in Afghanistan? if there will be a civil war there, will any of the sides be consistent with Western values and views on individual liberty, freedom of concience or women’s rights? If we can justify staying there for these reasons now, why not go in to Saudi Arabia, the source of most of this sharia-misery all over the world today and do the same there, and certainly Iran.

I don’t have any easy answers frankly and do not wish to appear to be leading to any. I do think this woman is telling the truth and I have spoken personally to many rights workers in Afghanistan from Canada who will confirm what she says. But again, how do we justify the costs? What is to be gained for them or us in the long run?

Canadian journalist Terry Glavin is a firm believer in the mission to Afghanistan and believes that Canada can and should stay there to help improve the lives of the people of Afghanistan, and, that Afghanistan is becoming a subsidiary state of Iran. That any ambition to deal with Iran’s growing hegemony begins with Afghanistan. Terry knows his stuff. But I remain unconvinced either way. It would at least be encouraging to see a sizable group of people rise up and demand liberty with whom to side. At least that would give us a local ally we can believe in, as opposed to the current president. The man who actually gave a speech so incendiary against the west that Afghans rioted, torching the UN building in Kabul and killing several people.

1000 Afghan students protest lengthened relations between US and Afghanistan

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Hey, isn’t that a cross they are burning in the fire? How come the Vatican doesn’t rise up and slaughter a whole bunch of Muslims working quietly in offices randomly around Rome?

Oh yeah cause they aren’t savages.

Click over to AJ for the rest of this and a little video which includes the titbit that Afghanistan wants remaining US troops to be under Afghan law. That might be a little tough on the females.

From Aljazeera:

The protesters blocked the road to the capital Kabul as they shouted ‘Death to America! Death to Karzai!’ [AFP]

Hundreds of Afghan students have blocked a main highway in the eastern city of Jalalabad, protesting against any agreement that would allow US troops to remain in the country after a planned transfer of authority in 2014.

More than 1,000 students took part in Sunday’s demonstration, which was staged after an assembly of more than 2,000 tribal elders and dignitaries – known as a loya jirga – endorsed the agreement.

But the assembly backed a series of conditions proposed by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, including the end of night raids by international troops.

They also endorsed a complete Afghan control over detainees during a conference that ended on Saturday.

The protesters in Jalalabad blocked the road to the capital Kabul as they shouted “Death to America! Death to Karzai!”.

They said they would not accept any partnership with the US, whose troops – along with those of NATO – have been battling the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan since 2001.

Taliban resistance

Both the resolution and the protests reflect the tension in Afghanistan between a desire for real sovereignty and the need to bolster the relatively weak government against the still-strong Taliban resistance.

Why has the EU banned the film on women’s rights in Afghanistan?

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Exactly what deal and with who, is the one the European union made that allows them to forbid the showing of a privately made and frankly, very important film on women’s rights in Afghanistan today. Today, not under the Taliban. But now under Karzai. There is so much wrong here it’s hard to know where to start. Please spread this link to all you can, and download and re-upload this video to your own youtube channels and live leak or whatever. Perhaps with enough pressure we can get the EU to allow this film before they get too too comfortable banning private opinion.

Snaphanen.dk has found some more information on this for us.

EU officials said they would block its release as they did not want to upset “relations with the justice institutions” in Afghanistan

it was a bizarre position for an international delegation publicly committed to improving women’s rights.

Afghan mother and daughter stoned and shot dead after Taliban accused them of ‘moral deviation and adultery’

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Of course, as we see from this video, it could just as easily have been from the kinder, gentler Karzai government.

From The Daily Mail:

Afghan mother and daughter stoned and shot dead after Taliban accused them of ‘moral deviation and adultery’

 

Last updated at 4:18 PM on 11th November 2011

Armed men stoned and shot dead a widow and her daughter in Aghanistan after the Taliban accused the women of ‘moral deviation and adultery’, according to reports.

The killing happened on Thursday in the Khawaja Hakim area of Ghazni city, the BBC reported, and two men have now been arrested.

Officials – who blamed the Taliban for the attack – told the Corporation that armed men went into the house where the two women lived, took them to the yard outside and they were stoned and then shot.

Control: Afghan policemen, trained by NATO International Security Assistance Force, attend their graduation ceremony in Ghazni, which is said to have seen a rise in violence

Control: Afghan policemen, trained by NATO International Security Assistance Force, attend their graduation ceremony in Ghazni, which is said to have seen a rise in violence

‘Neighbours did not help or inform the authorities on time,’ an official told the BBC.

A neighbour of the executed women told M&G.com he heard shots but was afraid to go out.

‘When the women in the neighbourhood washed the bodies of the killed women, they saw signs of stoning, and the doctors at the local hospital also confirmed to us,’ the man, named only as Rahimullah, said. Continue Reading →

Pakistan ‘still running Taliban training camps’

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The Telegraph:

Pakistan is still running training camps to support and arm the Taliban across the border in Afghanistan despite official denials, insurgents have claimed.

Pakistan 'still running Taliban training camps'

Hillary Clinton visited Pakistan last week and urged the head of the ISI and the military to take action against militants operating from their soil Photo: AFP/GETTY
Duncan Gardham

By , Security Correspondent

6:00AM BST 26 Oct 2011

Middle-ranking Taliban commanders have boasted that they have received “practical guidance” and training in bomb-making by officers from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI).

One commander, Mullah Azizullah, told a BBC documentary: “They are all the ISI’s men. They are the ones who run the training.

“First they train us about bombs, then they give us practical guidance.

Their generals are everywhere. They are present during the training.”

In an interview at a safe-house in Kabul in June, he added: “The Taliban movement was created with the help of the ISI. It is like when a tree grows – one has to plant it and water it.” Continue Reading →

US forces ‘massing on Afghanistan-Pakistan border’

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The Telegraph:

 US forces are massing on the Pakistan border in eastern Afghanistan amid reports of an imminent drone missile offensive against fighters from the feared Haqqani Network, a Taliban faction which operates from safe havens in Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency, Pakistan Army sources have confirmed.

US forces 'massing on Afghanistan-Pakistan border'

A US soldier stands guard in the Turkham Nangarhar region of Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan  Photo: AFP/GETTY
Dean Nelson

By , South Asia Editor and Javed Siddiq in Islamabad

2:19PM BST 18 Oct 2011

 The scale of the American build-up, including helicopter gunships, heavy artillery and hundreds of American and Afghan troops, caused panic in north Waziristan where tribal militias who feared they could be targeted gathered in the capital Miranshah to coordinate their response.

Local officials in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) warned that Pakistan’s armed forces would repel any incursion across the border by American forces, but military sources in Islamabad and Afghan officials suggested the build-up was part of a coordinated operation.

Relations between Washington and Islamabad have deteriorated dramatically in recent months as American officials increased pressure on Pakistan to launch an offensive against the Haqqani Network, which mounts attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan from bases in North Waziristan.

Islamabad has fiercely resisted American pressure, claiming its forces are overstretched and stating its priority is to fight Taliban factions which have declared war on Pakistan, rather than those, like the Haqqanis, who focus on cross-border attacks on Nato forces.

Last month Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently accused Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service of plotting the attack on the US embassy in Kabul with Haqqani network fighters and claimed the militant group was a “veritable arm” of the ISI. Continue Reading →