bin Laden with Nothing to Say Fans the Flames of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Osama bin Laden is the classic Middle Eastern rhetorical pimp who trots out the extremists’ highest earner when there’s absolutely nothing else to say – Israel.  Looking back over Sheikh Osama’s pronouncements through the years, the plight of the Palestinians was not on his radar until he began to use it like a slick American politician as a wedge issue.

From al-Jazeera today, reporting on bin Laden’s latest audio tape:

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, has said in an audio tape obtained by Al Jazeera that some Arab leaders were “complicit” with Israel during its offensive in Gaza.

Bin Laden said in the tape aired on Saturday that Arab leaders were “hypocrites”, and that “liberating Jerusalem needed honest Arab leadership” to fight and liberate the Arab people.

“It has become clear that some Arab leaders were complicit with the crusade zionist alliance against our people. These are the leaders that America calls moderate,” bin Laden said.

The Daily Graphic: Not All Pakistanis Support Terrorists

All we ever hear about Pakistan is how out of control the FATA region is, the Taleban are taking over and Osama bin Laden is viewed as Robin Hood.  The latest public opinion polling there by the Pew Global Attitudes Project shows most Pakistanis are not in the tank for terrorists.

From the abstract of the research:

…  headline-making assaults have, however, been perpetrated in a country where public support for extremism has declined sharply in recent years. Surveys by the Global Attitudes Project have found progressively lower levels of acceptance of suicide bombing as well as waning confidence in Osama bin Laden. There is only modest support among Pakistanis for al Qaeda or the Taliban. And few agree with their widely noted tactic of preventing education for girls.

Nonetheless, while the trends are positive, sizeable minorities still embrace extremism — for instance, one-in-three continue to express confidence in bin Laden, who many intelligence analysts believe is hiding somewhere in western Pakistan. And while most Pakistanis are worried about religious extremism, polling by the International Republican Institute suggests they are not convinced the Pakistani army should be used to fight radical groups. Instead, most would prefer making a peace deal with extremists.

Taliban, Iraqi Sunnis – Apples, Oranges

What I’m reading about President Barack Obama’s latest pronouncements on turning the tide in the war in Afghanistan makes me uneasy.

There is no doubt that U.S. and NATO fortunes have backslid in Afghanistan, through no fault of our troops on the ground – there just haven’t been enough to pursue any of a number of strategies effectively.  We also know that in many respects the “surge” in Iraq worked to some effect in that war.  The surge was not just about troops, it was also about effective counterinsurgency policy and tactics.  One of those tactics was to co-opt Sunni tribal elders and their followers who had fallen in line with al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Now, as if Afghanistan is just like Iraq, we’re going to surge there as well.  More troops makes sense if those troops are protecting civilians and not leaving them prey to the Taliban.  More troops make sense if we are capturing or killing Taliban.  Paying off Taliban in the way we worked with Sunni leaders in Iraq is a suckers bet, however.

Too many Americans view the Islamic world through a single lens ground from the images of 9/11 and the Bush war on terror.  In this view all muslims are sixth century throwbacks who routinely take to the streets and chant death to America.

The truth is that most muslims want the same things most of us want – peace, prosperity, liberty.  Another part of the truth is that there is a very vocal, in your face segment of Islam, who are grounded in a medieval view of the world.  They are inherently evil.  Their most apparent incarnation is in the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

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Transcript: Obama Interview with New York Times Aboard Air Force One – May Negotiate with Taliban

(Source: New York Times)

President Obama spoke in a 35-minute interview aboard Air Force One on Friday afternoon as he traveled from Columbus, Ohio to Andrews Air Force Base. This is an edited transcript, as recorded by The New York Times.

Q. You said it’s going to take a long time to get out of this economic crisis. Can you assure the American people that the economy will be growing by the summer, the fall or the end of the year?

A. I don’t think that anybody has that kind of crystal ball. We are going through a wrenching process of de-leveraging in the financial sectors – not just here in the United States, but all around the world – that have profound consequences for Main Street. What started off as problems with the banks, led to a contraction of lending, which led in turn to both declining demand on the part of consumers, but also declining demand on the part of business. So it is going to take some time to work itself through.

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CIA Destroys Tapes – Like a bad movie

Evidence for the Bush/Cheney Truth Commission being shitcanned according to AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) – New documents show the CIA destroyed nearly 100 tapes of terror interrogations.

The figure is far higher than the handful of recordings the agency has previously admitted destroying, and the revelation comes as a criminal prosecutor is wrapping up his investigation in the matter.

AfPakanistan – What Has Barack Obama Inherited

U.S. Marine under fire in Afghanistan, Spring 2008, Reuters

U.S. Military Surge in Afghanistan Can It Work?

U.S. Ally Pakistan – Working Next Door at Cross Purpose

If you’re at all interested in the future of the “War on Terror” and the current version of the Great Game being played out Afghanistan and Pakistan you need to read two stories from the Sunday New York Times:

• Fearing another Quagmire in Afghanistan
• In Pakistan, radio amplifies terror

What a mess.

No question about it, we didn’t finish the job in Afghanistan.  We pulled personnel and resources from the fight and sent it all to Iraq.  Six or seven years later, the Taliban controls swaths of territory, they use the Afghan-Pak border like a revolving door and they still terrorize those who don’t bend to their Dark Ages world view.

I’ve read that President Barack Obama is sending anywhere from 7,000 to 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in order to deal with a resurgent Taliban, drug lords and assorted other characters from Earth’s version of Tatooine’s Cantina.  He might listen to former Secy of State Colin Powell:

Think Iraq was hard? Afghanistan, former Secretary of State Colin Powell argues, will be “much, much harder.”

“Iraq had a middle class,” Mr. Powell pointed out on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” a couple of hours before Mr. Obama was sworn in last Tuesday. “It was a fairly advanced country before Saddam Hussein drove it in the ground.” Afghanistan, on the other hand, “is still basically a tribal society, a lot of corruption; drugs are going to destroy that country if something isn’t done about it.”

Remember the post-Soviet era in Afghanistan? Forget about all the great powers that have had their militaries ground down in the mountain redoubts of the country, just think back to when the Soviets left.

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President Obama: Day One News Roundup

• On First Day, Obama Quickly Sets Tone – New York Times
• Obama halts prosecutions at Guantanamo – New York Times
• Oath administered once again – New York Times
• Clinton approved, Holder delayed – New York Times
• Obama: New era of openness – Washington Post
• Lobbying rules tightened – Washington Post
• Guantanamo closure faces hurdles – Washington Post
• Inauguration head count: 1.8 million – Washington Post
• Obama asks Pentagon for responsible Iraq drawdown – Associated Press

DICK Cheney and State Sponsored Torture

VP DICK Cheney appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation this morning.  This interview wasn’t substantively different from any of the others he’s done in the past month:

Cheney also urged the Obama administration to continue the Bush administration’s interrogation policies.

“I would hope [Obama] would avoid doing what others have done in the past, which is letting the campaign rhetoric guide his judgment in this absolutely crucial area,” Cheney said. “We were very careful, we did everything by the book, and in fact we produced very significant results.”

So many problems with that statement, DICK.  There are a great many smart people, including former members of the Bush Administration who warned you and David Addington about getting too carried away with agressive interrogation techniques.  Chief among their concerns was something we patriots like to call the U.S. Constitution.  There’s also this other little concern known as the Geneva Convention.  You can argue all you want that our foes in the war on terror are not lawful combatants, but the rest of the world needs to somewhat agree, or, it looks like selective application of an international human rights treaty.  And, what about the old bromide that we’re not going to stoop to their level.  There’s so much more than campaign rhetoric behind the criticisms of the Bush Administration’s endorsement of torture.

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U.S. Sunday Papers | December 21

Los Angeles Times

• ‘Lethal Warriors’ in Iraq, linked to string of crimes back home
• Obama ups the ante on economic stimulus
• Op-Ed, Doyle McManus: Obama must spend wisely

New York Times

• Obama expands recovery plans
• Economy tests Obama’s vision of energy efficient auto industry
• White House philosophy stoked mortgage bonfire
• Russian push on treason raises fears
• Canada agrees to its own auto bailout
• Ambush raises unsettling questions in Afghanistan
• Op-Ed, Alan Blinder: Missing the Mark with $700 Billion
• Op-Ed, Tom Friedman: China to the Rescue? Not!
• Op-Ed, Olivier Roy & Justin Vaisse: Winning Islam Over

Washington Post

• Obama expands stimulus goals
• Extradition of terror suspects founders
• Tiny state, huge pain
• U.S. might double Afghanistan force
• Will executive pay packages get slashed?
• Op-Ed, Leonard Downie Jr.: Could we uncover Watergate today?
• Op-Ed, George Will: Executive powerplay makes Congress moot
  

Indian Source: Surgical Cross-Border Strikes Into Pakistan On the Table

Over the past few days, the grumblings from the Indian government have been that the Pakistanis are not doing enough to go after and wrap up the terrorist organizations that call Pakistan home.  A story this evening in the Times of India quotes a source from a meeting of the Indian foreign minister and defense officials:

“The option of cross-border surgical strikes has not been abandoned. The armed forces, on their part, are maintaining a high level of alertness to meet any eventuality, as they have been directed,” said a source.

If you see the envoys from the United States and Great Britain upping their profile in Islamabad and New Delhi in the midst of more words like this from Indian or Pak officials, the West is trying to help the East not go nuclear.

Transcript: Bush Delivers Defense/Terrorism Speech at West Point | December 9

(Source: White House Press Office)

11:25 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please be seated. Thank you, General, for your warm welcome. Thank you for inviting me here to West Point. I now know why you’re so happy I’m here — (laughter — all classes were cancelled. (Applause.)

I had the honor of sitting next to the General and Judy during the game over the weekend. I am disappointed I could not bring the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy with me. However, you just get the Commander-in-Chief. (Applause.)

This is my last visit to a military academy as President, so I thought I would exercise a certain prerogative of office one last time: I hereby absolve all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses. As always, I always — I leave it to General Hagenbeck to determine what “minor” means. (Laughter.) Read more

Video: Meet the Press, Special Guest President-Elect Barack Obama | December 7, 2008

Mumbai Attacks: More Suspects Captured, India-Pak Relations

Two More Suspects in Mumbai Attacks in Custody

• India police arrest two – Washington Post
• Terrorist SIM card trail leads to Calcutta – Times of India
• J&K cop arrested for SIM card used by terrorist – Indian Express

Tensions Still High Between Rivals India – Pakistan

• Op-Ed, Muzamil Jameel: Why Pakistan Won’t Give Up Lashkar – Indian Express
• Mumbai Terror Seige Politicizes an Upper Class – New York Times
• Mumbai Attacks test for Pakistan on curbing militants – New York Times
• Indian media stoking stoking anti-Pak sentiment – Dawn
• Report: Pakistan agrees to 48 hour deadline to act on Lashkar – NDTV 

What the Islamic Terrorists May Really Want: Strike the Match on Pakistan’s Tinderbox

One encouraging sign of potentially avoiding a violent dispute between Pakistan and India in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks was the planned visit to India by the leader of Pakistan’s sometimes rogue intelligence agency.

Known as ISI which stands for Inter Services Intelligence, the agency is ostensibly an arm of the Pakistani Army.  ISI is chiefly known for being the main conduit between the United States and the Afghani mujahadeen groups who fought Soviet occupation.  When the Soviets left Afghanistan, ISI threw in its lot with the Taliban.  The Taliban in turn eventually welcomed Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda back into the country and the roots of the current worldwide war on terror took hold.

So, to have the chief of ISI interacting with the Indian government would be a good sign.  Only the ISI chief essentially told Pakistani President Asif Zardari, “No.”  He didn’t make the trip. Read more

Captured Mumbai Terrorist: A Tale of Slavery and Drugs?

Azam Amir Qasab and Other Evidence from Mumbai

This article from the London Daily Telegraph brings home just what we’re dealing with regarding terrorists from the Third World.  Evil?  Sure.  But, we are also facing a mentality and level of human sophistiphication from the Middle Ages on steroids – literally.

Azam Amir Qasab, the captured Mumbai terrorist has reportedly told his captors he was sold by his father to the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taibat.  Lashkar-e-Taibait is thought to be the group behind the training and planning for the Mumbai attacks. 

Qasab says he was sold to Lashkar to earn money for his family.  Additionally, it’s being reported that Qasab and his nine terror mates used cocaine and other drugs to stay awake during their rampage.  Finally, the muscle-bound crew had reportedly used steroids to help chisel their physiques for their Jihad fantasy.

We’re dealing with people from the Middle Ages with access to modern drugs and weapons.  The more of them we kill and the greater number of their countries we become embroiled in only emboldens the next cohort of warriors.  Isolationism is not the answer in our globalized society, but we do need to get off the black/white short-term solutions to the bigger problem.

What got Western Civilization out of the Dark Ages?

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