Eye On Afghanistan

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  • Rasputin
    Senior Member
    • Jan 2005
    • 63906

    #1

    Eye On Afghanistan

    Afghan terror commander hints at big attack on N.Y., Washington







    The new al-Qaida field commander in Afghanistan is calling for Muslims to leave the U.S. – particularly Washington and New York – in anticipation of a major terror attack to rival Sept. 11, according to an interview by a Pakistani journalist.

    Abu Dawood told Hamid Mir, a reporter who has covered al-Qaida and met with Osama bin Laden, the attack is being coordinated by Adnan el-Shukrijumah and suggests it may involve some form of weapon of mass destruction smuggled across the Mexican border.

    "Our brothers are ready to attack inside America. We will breach their security again," he is quoted as saying. "There is no timeframe for our attack inside America; we can do it any time."

    As WND has previously reported, el-Shukrijumah is a trained nuclear technician and accomplished pilot who has been singled out by bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri to serve as the field commander for the next terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

    The terrorist was last seen in Mexico, where, on Nov. 1, 2004, he allegedly hijacked a Piper PA Pawnee cropduster from Ejido Queretaro near Mexicali to transport a nuclear weapon and nuclear equipment into the U.S., according to Paul Williams, a former FBI consultant and author of "The Dunces of Doomsday."

    "He is an American and a friend of Muhammad Atta, who led 9/11 attacks five years ago," said Dawood. "We call him 'Jaffer al Tayyar' (Jafer the Pilot); he is very brave and intelligent. (President) Bush is aware that brother Adnan has smuggled deadly materials inside America from the Mexican border. Bush is silent about him, because he doesn’t want to panic his people. Sheikh Osama bin Laden has completed his cycle of warnings. You know, he is man of his words, he is not a politician; he always does what he says. If he said it many times that Americans will see new attacks, they will definitely see new attacks. He is a real mujahid. Americans will not win this war, which they have started against Muslims. Americans are the biggest supporters of the biggest terrorist in the world, which is Israel."

    Dawood said he was currently conducting operations in Afghanistan under the leadership of the Taliban. He warned of a series of upcoming suicide bombings there directed against government and coalition forces during Ramadan.

    He is also quoted as saying the next attack in America will not be conducted by people like Atta.

    "We have a different plan for the next attack," he told Mir. "You will see. Americans will hardly find out any Muslim names, after the next attack. Most of our brothers are living in Western countries, with Jewish and Christian names, with passports of Western countries. This time, someone with the name of Mohamed Atta will not attack inside America, it would be some David, Richard or Peter."

    He said there will be another audio message from bin Laden aired within the next two weeks.

    Mir reportedly interviewed Dawood Sept. 12 at the tomb of Sultan Mehmud Ghaznawi on the outs***ts of Kabul. Dawood and the al-Qaida leaders who accompanied him were clean-shaven and dressed as Western reporters. The al-Qaida commander had contacted Mir by cell phone to arrange the meeting.

    "You have witnessed the brutality of the Israelis in the recent 34-day war against Lebanese civilians," said Dawood. "9/11 was a revenge of Palestinian children, killed by the U.S.-made weapons, supplied to Israel. The next attack on America would be a revenge of Lebanese children killed by U.S.-made cluster bombs. Bush and (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair are the Crusaders, and Muslim leaders, like (Pakistani President Pervez) Musharraf and (Afghani President Hamid) Karzai are their collaborators. We will teach a lesson to all of them."

    El-Shukrijumah was born in Guyana Aug. 4, 1975 – the firstborn of Gulshair el-Shukrijumah, a 44-year-old radical Muslim cleric, and his 16-year-old wife. In 1985, Gulshair migrated to the United States, where he assumed duties as the imam of the Farouq Mosque in Brooklyn.

    The mosque, located at 554 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, has served as a hive for terrorist activities. It has raised millions for the jihad and has served as a recruiting station for al-Qaida. Many of the planners of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, including blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, were prominent members of this notorious "house of worship."

    In 1995, the Shukrijumah family relocated to Miramar, Fla., where Gulshair became the spiritual leader of the radical Masjid al-Hijah Mosque, and where Adnan became friends with Jose Padilla, who planned to detonate a radiological bomb in midtown Manhattan; Mandhai Jokhan, who was convicted of attempting to blow up nuclear power plants in southern Florida; and a group of other home-grown terrorists.

    Adnan Shukrijumah attended flight schools in Florida and Norman, Oklahoma, along with Mohammad Atta and the other 9/11 operatives, and he became a highly skilled commercial jet pilot, although he, like Atta and the other terrorists, never applied for a license with the Federal Aviation Commission.

    In April 2001, Shukrijumah spent 10 days in Panama, where he reportedly met with al-Qaida officials to assist in the planning of 9/11. He also traveled to Trinidad and Guyana, where virulent al-Qaida cells have been established. The following month, he obtained an associate's degree in computer engineering from Broward Community College.

    During this time, he managed to get passports from Guyana, Trinidad, Saudi Arabia, Canada and the United States, according to Williams. He also began to adopt a number of aliases, including Abu Arifi, Jafar al-Tayyar, Jaafar At Yayyar, Ja'far al-Tayar, and Mohammed Sher Mohammed Khan (the name that appeared on his official FBI file). He traveled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, where he met with Ramzi Binalshibh, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and other members of the al-Qaida high command. He also spent considerable time within al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan, where he received training in explosives and special operations.

    Following 9/11, el-Shukrijumah was reportedly singled out by bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to spearhead the next great attack on America. One plan was for a nuclear attack that would take place simultaneously in seven U.S. cities, leaving millions dead and the richest and most powerful nation on earth in ashes.

    "Muslims should leave America," said Dawood. "We cannot stop our attack just because of the American Muslims; they must realize that American forces are killing innocent Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq; we have the right to respond back, in the same manner, in the enemy's homeland. The American Muslims are like a human shield for our enemy; they must leave New York and Washington."

    Mir, the journalist, has reported previously that al-Qaida has smuggled nuclear weapons and uranium into the U.S.

    "I am saying that Muslims must leave America, but we can attack America anytime," he said. "Our cycle of warnings has been completed, now we have fresh edicts from some prominent Muslim scholars to destroy our enemy, this is our defending of Jihad; the enemy has entered in our homes and we have the right to enter in their homes, they are killing us, we will kill them."


    iran
  • mike435
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2006
    • 2104

    #2
    dont call them a terrorist gorup
    they are just xyz .......
    lets not use lables
    state of denail is more blis than state of ignorance


    G-d determines who walks into your life....It is up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.


    Comment

    • Rasputin
      Senior Member
      • Jan 2005
      • 63906

      #3
      Al-Qaida Hamas Hezbollah Iranian Akhounds... all are the same, radical and bad dangerous ppl !!

      iran

      Comment

      • Rasputin
        Senior Member
        • Jan 2005
        • 63906

        #4
        Nato 'kills 150 Taleban fighters'

        Nato says as many as 150 Taleban militants have been killed in a battle in eastern Afghanistan.
        "The insurgents had been observed gathering in Pakistan and had crossed the border prior to launching an attack," Nato said in a statement.

        It said Pakistan had helped monitor the fighters, who were then hit with artillery and air strikes.

        The Afghan defence ministry earlier estimated 80 fatalities. There was no independent confirmation of numbers.

        A Taleban spokesman said those killed were civilians, not militants. However, correspondents say there is very little civilian activity in the area of the attack.

        Conflicting reports

        The spokesman, Dr Muhammad Hanif, told Associated Press news agency that the figure of 150 Taleban fighters killed was "a complete lie".

        The battle took place in the Margha hills in Afghanistan's Paktika province, close to the Pakistani border.

        The BBC news website has learned that at least four bodies of local Wazir tribesmen have been taken to the Miranshah area of North Waziristan on the Pakistani side.

        The Nato statement said two groups of Taleban were monitored and tracked as they crossed the border, and then attacked.

        "Initial battle damage estimates indicate as many as 150 insurgents were killed," it said.

        While the defence ministry put the death toll at 80, an Afghan commander, General Murad Ali, said only about 10 bodies were recovered. He personally estimated the death toll at about 50.

        It is not clear why the figures differed so much and Nato did not say how it had arrived at the figure. Gen Ali only referred to one group of fighters crossing the border.

        Meanwhile, Pakistan says its troops attacked pro-Taleban militants in North Waziristan. It is not clear if there were casualties or if the operation was linked to the battle on the Afghan side.

        It is the first raid by Pakistan's military since a peace deal with militants in the area in September.

        'Pakistani help'

        Major Dominic White, a spokesman for the Nato force in Kabul, told the BBC as far as he was aware there were no civilian casualties in the Paktika battle.

        The death of civilians has been a major issue in Afghanistan, with Nato saying last week that its biggest mistake of the past year has been killing innocent people.

        The alliance has been accused - including by President Hamid Karzai - of carelessness over civilian lives when attacking Taleban fighters.



        Last month Nato said 80 militants had been killed in an operation in southern Helmand province, but the death toll was later reduced to eight.

        If Nato's account of the latest battle proves to be correct it will be a notable success for the alliance as they prepare to counter an anticipated spring offensive by the Taleban, says the BBC's Dan Isaacs in Kabul.

        It is also significant, he says, that Nato officials said they had the close co-operation of the Pakistani authorities in monitoring the insurgents before they entered Afghanistan.

        The commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, Gen David Richards, told journalists in Islamabad that increased Pakistani operations on the border had led to a reduction in Taleban activity towards the end of 2006.

        Afghan leaders have repeatedly called for Pakistan to offer more help in fighting the Taleban.

        Paktika province borders the Pakistani tribal areas of North and South Waziristan, where Pakistan has signed non-aggression pacts with militants.

        Afghanistan says this has allowed the Taleban to flourish and given them a base from which to launch an increasing number of attacks on its territory.

        iran

        Comment

        • Rasputin
          Senior Member
          • Jan 2005
          • 63906

          #5
          پارلمان افغانستان نخستين اجلاس سال دوم کاری خود را با سخنرانی های حامد کرزی، رييس جمهور و يونس قانونی، رييس مجلس نمايندگان اين کشور رسما آغاز کرد.
          در اين اجلاس شماری از مقامات ارشد دولت افغانستان حضور داشتند.

          سخنرانی های رسمی در مراسم افتتاح اجلاس شورای ملی افغانستان عمدتا روی چالشهای امنيتی و متحد شدن در برابر حملات تروريستی از بيرون و وظايف کليدی پارلمان برای رويارويی با مشکلات اداری متمرکز بود.

          حامد کرزی، رييس جمهور افغانستان تاکيد کرد که بدون اتحاد پيروزی در برابر تروريسم ممکن نيست و يونس قانونی، رييس مجلس نمايندگان از اين امر که چرا نظارت شورای ملی بر امور را برخی ها نوعی مداخله می پندارند حرف زد.

          آقای کرزی وضعيت سال گذشته افغانستان کشورش را در دو بخش ارزيابی کرد: کشت، توليد و قاچاق مواد مخدر و فساد اداری در دستگاه دولت.

          او همچنين مسايل امنيتی و نا آرامی های سال گذشته در افغانستان را ناشی از موجوديت لانه های تروريستی در خارج از مرزهای اين کشور خواند و گفت بيشتر نا امنی ها از سوی پاکستان بر کشورش تحميل شده است.

          آقای کرزی همچنين افزود که شماری از حلقات پاکستانی کشتار افراد بی گناه، سران اقوام و علمای افغان را سازماندهی می کنند.

          يونس قانونی، رييس مجلس نمايندگان افغانستان با اشاره به مشکلات داخلی اين مجلس گفت نمايندگان به هيچ سهولتی دسترسی ندارند و زمانی که برای تسهيلات بحث می شد شايعات برای افزايش امتيازات اوج می گرفت.

          پارلمان افغانستان وظايف زيادی در پيشرو دارد و مردم اميدوارند تا اين نهاد توان مقابله با چالشها را پيدا کند.

          بسياری از صاحب نظران با در نظر داشت ترکيب پارلمان که متشکل از گروه های مختلف سياسی و اجتماعی است ترديدهايی نسبت به موفقيت آنها در انجام کارها دارند اما رييس جمهور افغانستان همه را برای حل مشکلات به اتحاد و صف بندی در برابر تهديد از خارج دعوت کرد.


          iran

          Comment

          • Rasputin
            Senior Member
            • Jan 2005
            • 63906

            #6
            حامد کرزی رييس جمهور افغانستان، برای نخستين بار دارای فرزند شد.
            به گزارش دفتر مطبوعاتی رييس جمهور افغانستان، فرزند آقای کرزی، شب گذشته (۵ دلو – ۲۵ ژانويه) در بيمارستان رابعه بلخی کابل متولد شده است.

            حامد کرزی نام پسرش را ميرويس گذاشته که نام يکی از شاهان پيشين افغانستان است.

            آقای کرزی که امسال وارد پنجاهمين سال زندگی اش می شود، در سال 1378 خورشيدی با زينت قريشی ازدواج کرد اما تاکنون فرزندی نداشت.

            دفتر مطبوعاتی رييس جمهور افغانستان گزارش داده است که آقای کرزی در هنگام دريافت خبر تولد نخستين فرزندش، ابراز شادمانی کرد و گفت اميدوار است "خداوند متعال فرزندم را خادم مردم افغانستان بسازد و در راه خدمتگذاری به مردم به او توفيق دهد".

            آقای کرزی پيش از اين چند بار در سخنرانی و گفتگو هايش با رسانه ها به اين موضوع اشاره کرده بود و از خدا خواسته بود به او فرزندی بدهد.


            iran

            Comment

            • Rasputin
              Senior Member
              • Jan 2005
              • 63906

              #7
              ديويد ريچاردز فرمانده بريتانيايی نيروهای پيمان آتلانتيک شمالی (ناتو) در افغانستان جای خود را به يک ژنرال آمريکايی داد.
              آقای ريچاردز که به مدت ۹ ماه فرماندهی نيروهای بين المللی ياری امنيتی (آيساف) در افغانستان را به عهده داشت، روز يکشنبه (15 دلو)، فرماندهی اين نيرو را به ژنرال آمريکايی، دان مک نيل سپرد.

              نيروهای ناتو تحت رهبری ژنرال ريچاردز، طی ۹ ماه از ۹ هزار به ۳۳ هزار سرباز افزايش يافت.

              در حالی که فرماندهان ناتو در اين منطقه برای شکست طالبان تقاضای نيروهای بيشتری کرده اند، فقط امريکا و بريتانيا قول اعزام نيروهای بيشتر را داده اند.

              چالش

              اليستر ليتهد خبرنگار بی بی سی در کابل می گويد ماموريت در افغانستان، برای ژنرال بريتانيايی، ديود ريچاردز، يک چالش بوده است.

              اين ژنرال 55 ساله، در 9 ماه ماموريتش در افغانستان، با افزايش خشونتهای شبه نظاميان طالبان در جنوب کشور روبرو بود.


              ژنرال ريچاردز به مدت ۹ ماه فرمانده آيساف بود
              واحدهايی از نيروهای کانادايی، آمريکايی و بريتانيايی در مناطق آشوب زده جنوب افغانستان، سرگرم نبرد با بقايای رژيم سرنگون شده طالبان هستند. دولت افغانستان قبلا بر اين مناطق کنترل چندانی نداشته است.

              ژنرال ريچاردز در حالی فرماندهی ناتو در افغانستان را واگذار می کند که شبه نظاميان طالبان، بار ديگر کنترل ولسوالی موسی قلعه در ولايت نا آرام هلمند را به دست گرفته اند.

              اين ولسوالی بر اساس توافق ناتو و بزرگان محلی، قرار بود بدون حضور نيروهای متخاصم طالبان و ناتو اداره شود.

              ژنرال ديويد ريچاردز در مصاحبه با بی بی سی گفت که ملا عبدالغفور فرمانده طالبان در ولسوالی موسی قلعه، در حمله هوايی نيروهای ناتو کشته شده است.

              روش جديد؟

              ژنرال دان مک نيل روز يکشنبه در مراسمی فرماندهی نيروهای تحت امر ناتو در افغانستان را در دست گرفت.

              اين ژنرال آمريکايی پيش از اين نيز در افغانستان مستقر بوده و فرماندهی دسته ای از نيروهای آيساف را برعهده داشته است.

              آقای مک نيل با اشاره به سقوط ولسوالی موسی قلعه به دست طالبان، گفت که نيروهای آمريکايی ناتو، از توافق صلح بريتانيايی ها با بزرگان محلی در اين ولسوالی انتقاد کرده اند.

              اين توافق صلح چهار ماه به طول نيانجامید و دو روز پیش، با حمله طالبان به موسی قلعه، نقض شد.

              انتظار می رود فرمانده جديد آيساف، نيروهای بيشتری در اختيار داشته باشد.

              خبرنگار بی بی سی می گويد هنوز معلوم نيست که آيا ژنرال مک نيل، روش جديدی را در برخورد با نا آرامی های افغانستان در پيش خواهد گرفت يا خير.


              iran

              Comment

              • Rasputin
                Senior Member
                • Jan 2005
                • 63906

                #8
                مقامات پيمان اتلانيتک شمالی ناتو در افغانستان می گويند جنگجويان خارجی که با شبکه القاعده ارتباط دارند، به منظور فعاليت های تروريستی وارد افغانستان شده اند.
                تام کولينس، يک سخنگوی نيروهای تحت فرمان ناتو در کابل در يک کنفرانس خبری گفت که اين افراد از آنسوی مرزهای افغانستان وارد اين کشور شده اند ولی در اين مورد به کشور مشخصی اشاره نکرد.

                آقای کولينس گفت که بخشی از اين جنگجويان خارجی در ولسوالی موسی قلعه ولايت هلمند مستقر شده اند که از حدود دو هفته گذشته در تصرف گروه طالبان قرار دارد.

                سخنگوی ناتو گفت که اين افراد در تلاش افزايش نفوذ خود در مناطق جنوبی افغانستان و اطراف کوه های هندوکش هستند تا به گفته او، در کنار ادامه فعاليت های تروريستی، بتوانند از کشتزارهای خشخاش در هلمند و ديگر مناطق همجوار آن نيز سود گسترده ببرند.

                آقای کولينس گفت: "ما می دانيم که جنگجويان خارجی به شکل گسترده ای از مناطق مرزی افغانستان به اين کشور رخنه می کنند."

                او افزود: "ما باور داريم که تندروان طالبان می خواهند قندهار را منزوی کنند تا بتوانند از کشتزارهای خشخاش در هلمند و ديگر مناطق سود برده و به منظور ايجاد پناهگاه های امن در شمال هلمند، اروزگان و حتی غور و دامنه های کوه هندوکش به رفت و آمد ادامه دهند."

                موسی قلعه

                سخنگوی نيروهای تحت فرمان ناتو در کابل، به موضوع موسی قلعه نيز اشاره کرد و گفت که آنان برای بازپس گيری ولسوالی موسی قلعه از اختيار طالبان آماده هستند ولی افزود در مورد هر گونه اقدام عملی در اين مورد، دولت مرکزی افغانستان بايد تصميم گيرد.

                ولسوالی موسی قلعه از حدود دو هفته گذشته در اختيار گروه طالبان قرار دارد و تا حالا اقدام عملی برای باز پس گيری اين ولسوالی از سوی دولت افغانستان صورت نگرفته است.

                سازمان ملل متحد می گويد صدها خانواده در اين ولسوالی، از خانه های خود فرار کرده و به مناطقی در خارج از موسی قلعه پناه برده اند.

                ولی با اين حال، وضعيت امنيتی در اين ولسوالی نسبتا آرام گزارش می شود.


                iran

                Comment

                • Rasputin
                  Senior Member
                  • Jan 2005
                  • 63906

                  #9
                  Remember Al Qaeda? They're baaack
                  Defeating Osama bin Laden's resurgent terrorist network requires far more than military might.
                  By Bruce Hoffman, BRUCE HOFFMAN is a professor at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center. His most recent book is "Inside Terrorism."
                  February 20, 2007


                  'AL QAEDA," President Bush declared confidently in October, "is on the run." The extremists, he said, had "played their hand." The masterminds of the organization had been "brought to justice."

                  But just as we underestimated Al Qaeda before 9/11, we risk making the same mistake now. Although Al Qaeda is often spoken of as if it is in retreat — a broken and beaten organization incapable of mounting attacks, its leadership cut off, living in caves somewhere in remotest Waziristan — the truth is that the organization is not on the run but on the march. It has regrouped and reorganized from the setbacks it suffered during the initial phases of the global war on terrorism and is marshaling its forces to continue the epic struggle begun more than 10 years ago.

                  Rather than being degraded to the point that it can threaten only softer, more accessible targets like hotels and mass transit, Al Qaeda is very much sticking with its classic playbook of simultaneous, spectacular strikes against even hardened objectives. In other words, we have more to fear from this resilient organization, not less.

                  Ongoing investigations increasingly suggest that recent terrorist threats and attacks — the foiled 2004 plan to stage simultaneous suicide attacks in the United States, the 2005 suicide bus and subway bombings in London and the August 2006 plot to blow up 10 planes over the Atlantic — were all coordinated in some way by Al Qaeda and not by homegrown terror groups.

                  Consider what we have learned since the London bombings. Initially, British authorities concluded that the attacks were the work of disaffected British Muslims, self-radicalized and self-selected and operating purely within the country. We have subsequently learned, however, that the cell's ringleader, Mohamed Sidique Khan, and a fellow bomber visited Pakistani terrorist camps between late 2004 and early 2005 and met there with Al Qaeda operatives.

                  In addition, following the London attacks, a reliable source working for Britain's security service recognized Khan from news reports and claimed to have seen him at an Al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan in 1999 or 2000.

                  The London bombings' pedigree is familiar. Exactly a year earlier, British and American authorities had disrupted a plot by a London-based Al Qaeda cell to carry out simultaneous suicide attacks on the New York Stock Exchange, the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington. The trail again led to Pakistan.

                  And this summer's plot to simultaneously bomb U.S. airliners was foiled after arrests in Pakistan again led British and U.S. officials to another British terrorist cell planning to attack American targets.

                  Rather than "Al Qaeda R.I.P.," we face an Al Qaeda that has risen from the grave. It has been able to adapt and adjust to the changes imposed on its operations by the U.S.-led war on terrorism and reestablish its command and control over international terrorism from the sanctuary it has established in Pakistan's North Waziristan.

                  Just last month, this alarming development produced a dramatic reversal in the Bush administration's public assessment of the Al Qaeda threat. In contrast to long-standing White House claims, the annual threat assessment presented by outgoing National Intelligence Director John D. Negroponte to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence painted a disquieting picture of a highly resilient terrorist movement that, he said, is cultivating stronger operational connections to affiliates throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

                  Al Qaeda's stunning resurrection, before the very eyes of American military forces stationed across the border in southern Afghanistan, begs the question of how the most powerful country in the world can launch a six-year, no-holds-barred, global war on terrorism — at great cost to its pocketbook and international standing — only to find the main target of these Herculean efforts still alive and kicking.

                  In retrospect, it appears that Iraq blinded us to the possibility of an Al Qaeda renaissance. The United States' entanglement there has consumed the attention and resources of our country's military and intelligence communities — at precisely the time that Osama bin Laden and other senior Al Qaeda commanders were in their most desperate straits and stood to benefit most from this distraction. What's more, even as we took solace in the president's argument that we were "fighting terrorists over there, so that we don't have to fight them here," Al Qaeda was regrouping.

                  Pakistan is both the problem and the solution to the most salient terrorist threat still directed against us. Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies could not function without the passive connivance of Pakistani authorities. Moreover, agreements concluded over the past two years between President Pervez Musharraf and the restive tribes along the Afghan border have assured Al Qaeda the noninterference with its activities that enables it to thrive. At the same time, the pivotal role played by Pakistan in the disruption of major attacks and the arrests of low-level plotters shows how dependent the U.S. remains on even this partial cooperation.

                  Defeating Al Qaeda requires, foremost, that our assessments and analyses be anchored firmly to sound, empirical judgment and not blinded by conjecture and wishful thinking. Second, we need to refocus our attention and efforts on Pakistan and Afghanistan, where, in the months after 9/11, Al Qaeda was indeed on the run. Third, Al Qaeda cannot be defeated by military means alone because it relies on propaganda and radicalization.

                  Accordingly, the U.S. needs a strategy that better combines the tactical elements of systematically destroying and weakening Al Qaeda's capabilities alongside the equally critical imperatives of countering the resonance of that movement's message and breaking the cycle of terrorist recruitment and replenishment that has both sustained and replenished Al Qaeda.

                  iran

                  Comment

                  • Rasputin
                    Senior Member
                    • Jan 2005
                    • 63906

                    #10
                    سال 2007 به گمان برخی تحلیلگران و کارشناسان، سال سرنوشت سازی برای افغانستان به شمار می رود. میزان اطمینان عمومی به دولت حامد کرزی و طرح امنیتی نیروهای بین المللی به حد بسیار پائینی رسیده است.
                    در گزارشی که توسط مرکز مطالعات بین الملل و استراتژیک در واشنگتن (CSIS) تهیه شده آمده است که تغییراتی اصولی باید در سیاست های بین المللی صورت گیرد تا شرایط زندگی مردم افغان بهبود یافته و چرخه خشونت در افغانستان متوقف شود.

                    گزارش تهیه شده توسط CSIS خاطرنشان می کند که بزرگ ترین تهدیدی که در راه است، حمله قابل انتظار طالبان از هلمند و قندهار در جنوب و شرق افغانستان است.

                    انتظار می رود بریتانیا هفته بعد افزایش تعداد نیروهای خود در جنوب افغانستان را اعلام کند. فرماندهان ناتو نیز قرار است درخواست منابع بیشتر برای شکست دادن طالبان را اعلام کنند.

                    گزارش مرکز مطالعات بین الملل و استراتژیک می گوید که مردم افغانستان اعتماد خود به دولت را از دست داده اند و انتظارات آنها برای بهبود شرایط زندگی به جایی نرسیده است و میزان ترس و سرخوردگی مردم رو به افزایش است.

                    طبق این گزارش وضعیت افغانستان در حال حاضر خطرناک تر و پیچیده تر از هر زمانی طی پنج سال گذشته است و مردم افغانستان به دلیل حملات خشونت آمیز شورشیان و ناتوانی نیروهای امنیتی در مقابله با جنگ سالاران و قاچاقچیان مواد مخدر بیشتر احساس ناامنی می کنند. وضعیت حاکمیت قانون در افغانستان بدتر شده و در مقابل فعالیت شبه نظامیان، مقامات فاسد و قاچاقچیان روند صعودی داشته است.

                    گزارش مرکز مطالعات بین الملل و استراتژیک پیشنهاد می کند که یک چتر محافظتی به سرعت راه اندازی می شود تا با وضعیت اضطراری در جنوب و شرق که با تهدیدات طالبان روبرو است مقابله کند. این گزارش همچنین می گوید باید تعداد نیروهای بین المللی در قندهار و هلمند افزایش یابد و این نیروهای در حضوری دایمی در مناطق کلیدی این دو ولایت داشته باشند.


                    iran

                    Comment

                    • Rasputin
                      Senior Member
                      • Jan 2005
                      • 63906

                      #11
                      An incident described by US forces in Afghanistan as a "complex ambush" has left at least eight civilians dead.
                      The incident occurred on the road from the eastern city of Jalalabad to Pakistan when a suicide bomber targeted a convoy, sparking a fire fight.

                      US officials initially said 16 people had been killed. They did not explain the lower, revised death toll.

                      Thousands of local people took to the streets, accusing the Americans of deliberately firing on the civilians.

                      Separately, Nato said two British soldiers had been killed in fighting in southern Afghanistan.

                      Spring offensive

                      The US military said a minibus containing explosives was driven at the convoy, injuring one soldier.

                      US troops were then attacked from several directions and returned fire in defence of the patrol.

                      The [US troops] opened fire on everybody, the ones inside the vehicles and the ones on foot

                      Tur Gul, injured civilian


                      UK soldiers killed

                      Thousands of people gathered to demonstrate against the shooting, shouting "Death to America, Death to Karzai", referring to the Afghan president, and blaming the US patrol for shooting passers-by.

                      US military spokesman Maj William Mitchell said: "We certainly believe it's possible that the incoming fire from the ambush was wholly or partly responsible for the civilian casualties."

                      However, Mohammad Khan Katawazi, chief of Shinwar district, said the US troops treated everyone as a potential attacker even if they had no evidence.

                      One injured civilian, Tur Gul, told the Associated Press news agency: "They opened fire on everybody, the ones inside the vehicles and the ones on foot."

                      "When we parked our vehicle, when they passed us, they opened fire on our vehicle," said Mohammad Ishaq, 15, who was also hit by bullets.



                      The BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kabul says there has been a huge increase in the number of suicide attacks over the past 12 months, but a coordinated ambush is relatively rare.

                      He says there have also been other demonstrations in the same province, Nangarhar, recently, mainly at opium poppy eradication by government officials.

                      The two British servicemen killed in southern Afghanistan died in the Sangin area of Helmand province on Saturday.

                      Twenty foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year.

                      Nato fears that Taleban violence will escalate in several areas of Afghanistan as the winter snows thaw.

                      Nato commanders have said they need more soldiers to tackle the expected spring offensive.

                      Last Tuesday at least nine people were killed in a suicide bombing at the main US base in Afghanistan, Bagram near Kabul, during a visit by US Vice-President Dick Cheney.

                      iran

                      Comment

                      • Rasputin
                        Senior Member
                        • Jan 2005
                        • 63906

                        #12
                        Nine Afghan civilians have been killed in a bombing raid in Kapisa province, Afghan officials say.
                        US forces have confirmed carrying out an air strike in the area but say they have no accurate casualty information.

                        The news comes shortly after US forces were accused of killing 10 civilians during a shoot out on Sunday in Nangarhar province.

                        Journalists say US troops confiscated their photos and video footage of the aftermath of the violence.

                        The BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kabul says the international mission to Afghanistan is to help the government and the people. But heavy fighting and suicide attacks have led to the death of thousands of innocent people over the past year.

                        President Karzai has been critical of the international forces in the past, saying they should do more to prevent civilian casualties.


                        Nato denial

                        News of the air strike in Kapisa came first from the province's deputy governor, Sayed Daud Hashimi.




                        US 'erased attack footage'

                        He said the nine dead civilians included five women and three children and that the raid was carried out by Nato forces. Nato have denied any involvement.

                        But later a US military statement said US-led forces had "dropped two 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs" during an air strike in Kapisa after a Nato base had come under attack.

                        A US spokesman, Lt Col David Accetta, said the Nato base had come under rocket attack and that "two men with AK-47s" were seen leaving the scene of the rocket attack and entering a compound," the Associated Press news agency reports.

                        "These men knowingly endangered civilians by retreating into a populated area while conducting attacks against coalition forces."

                        Local people say that the coalition forces then bombed a mud-brick home, killing nine members of the same extended family.



                        The news came shortly after President Hamid Karzai had condemned an incident on Sunday in which US forces were accused of firing indiscriminately at civilians in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

                        'Co-ordinated attack'

                        The Americans say the Nangarhar fighting, near the city of Jalalabad, started when a convoy of marines was attacked by a suicide bomber and came under co-ordinated small-arms fire.


                        Local people accused US soldiers of targeting civilians in Nangarhar

                        They say their soldiers returned fire, and acknowledge that at least eight Afghan civilians were killed, with a further 35 injured.

                        President Karzai has "strongly condemned the incident which took place due to a suicide attack on a coalition convoy and which prompted the coalition force firing on civilians that killed 10 people", a statement from his office said.

                        Reports say that as they left the scene along a busy highway, the Americans fired indiscriminately on civilians and their vehicles.

                        Thousands of local people took to the streets on Sunday to protest against what happened. The Afghan authorities have launched an investigation into the circumstances of the militant attack.


                        The Associated Press news agency says it will complain to the US military after journalists said US soldiers deleted footage of the aftermath of the Nangarhar violence.

                        Freelance journalists working for the Associated Press said troops erased photos and video showing a vehicle in which three people were shot dead during Sunday's incident in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

                        iran

                        Comment

                        • Rasputin
                          Senior Member
                          • Jan 2005
                          • 63906

                          #13
                          با تشکیل جبهه ملی درافغانستان، بقرار معلوم معیارهای گذشته درزمینه سیاست و همسوئیهای سیاسی دستخوش تغییرات قابل ملاحظه ای گردیده است.
                          روز سه شنبه 3 آوریل تشکل سیاسی جدیدی با نام "جبهه ملی" اعلام موجودیت کرد که بر اساس گفته های موسسان جبهه، در آن تقریبا تمامی احزاب و جریان های سیاسی فعال در صحنه سیاسی سه دهه اخیر عضویت دارند

                          موسسان جبهه ملی که بیشتر آنها اعضای پارلمان افغانستان هستند می گویند هدف آنان از تشکیل این نهاد جدید سیاسی رفع بحران هایی است که دامنگیر دولت بوده و هیچ سازمان و حزبی نمی توانسته به تنهایی آن را حل کند.

                          ترکیب جبهه ملی بگونه ایست که ظاهراً طیف گسترده ای از برخی عناصر منفرد و گروه های جهادی، منطقوی و چپگرای دیروزی را در یک محورعملگرای سیاسی گردهم آورده است. بملاحظه این ترکیب می توان دریافت که موسسان پایبند قواعد خشک ایدئولوژیک گذشته نیستند و بتدریج فضای بازتر سیاسی برپایه همگرائیهای ملی و منطقوی درکشور، تا اندازه یی جایگزین بدگمانی ها و بدبینی های دیروزی می گردد.

                          دیرپایی یا ناپایداری جبهه:

                          اما در رابطه با این جبهه ائتلافی، گمانه زنی های زیادی ازهم اکنون وجود دارد و به احتمال زیاد در روند تشکیل و فعالیت آن، نظرات گوناگون و شک و تردیدهای دیگری بوجود خواهد آمد که آیا این ائتلاف پابرجا باقی خواهد ماند و یا سیر شکننده ای را خواهد پیمود.


                          رییس جمهورافغانستان گفته است او به ایجاد جبهه ملی به رهبری برهان الدین ربانی احترام می گذارد اما در دستور کار این جبهه مواردی وجود دارد که بگفته او معقول نیست

                          آگاهان به این باورند که هرگاه ائتلاف و عناصر مؤتلفه آن برپایه برخی اصول پذیرفته شده مشترک درمطابقت با منافع مردم افغانستان وبا درنظرداشت حقوق ملی، مدنی و شهروندی ایشان و به تحقق دموکراسی و عدالت اجتماعی درجامعه، مطرح گردد و به آنچه که دررابطه با نظام آینده کشوراظهار داشته است، وفادار باقی بماند و افزون برآن، هرگاه باگذشت و آینده نگری برخورد نماید، دراینصورت امکانات رشد و بقا درپیش رو خواهد داشت.

                          اما هرگاه، افراد و سیاستهای ائتلاف، خودنگری و نزدیک بینی را درپیش بگیرند و رهبران آن منافع شخصی و گروهی خویش را دنبال نمایند و یا اینکه درپی برتری جویی و انحصارطلبی باشند، دورنمای پیروزی کمرنگ جلوه خواهد کرد و حتی احتمال ازهم پاشیدن ائتلاف دور از انتظار نخواهد بود.

                          چگونی برنامه سیاسی جبهه:

                          برپایه تذکرات بالا، چگونگی برنامه یا پلاتفورم سیاسی جبهه ازاهمیت بزرگی برخوردار خواهد بود. باید دید که هدفهای نزدیک و دورنمایی جبهه چگونه مطرح و برکدام طرح سیاسی استوارخواهد شد.

                          ازنخستین اظهارات مقامات جبهه برمیاید که هنوز تفاوت نظرهای اساسی دراین زمینه وجود دارد.

                          برخی از اعضای مؤسسان ازتشکیل جبهه بعنوان همکار دولت کنونی درمطابقت با قانون اساسی حرف می زنند و برخی های دیگر از تغییر قانون اساسی، تشکیل نظام پارلمانی و ارتقای صلاحیتهای شوراهای محلی بشمول انتخابی بودن والیها و شهردارها صحبت می نمایند. به نظر می رسد که درحالت اولی از سیاست جدیدی درواقع حرفی درمیان نخواهد بود و درحالت دومی از بوجود آمدن یک اپوزیسیون در درون حاکمیت کنونی، تغییری چشمگیر مطرح خواهد شد.

                          جبهه ملی بعنوان اپوزیسیون:

                          ایجاد اپوزیسیون ها در درون حاکمیت، امری نا آشنا درنظامهایی نیست که افغانستان نیز آنرا برگزیده است. امروزه دربسیاری کشورهای پیشرفته که با افغانستان مناسبات نزدیک دارند و برسیاستهای آن تأثیرگذاراند، چنین اپوزیسیونهایی وجود دارد که درمقطع های زمانی معین در حاکمیت یکی جای دیگر را می گیرند.

                          بقرار معلوم حزب افغان ملت و آقای عبدالرب رسول سیاف، یکی دیگر ازرهبران جهادی، در این جبهه حضور ندارند. همچنین به گفته ناظران جایگاه برخی دیگر ازشخصیتها و احزاب جهادی مانند آقایان کریم خلیلی و محمد محقق در کجا خواهد بود؟

                          آیا چنین افراد و احزاب و برخی افراد جداگانه دیگر که ازپیوستن به جبهه ملی دوری جسته اند، کماکان از آقای کرزی پشتیبانی خواهند کرد و یا موضع مستقلی را اتخاذ خواهند نمود و باصطلاح راه سومی را برخواهند گزید.

                          افزون برآن، درمیان دونیروی بالقوه و بالفعل حاکم در درون حاکمیت، شمار زیادی از احزاب و سازمانها و افراد مستقل وجود دارد که معلوم نیست دراین گیرودار سیاسی کدام موضع را انتخاب خواهند کرد. آیا آنان سیاستهای انتزاعی را ادامه خواهند داد و یا بگونه ایکه مطرح است در یک جبهه دیگر "چپ" ائتلاف تشکیل می دهند؟

                          آشکار شدن تقابل میان دو جناح در حاکمیت کنونی:

                          بقرار اظهارات و موضعگیریهای آشکار درروزهای اخیر، دو جناح یکی به رهبری حامد کرزی، رئیس جمهور، و دیگری به رهبری برهان الدین ربانی رئیس جمهور پیشین افغانستان و رئیس جبهه ملی، دستکم در یک مورد، درتقابل جدی قرار دارند. اولی از تمرکز قدرت و دومی بگونه ای از تقسیم آن حرف می زنند.

                          آقای کرزی ازاعلام سیاستهای جبهه در رابطه به جانبداری از نظام پارلمانی و انتخابی شدن مقامات والیها و شهرداریها انتقاد کرد و آنرا نظام پارلمانی و فدرالی و درنتیجه غیرمعقول برای افغانستان خواند؛ درحالیکه آشکار نساخت که چرا و چگونه چنان نظامی معمول دربسیاری از کشورهای جهان، برای افغانستان چندین ملیتی و چندین قومی زیانبخش خواهد بود.

                          او همچنان از دست داشتن برخی کشورهای همسایه و سفارتها درایجاد جبهه سخن گفت و اظهار داشت که خود با اعضای گروه طالبان درحال مذاکره است. آنچه مهم است اینکه دومورد بالا صرف بعنوان یک تهدید پیش کشیده شده است یا حرفهای جدی است.

                          ولی واکنش آقای ربانی دربرابر این اظهارات گنک بود و آنرا در مورد جبهه ناشی از احساسات و انفعالی توصیف کرد و سخنگوی جبهه بگونه دیگری اظهارات آقای کرزی را اتهام و جبهه را همکار حکومت خواند.

                          نتیجه گیری:

                          آنچه را که حداقل با توجه به این مسایل دستکم بعنوان نتیجه گیری اولیه می توان گفت این است که تشکیل جبهه ملی پدیده نوی است که به نظر می رسد آرایش و توازن نیروهای سیاسی و قومی افغانستان را تا حدودی تغییر دهد.

                          این تغییرات آشکار خواهد ساخت که کدام نیروها و گروه های تأثیر گذار سیاسی ازکدام سیاستهای مطرح درجامعه درحال تحول افغانستان جانبداری و پشتیبانی خواهند کرد.

                          درهرحال، پیشبینی می شود که با توجه به واکنشهای آقای کرزی به تشکل جدیدی و نقاط مبهمی که در اظهارات موسسان جبهه در رابطه با سیاست جبهه وجود دارد، حکومت آقای کرزی و طرفداران آن با چالش مواجه خواهند شد. اگرچه با توجه به ساختار قومیتی افغانستان و تجربه ائتلافهای گذشته آینده نشان خواهد داد که چنین مبارزه ای چقدر جدی خواهد بود.


                          iran

                          Comment

                          • Rasputin
                            Senior Member
                            • Jan 2005
                            • 63906

                            #14
                            WASHINGTON — U.S. forces recently intercepted Iranian-made weapons intended for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the Pentagon's top general said Tuesday, suggesting wider Iranian war involvement in the region.

                            It appeared to be the first publicly disclosed instance of Iranian arms entering Afghanistan, although it was not immediately clear whether the weapons came directly from Iran or were shipped through a third party.

                            Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that unlike in Iraq, where U.S. officials say they are certain that arms are being supplied to insurgents by Iran's secretive Quds Force, the Iranian link in Afghanistan is murky.

                            "It is not as clear in Afghanistan which Iranian entity is responsible, but we have intercepted weapons in Afghanistan headed for the Taliban that were made in Iran," Pace told a group of reporters over breakfast.

                            He said the weapons, including mortars and C-4 plastic explosives, were intercepted in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan within the past month. He did not describe the quantity of intercepted materials or say whether it was the first time American forces had found Iranian-made arms in that country.

                            Asked about Pace's remarks, a Pentagon spokesman, Army Col. Gary Keck, said he had not heard of previous instances of Iranian weaponry being found in Afghanistan but he was not certain this was the first time.

                            Iran has had an uneven relationship with Afghanistan over the years. During the wars of the past quarter-century — the 1979-89 Soviet occupation, the subsequent civil war, Taliban rule starting in 1996 and the 2001 U.S.-led invasion — millions of Afghans, particularly from the western provinces, took refuge in Iran.

                            In recent years Iran has contributed to numerous economic improvements in western Afghanistan, including roadways, schools and several clinics. But Michael Rubin, an Iran expert at the American Enterprise Institute, sees reason for concern about Iran's efforts to increase its influence inside Afghanistan.

                            "Iran's leadership often strikes pragmatic relationships to further their influence at our expense," he said Tuesday. "A lot of testimonials about Iranian assistance in Afghanistan are based more on wishful thinking than reality."

                            In a statement issued in response to Pace's comments, the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, a coalition of Iranian opposition groups, said Iran's Quds Force has been active in Afghanistan for several years.

                            Mohammad Mohaddessin, chairman of the Iranian group's foreign affairs committee, said: "Export of fundamentalism and terrorism to neighboring and Islamic countries has been one of the pillars of the clerical regime's foreign policy — something that the Iranian resistance has warned about for the past two decades."

                            The United States has about 25,000 troops in Afghanistan, mostly in the eastern area. The main focus of U.S. and Afghan government concern about arms and training for the Taliban is the largely ungoverned tribal area of Pakistan along the Afghan border, where the Taliban have found sanctuary.

                            With regard to Iranian activities in Iraq, Pace said it is clear that Quds Force members are involved in the network that supplies materials to make roadside bombs, which are a leading killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.

                            "We know that there are munitions that were made in Iran that are in Iraq and in Afghanistan," he said, adding that it also is clear that the Quds Force reports to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which reports directly to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

                            "We surmise from that one of two things: Either the leadership of the country knows what their armed forces are doing, or they don't know. In either case, that's a problem," Pace said.

                            He was asked what the U.S. government intended to do about Iranian military aid to forces opposing U.S. troops.

                            "We will continue to be very aggressive inside of Iran — I'm sorry, excuse me, inside of Iraq — and inside of Afghanistan against any elements that are posing a threat to our own forces," he replied, adding that military action against Iran was not the first choice.

                            "There is a lot more diplomacy, not only between the United States and Iran but between all the nations of the world and Iran, that can still be brought to bear to change Iran's attitude," he said.

                            "Military force is your last tool, not your first tool," he said. "There are still many international tools available to address Iranian interference."

                            iran

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                            • Rasputin
                              Senior Member
                              • Jan 2005
                              • 63906

                              #15
                              U.S. Says Iranian Arms Seized in Afghanistan

                              A shipment of Iranian-made weapons bound for the Taliban was recently captured by allied forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon’s top officer said Tuesday.

                              It was the first time that a senior American official had asserted that Iranian-made weapons were being supplied to the Taliban. But Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it was not clear if the Iranian government had authorized the shipment.

                              “We have intercepted weapons in Afghanistan headed for the Taliban that were made in Iran,” General Pace told reporters. “It’s not as clear in Afghanistan which Iranian entity is responsible.”

                              The shipment involved mortars and plastic explosives and was seized within the past month near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. Markings on the plastic explosive material indicated that it was produced in Iran, General Pace said.

                              American military commanders in Baghdad have repeatedly asserted that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran has provided components for powerful roadside bombs and other weapons to militants in Iraq. Iran has denied those allegations.

                              Iran has played a complicated role in Afghanistan. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, Iran was a bitter foe. When the Taliban-controlled forces seized the northern Afghan town of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1997, a group of Iranian diplomats there were executed.

                              Iran provided support to the Northern Alliance, which sought to overthrow the Taliban. It also cooperated with the United States in picking the current Afghan leader, President Hamid Karzai.

                              But as relations between Iran and the United States have become more confrontational, some intelligence reports have indicated that the Revolutionary Guards might arm the Taliban in order to weaken and tie down the American military in Afghanistan.

                              Bush administration officials have repeatedly argued that Iran has been seeking to become the dominant power in the Middle East. Some experts, however, assert that the Iranian strategy may be defensive.

                              “The overall Iranian role has been to work closely with us to bring Karzai into power,” said Barnett Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan at New York University. “However, the Iranians believe the No. 1 threat is an American attack to overthrow their government. They may do anything it takes to make the United States and its allies uncomfortable there.”

                              Asked how he thought the United States should respond to the purported Iranian support for militant groups opposed to American interests, General Pace said it should take military actions against Iranian-sponsored networks.

                              “I think we should continue to be aggressive inside of Iraq, and aggressive inside of Afghanistan, in attacking any element that’s attacking U.S. and coalition forces, regardless of where they come from,” General Pace said. He also said that the United States and other nations should use diplomacy with the Iranian government “to address Iranian interference.”

                              While General Pace did not say exactly when the Iranian-made arms in Afghanistan were seized or which forces captured the shipment, one American official said the episode occurred within the past week or so.

                              The Bush administration has charged that Iran has been supplying lethal support to Shiite militants in Iraq. Five Iranians who were captured in an American raid in January in the northern Iraqi town of Erbil are still in American custody. Iran has demanded their release, insisting that they are diplomats and not intelligence or military operatives.

                              According to American intelligence officials, the support to militant groups in Iraq is so systematic that it could not be carried out without the knowledge of some senior Iranian officials. “Based on our understanding of the Iranian system and the history of I.R.G.C. operations, the intelligence community assesses that activity this extensive on the part of the Quds Force would not be conducted without approval from top leaders in Iran,” a senior intelligence official said this year. The Quds Force is an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards.

                              General Pace has been much more cautious about asserting involvement by senior Iranian officials.

                              “We know that there are munitions that were made in Iran that are in Iraq and in Afghanistan,” General Pace said Tuesday. “And we know that the Quds Force works for the I.R.G.C.”

                              “We then surmise from that one or two things,” he said. “Either the leadership of the country knows what their armed forces are doing, or that they don’t know. And in either case that’s a problem.”

                              iran

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