Al Qaeda - Truth or fiction ?

Subject: Al Qaeda

See This :http://www.alqaedadoesntexist.com/home.html








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Anybody notice....That we can't catch Al-Qeada because they are so high tech that they have untraceable satellite phones and impenetrable multi-tiered cave systems that have enough food and fuel to last for 7 years now. But then the reason shifts that why we can't catch them is because they are so low tech and evade all these fancy gizmos we have set up all around the world to track people and those machines that would be keeping them alive in those caves.


Yanno the real reason we have been unable to find Al-Ciada? They are in Pakistan! Thank the heavens that Barack is not scared to take Pakistan head on with his quasi-....ultimatums.

This is the modern day boogie-man folks. Educate.



http:......../......../........www.........alqaedadoesntex....ist.com

Defense Secretary Robert Gates

Insurgents in Afghanistan Are Gaining, Petraeus Says

Gen. David H. Petraeus left 10 Downing Street in London on Monday after meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

By CARLOTTA GALL - Published: September 30, 2008

LONDON — As he prepares to take up his post as head of Central Command, Gen. David H. Petraeus said in an interview this week that he expected the fight against the insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan to get worse before it got better. “Obviously the trends in Afghanistan have been in the wrong direction, and I think everyone is rightly concerned about them,” said General Petraeus, who as the commander of forces in Iraq oversaw the troop “surge” that has been credited with helping to reduce the violence there. Turning things around in Afghanistan and Pakistan would require taking away militant sanctuaries and strongholds that the insurgents would defend tenaciously, he said. “Certainly in Afghanistan, wresting control of certain areas from the Taliban will be very difficult,” he said. The same went for Pakistan, he said, where extremism presented a deadly threat, graphically highlighted by the recent Marriott Hotel bombing. “In both places, in certain areas, the going may be tougher before it gets easier,” he said. General Petraeus was in London and Paris this week as part of several weeks of information gathering before he takes up his job as commander of all American forces in the Middle East and Afghanistan on Oct. 31. He visited Afghanistan in August and spent a day with the Pakistani chief of army staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, on a United States aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea as part of his information gathering, he said. General Petraeus’s experience in Iraq has allowed him to develop a comprehensive approach to fighting the counterinsurgency. But the general was careful not to take any lessons from Iraq too hastily, and said he would not be directing things in Afghanistan and Pakistan with a “several-thousand-mile screwdriver” from Central Command. “People often ask, ‘What did you learn from Iraq that might be transferable to Afghanistan?’ ” he said. “The first lesson, the first caution really, is that every situation like this is truly and absolutely unique, and has its own context and specifics and its own texture,” he said. “Counterinsurgents have to understand that in as nuanced a manner as possible, and then with that kind of understanding try to craft a comprehensive approach to the problems.” Counterterrorism operations were just one small part of that approach, he said, among other efforts, which could include tribal Awakening Councils, jobs programs, efforts at reconciliation and diplomatic relations with neighboring countries. For Afghanistan, he spoke of increasing international forces and what he called “thickening” local forces as well, through greater political engagement of tribes and reconciliation with fighters who were not hard-core. There was also the need to engage countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, to help with the Taliban, he said. The general also stressed the need to work closely with Afghan leaders on all elements of strategy. “There has to be as much unity of effort achieved in the overall international effort in complete conjunction with the national government as this moves forward,” he said. Yet some of the Iraq experience is already being examined in the Afghan context, he said. In particular the success of the Awakening Councils, and persuading former insurgents to reconcile and work against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, could work in Afghanistan and was already under consideration there, General Petraeus said. “Certainly many on the ground think that perhaps in certain areas local reconciliation initiatives hold some potential,” he said. “One of the areas that of course proved very important in Iraq and may, and I underline may, have some relevance in Afghanistan, is the concept of reconciliation,” he added. “That you cannot kill or capture your way out of an insurgency that is as significant in size as was the one in Iraq, nor, I believe, as large as the one that has developed in Afghanistan.” In Iraq, General Petraeus had a two-star British general and a senior American diplomat working solely on reconciliation, he said. “Its sole mission was to understand various local situations and dynamics, and then in full coordination with the Iraqi government to engage tribal leaders, local governmental leaders, and in some cases insurgents and opposition elements,” he said. In Afghanistan, efforts by the government of President Hamid Karzai to persuade the Taliban to give up the fight and reconcile with the government have largely failed, diplomats there say. Even as several thousand Taliban have come over to the government in recent years, the size of the insurgency has swelled at a greater rate since 2006. “These efforts truly do require a degree of outreach to as many as possible who would be willing to be part of the solution instead of a continuing part of the problem,” he said, “and the more of the former insurgents who can be reconciled, the less that have to be killed or captured.”On Pakistan, he said he recognized the country’s determination to handle the problem of extremism using its own forces, as well as its opposition to United States military intervention, and said that was to be applauded and helped. In particular he welcomed the government’s recent public recognition that extremism was now the most severe threat facing the country, because that recognition meant it would be adopted through all government institutions, he said. “The heartening aspect is there appears to be a willingness on the part of the Pakistani government and military to undertake the kind of operations necessary,” he said.

Iran main entry route for militants - Afghan paper : By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Iran has become the main transit route for militants trying to join insurgents in Afghanistan, an Afghan government daily said on Sunday. Some Western nations with troops in Afghanistan have said that Iranian weapons destined for the Taliban have been seized in Afghanistan, although they are unsure whether Tehran knew about the shipments.
The Shii'te Islamic Republic, which is facing growing international pressure over its nuclear programme, has denied funding or arming the radical Sunni Taliban in Afghanistan. The daily Anis said three foreign militants, two from the Middle East and one from Turkey, were captured during a recent operation in Afghanistan and investigations of the three showed they had come via Iran. It said Iran had become a "tunnel for terrorists" to Waziristan, the tribal region of Pakistan, where the militants have sanctuaries and from where they enter Afghanistan to attack foreign and Afghan forces. "The people of Afghanistan can't remain silent against such Iranian behaviours since this country sends those individuals to Afghanistan who kill and murder Afghans," Anis said. The government daily in its editorial also said Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the former key backers of the Taliban, had not taken serious steps to curb their nationals joining the Taliban or al Qaeda. It said the Afghan government should act. "Iran under present conditions has become as the easiest entry for terrorists from the Middle East to Afghanistan and the government has to blockade this tunnel by whatever means." Violence has escalated sharply in Afghanistan since 2006 when the Taliban, removed from power in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, regrouped and launched an insurgency against Afghanistan's Western-backed government and foreign forces. Nearly 15,000 people, including more than 450 foreign troops, have been killed in Afghanistan in the past two years, the bloodiest period since Taliban's ouster. The newspaper's comments coincide with the recent threat by Iran to hit U.S. interests in the region, should Washington attack Iran over its nuclear ambitions. U.S. officials in the past have also accused Iran for arming militants in Iraq. Iran has denied the charge. The Afghan government has openly accused elements in Pakistan's military and intelligence networks for organising a series of attacks in Afghanistan, including a bid to kill President Hamid Karzai in April. Islamabad has rejected the accusations. The violence in Afghanistan comes despite the presence of more than 71,000 foreign forces under the command of NATO and the U.S. military and some Western officials have warned the country could slide back into anarchy.

Freedom Watch Afghanistan : 27 May 2008

The latest from Operation Enduring Freedom showing the activities of American troops in country. Produced by AFN-Afghanistan.



Confirmation hearings begin for the top military commander in Iraq. The Vice President speaks at the Coast Guard graduation. A ride with the Air National Guard.



Sen. Biden on Iran & GI Bill

Latest News from the front lines of fight against fascism and oppression.

Bombing Iran: The Clamor Persists
Listening to the questions asked of Gen. David Petraeus in the Senate Thursday, you might think the U.S. was headed for a new war in the Gulf. Senators from both sides of the aisle spent as much time asking him about Iran as they did about Iraq and Afghanistan. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut grilled Petraeus on Iran's anti-U.S. activities in the region. Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii plaintively asked about the utility of negotiations with Iran. And Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia pressed Petraeus on what he meant by the need to "counter malign Iranian iChina, .nfluence" and the "consequences for its illegitimate influence in the region."

China & Russia Rule Out Military Actions on Iran
BEIJING -- China and Russia on Friday called on all parties to refrain from military and extreme actions against Iran. "China and Russia propose the Iranian nuclear issue be resolved through dialogue and equal consultation," said a joint statement signed by Chinese President Hu Jintao and visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday

Does Iran pose a danger to British interests? 24/05/2008

Iran has secretly paid insurgents in Iraq to kill British soldiers, according to Government documents obtained by the Sunday Telegraph. Tensions are rising between Iran and the international community .The report comes as tensions are rising between Iran and the international community over Tehran's refusal to cooperate with a UN investigation into the country's nuclear programme. Does Iran pose a legitimate threat to Britain? Should the British Government treat the payments to insurgents as an act of aggression? If so, how should Britain react? If Iran is developing a nuclear weapons programme what will the consequences be, for the world and for Iran itself? Should the international community take action or is it wiser to take a diplomatic approach?

Generals criticize Iran but see better relations
By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer Fri May 23, 7:18 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Two of the U.S. military's most prominent voices on Middle East issues are holding out the prospect of improved relations with Iran despite tensions over its nuclear and military ambitions. Army Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, acting head of the U.S. Central Command, said in an Associated Press interview that Washington and Tehran could seek common ground on tough issues like combating the illicit drug trade in Afghanistan if Iran would stop its "malign activity" inside Iraq. And Army Gen. David Petraeus, who is expected to win Senate confirmation as the permanent head of Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that although Iran is fueling proxy wars in the Middle East he sees a possibility of "more constructive relations."

Basra shooting strains truce between govt, militia AP - Fri May 23, 4:07 PM ET

BAGHDAD - Iraqi soldiers fired in the air over supporters of anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to prevent them from gathering for Muslim prayers Friday in the southern city of Basra, enraging the worshippers and straining a fragile truce with the government.

Pakistan May Turn Over U.S. 'Spies' to Iran

• ABC News - May 23 9:33 AM

  Iran says Jundullah militants, led by Abdel Malik Regi, are "spies" for the CIA.

	Should we be surprised by the partiality of the Muslim Brotherhood’s (MB) Supreme Guide Mahdi Akif towards the Shia Lebanese Hezbollah with regards to the latest crisis in Lebanon? By Mshari Al-Zaydi >Read the Article

Iran Troops Kill Nine Kurd Rebels
TEHRAN -- Iran's Revolutionary Guards have killed nine Kurdish rebels, five of them women, in clashes in West Azarbaijan province near the border with Turkey, reports said on Saturday. "Revolutionary Guards clashed with a 10-member team and nine were killed," Jomhuri Eslami newspaper said, describing the rebels as "members of a military arm of the PJAK terrorist group."

US ambassador: al-Qaida close to defeat in Iraq AP - 1 hour, 58 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said Saturday that al-Qaida's network in the country has never been closer to defeat, and he praised Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for his moves to rein in Shiite and Sunni militant groups.

Israeli Suspected of Espionage Links with Iran
JERUSALEM -- An Iranian-born Israeli was charged in Israel on Sunday with passing sensitive information to Iran, Israel's Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said

Iran Hails "Strategic" Syria Ties
TEHRAN -- Iran's defense minister hailed his country's "strategic ties" with Syria on Sunday, just days after Israel called on Damascus to distance itself from Tehran, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported

Iran Conservatives Tap Ex-Nuclear Chief As Speaker
TEHRAN -- The conservative bloc dominating Iran's new parliament has chosen former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani as its candidate for speaker, the state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday. IRNA said conservatives MPs parliament chose Larijani by 161 votes against 50 for the incumbent Gholam Ali Hadad Adel, who is also a conservative

Iran has secretly paid Iraqi insurgents hundreds of thousands of American dollars to kill British soldiers, according to a leaked government document obtained by The Telegraph. The allegations are contained in a confidential "field report" written by a British officer who served in Basra during one of the most dangerous periods of the conflict. The report, which has never been made public, shows the full level of Iran's involvement in the insurgency for the first time. By Sean Rayment >Read the Article

GET YOURSELVES READY - THE TICK TACK OF THE NEXT STAGE HAS STARTED

THE WAR ON THE TERRORISTS OF QOM IS GETTING NEAR - GET READY FOR THE NEXT PHASE OF THE WAR ON THE IRI - THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IDIOTS !

Iraq Rebels 'Get Extra aid From Iran'
April 20, 2008 The Australian From Correspondents in Baghdad

A US general said today the increasingly sophisticated attacks carried out by Shiite extremists in Iraq were evidence they were getting extra aid from Iranian groups in the country.Major General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces in central Iraq, said rocket and mortar attacks by Shiite extremists were "more effective than before".This, he said, indicated a rise in Iranian help to the militants."We are seeing an increase in (Iranian) influence ... the number of attacks that are directly attributed to Iranian influence have indeed increased," Maj-Gen Lynch said."The number of EFP (explosively formed penetrator) attacks have increased, the number of Iranian rocket attacks have indeed increased, the amount of Iranian weapons I am finding on the battlefield has increased. The amount of Shiite extremists who tie their training back to Iran have indeed increased."Maj-Gen Lynch, whose area of operation in Iraq has a long stretch of border with Iran, also said his troops have found large numbers of caches of weapons and ammunition bearing Iranian markings.Citing a recent example, the general said his troops found in one place "enough components for 1100 EFPs directly traceable back to Iran".Iran denies supplying ammunition to insurgents, or training them.Maj-Gen Lynch said previous rocket attacks were "ineffective... now there is a difference. Now they have sophisticated launch systems".The US military said about 600 rockets or mortar rounds were fired by Shiite extremists at Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone between March 23 and April 12.Many of them had Iranian markings on them, it said.Maj-Gen Lynch, who commands US forces in the Shiite provinces of Babil, Karbala, Najaf and Wasit, said that in recent weeks his troops had detained 25 extremists trained in Iran or by Iranian-linked groups in Iraq.During interrogation "they say we were trained in Iran or we were trained by Iranians in Iraq or we were trained by Iraqi surrogates who had been trained in Iran who have come back and trained us," the General said."So it just continues to highlight what we are experiencing, which is particularly troublesome Iranian influence in our area that's resulted in casualties of the Iraqi people, the Iraqi security forces and coalition forces."Maj-Gen Lynch said there was a "marked" Iranian influence, adding that several of the 146 US troops from his command who had been killed succumbed to "Iranian munition"."You know I have lost 146 soldiers, mainly those who were killed by Iranian munitions - either by Iranian rockets or by Iranian explosively formed penetrators - all of which are directly traceable to Iran," he said.Maj-Gen Lynch and his troops were deployed south of Baghdad in April 2007 as part of the "surge" to curb the raging bloodshed across Iraq.

Afghan, Iranian Forces Trade Gunfire on Southwester Border : April 20, 2008 The Associated Press Fox News

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan police clashed with Iranian forces at the southwestern border between the two countries, leaving one civilian dead and two Iranian officers wounded, officials said Sunday.The incident in the village of Pul-e-Abreshum in Nimroz province happened Saturday after an Iranian patrol entered Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.Afghan police dispatched a unit to the village and a gunbattle ensued. A teacher from the village was killed during the firefight, said provincial police chief Gen. Ayub Badakhshi.Two Iranian officers were wounded, the statement said. The long and porous border between the two countries is used by smugglers to traffic drugs into Iran. Many Afghans also cross illegally into Iran from the area. Border clashes are common.
ALSO : Afghan, Iran guards in deadly clash over land 43 minutes ago
An Afghan teacher was killed in a clash between Afghan and Iranian border guards over a small piece of land on the frontier, Afghanistan's interior ministry said.Two Iranian guards were also wounded in the clash Saturday, it said, adding the fighting started after Iranian border security forces entered the western province of Nimroz.
"An Afghan civilian who was a teacher was killed in a clash between Afghan and Iranian border guards. The fighting took place after the Iranians entered and claimed a piece of land," the ministry said in a statement.It did not say how much land the Iranians had claimed except that it was not large and added that the Afghan owner, who was using it for farming, had documents proving his ownership.The Afghan troops sealed off the area and forced their Iranian counterparts to "escape," the ministry said.The Iranians had left behind a vehicle which was returned to them, it said.The long border between the two countries is porous and difficult to police. It has seen clashes before, sometimes related to the trafficking of Afghanistan's mammoth drugs production across the frontier.

Rice blasts cleric's strategy in Baghdad visit
By By Anne Gearan, Associated Press - Monday, April 21, 2008

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice characterized militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as being a coward hiding in Iran on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.Rice, in the Iraqi capital to address security gains and what she calls an emerging political consensus, said al-Sadr is content to issue threats and edicts from the safety of Iran, where he is studying.Al-Sadr heads an unruly militia that was the main target of an Iraqi government assault in the oil-rich city of Basra last month, and his future role as a spoiler is an open question."I know he's sitting in Iran," Rice said, when asked about al-Sadr's latest threat to lift a self-imposed cease-fire with government and U.S. forces. "I guess it's all-out war for anybody but him. I guess that's the message: His followers can go to their deaths, and he's in Iran."In a statement on his official Web site, al-Sadr said, "We denounce the visit of U.S. secretary, asking the government to ban the entrance of the terrorists' occupiers to our pure land."The statement asked Iraqis to express their opposition to the visit through peaceful means.A full-blown uprising by al-Sadr, who led two rebellions against U.S.-led forces in 2004, could lead to a dramatic increase in violence in Iraq at a time when the Sunni extremist group al-Qaida in Iraq appears poised for new attacks after suffering severe blows last year.In a posting Saturday on his Web site, al-Sadr said he tried to defuse tensions by declaring the truce last August, only to see the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki respond by closing his offices and "resorting to assassinations."He said government sold out to the Americans and branded his followers as "criminals."

News Central

Iranian Influence in the Levant, Iraq, and Afghanistan : By Frederick W. Kagan, Danielle Pletka, Kimberly Kagan : >Read the Article

The conflict between Iran and the United States began in 1979 with the Iranian Revolution and the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran. Born partly of ideological differences and partly of real and perceived differing national interests, it has continued, alternately hot and cold, for almost three decades and seems unlikely to end soon. Like most previous conflicts, its conclusion cannot be foreseen... Video.
Click here to view the full text of this report as an Adobe Acrobat PDF.

US Military Says It Is Holding 14 Iranians In Iraq

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military in Iraq has 14 Iranians in its custody, U.S. military officials told AFP Monday, an increase in the previously released number. "We currently have 14 Iranian detainees in coalition custody," said Major Brad Leighton, spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq

US Considers Sanctions Against Iran's Central Bank

WASHINGTON -- The US Treasury Department is considering sanctions against Iran's central bank, which it suspects of helping other Iranian institutions evade earlier US economic sanctions, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday

Iran's Game of Grand Strategy

Sunday thousands of IDF and police forces began streaming to the border with Gaza. In a massive show of force, they successfully deterred Gazans from participating in Hamas's first attempt to assault the border with Israel on Monday morning

U.S. Predicts Quick Vote on Iran Sanctions

WASHINGTON -- The United States predicted a quick vote on a third resolution imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program as it begins to build a case against Iran's central bank for proliferation activities, senior State Department officials and European diplomats said

Iran Leader Hails Ahmadinejad for 'Nuclear Success'

TEHRAN -- Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday hailed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's role in the "great success" of the nuclear programme, amid threats of new sanctions against Tehran. Khamenei also hailed the Iranian people and the conservative-controlled parliament in his remarks, which came just days after the UN atomic watchdog issued a key report on Iran's controversial atomic drive.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE GANG HO 'TRIGGER HAPPY' AMERICANS - WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?

10 Die in Mistaken Afghan Firefight : By CARLOTTA GALL and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
KABUL, Afghanistan — At least nine Afghan police officers and a civilian were killed early Thursday in a firefight between American forces and the officers in Ghazni Province, just south of the capital, local officials said. The American forces were searching houses in a village on the outskirts of Ghazni town and blew open the gates of a house, according to local Afghan officials. District police officers heard the explosion and rushed to the scene, suspecting that the Taliban were in the area, but were themselves mistaken for Taliban and shot by the American soldiers, the officials said. Aircraft supporting the operation fired on one of the police cars.

The killings set off protests in the town on Thursday afternoon, and demonstrators blocked the main highway and prevented a government delegation from reaching the town from a nearby airfield, local officials said. “Another big cruelty was made by American forces this morning,” said Khial Muhammad Hussaini, a member of Parliament from the province who was among the elders and legislators who had traveled to the town to try to calm people and persuade them to reopen the highway. Zemarai Bashary, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior in Kabul, confirmed the shooting and called it a “misunderstanding,” but said he had information on only eight deaths. The confrontation happened when United States forces were conducting a night raid on the compound of a man suspected of being an insurgent and of organizing suicide bombings, according to Maj. Chris Belcher, the spokesman for the United States military at Bagram Air Base. The soldiers were part of the United States-led coalition that conducts counterterrorism operations, not part of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, he said. The American soldiers came under fire from insurgent forces and fired back, Major Belcher said. He suggested that those killed were insurgents and said that he had no information on whether they were members of the national police. “I know there were some deaths, but I don’t have a number,” he said. The Afghan government has repeatedly requested that United States forces coordinate with local authorities and take along Afghan security forces during operations because there have been many instances in which Americans have inadvertently killed civilians or local police officers. But Mr. Hussaini, the Parliament member, said the American forces involved had not coordinated with any government authority before or during the raid. Hajji Zaher, an elder in Ghazni town, gave this account: “At 3 a.m., when the Americans were searching the houses and when they blew up the gates, the police rushed to the area thinking that they were Taliban. And at the same time the Americans thought that the police were Taliban and there was a firefight.” Habib-u Rahman, deputy chief of the Ghazni provincial council, said that nine police officers, including a district police chief, and a civilian had been killed and that four other police officers and a woman had been wounded. “After the police came under fire, the police officers got out of their vehicle, and their vehicle was shot by a rocket from the plane,” Mr. Rahman said. Eight people were detained by American soldiers, Mr. Rahman said, but two were from the provincial Education Department. In other violence on Thursday, a NATO soldier was killed and two were wounded in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, NATO said in a statement.

Iraq veterans say that war crimes are encouraged by command.
news10now.com — "The killing of innocent civilians is policy," veteran Mike Blake said. "It's unit policy and it's Army policy. It's not official policy, but it's what's happens on the ground everyday. It's what unit commanders individually encourage." "These decisions are coming from the top down," veteran Matt Howard said.
Watch this video -- War crimes "encouraged?" -
A group of Iraq war veterans are planning a gathering in Washington D.C. in March to talk about war crimes they've seen or committed during their tours of duty.

Iranian Mines Found In Taliban Commander's House
Afghanistan -- An provincial police chief says authorities have discovered a weapons cache in western Afghanistan containing 130 land mines of different types that appear to have been imported from Iran.

AND MORE FROM THE TURNCOAT , THE QUEEN OF SHEBA ! 'SHERRIN POLO'

Making Up With the Mullahs : January 26, 2008 New York Post Opinion

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made her most generous offer yet to the mad mullahs of Iran: Suspend your enrichment of uranium, halting a critical step in the development of nuclear weapons, and Washington is prepared to develop "a more normal relationship."That's it?"If Iran would suspend its uranium-enrichment and -reprocessing activities - which is an international demand, not just an American one - then we could begin negotiations, and we could work over time to build a new, more normal relationship," she told the World Economic Forum at Davos.It was as conciliatory a note as the Bush administration has ever struck on Iran.Clearly, achieving an end to Iran's quest for nuclear weapons is of paramount importance in ensuring regional stability in the Middle East.But is suspending uranium enrichment enough of a step to immediately offer the prospects of normalized relations with Tehran?We think not.Pursuit of nukes, after all, is just one of the ways in which Iran presents a danger to world peace.Even with its nuclear-weapons program on hold (according to a recent National Intelligence Estimate), Iran continues to export terrorism via surrogates like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories.And it continues to arm and supply the anti-American terrorist insurgency (or what's left of it) in Iraq.Iran, in short, is the single most destabilizing element in the world's most dangerous region.Surely, the mullahs in Tehran can't be encouraged to think that they can get off the hook with a single gesture on their nuclear program.To be sure, Rice in her remarks stressed that Washington has "real differences" with Iran on issues like supporting terrorism.And we understand the administration's eager hope for a major diplomatic breakthrough before the president leaves office - particularly when it comes to Iran, after having been forced to pull back from its previously confrontational approach.But those "real differences" encompass far more than a currently inactive WMD program - even though that program remains a genuine threat, despite the interpretation that congressional Democrats have drawn from the recent NIE.Iran and the United States can only resume a normal relationship - broken after Islamic fundamentalists toppled the shah in 1979 - when Iran itself no longer constitutes a real threat to world peace and America's security interests.But it will take more than a suspension of uranium enrichment for that to happen. Much more.

Iran's New Purge Slapping the 'Moderates' : January 26, 2008 New York Post Amir Taheri
Opponents of taking a tough line on Iran have always claimed that imposing sanctions (not to mention threatening military action) would strengthen the Islamic Republic's most radical elements. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice looks to have bought that argument. Last week, she agreed to water down the new sanctions that her advisers had devised against the Islamic Republic.Waving an olive branch, Rice also called for a peaceful resolution of the dispute over Tehran's illicit nuclear ambitions.Events inside Iran, however, provide a different picture. The Council of the Guardians of the Constitution, a 12-man committee of mullahs and their legal advisers, this week rejected applications from nearly 4,000 men and women to run in the March 14 general election. Nearly all the denied applicants belong to the 21 groups designated by Western observers as "reformist" opponents of the ultra-radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.The list of the rejected reads like a Who's-Who of politicians regarded by many in the West as "moderates" who would put the regime on a less confrontational trajectory.It includes individuals who served under Presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Muhammad Khatami, as well as scores of former members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis), the 290-seat ersatz parliament set up by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1980.In what looks like a massive purge, a total of 103 members of the present Majlis, all critics of Ahmadinejad, were also declared "unfit" for re-election.To be sure, the so-called reformists have never proposed any reform program as such. Rafsanjani spent most of his eight years as president building his business empire; Khatami spent his tenure traveling the world and building his image as an amateur philosopher working for "a dialogue of civilizations."More regime opponents were killed or thrown into prison under Rafsanjani and Khatami than under Ahmadinejad. And both "reformers" tried to export the Khomeinist revolution via agents and clients in many Muslim countries, especially in the Middle East.Indeed, both also used the trick of excluding opponents from electoral lists. In 2004, when Khatami was president, more than two-thirds of applicants were blacklisted.What differentiated the two men from Ahmadinejad was their penchant for taqiyeh (dissimulation) - an old trick of the mullahs who have turned speaking with a forked tongue into fine art.Ahmadinejad, by contrast, shuns taqiyeh. What is on his tongue comes from his heart. He firmly believes that his brand of Islam stands on the threshold of victory against a corrupt, weak, fat and cowardly West led by a deeply divided United States.The West's soft line so far has persuaded many Iranians that Ahmadinejad may be right after all. Far from benefiting the so-called moderates, the cuddly policy (preached by the likes of European Union foreign-policy czar Javier Solana) has strengthened the Ahmadinejad-led radicals. After all, the man is thumbing his nose at all the great powers and superpowers - and getting away with it. Why abandon a winner and side with people who've always looked like losers?Having captured the presidency and the Council of Ministers that goes with it, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is now determined to storm other centers of power, starting with the Majlis. It has put one of its own, Gen. Reza Afshar, in charge of organizing the elections, with other Guard officers heading elector- al commissions across the country."Until recently they just wanted a majority," says Nasser Abdallahzade, one of the rejected hopefuls. "Now they want every single seat."Even then, Ahmadinejad has taken care to reduce the powers of the Majlis. In a letter published last week, he told the speaker of the Majlis that the ersatz parliament has no authority to force the government to change its policies. That is, that it's there simply to rubber-stamp the executive's every decision.The speaker, Ghulam-Ali Haddad-Adel, found the letter so insulting that he complained to his father-in-law, "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei. After several days of hesitation, Khamenei responded with a letter that sounded like a mild rebuke for Ahmadinejad and a vague assertion of the rights of the Majlis.But even that was too much for Ahmadinejad, who responded by saying that such epistolary exercises wouldn't affect his government. "The government will continue doing what is best for Islam," he asserted.What will the so-called moderates and reformists do now that they have little chance of gaining a foothold in the Majlis? The decent response would be a boycott of an exercise that no longer has any real sense. Why vote in an election, when the winners have already been chosen in the shady corridors of power?The trouble is that the "moderates" and "reformists" of the Khomeinist camp lack the courage of their pretensions. They resemble the happy cuckold who remains faithful to his marriage bond under all circumstances.This is how Muhammad-Reza Aref, a former "first assistant president" under Khatami and now the principal spokesman of the "reformists" has reacted to his own blacklisting and that of virtually all his associates: "We might decide not to field any candidates," he said. "But we shall not call for a boycott of the elections, because we do not wish to harm the regime. We want the people to vote knowing that we have no candidates. In this way, everyone would know that we are not responsible for things. We will protest, but won't make a big noise."Aref, Rafsanjani, Khatami: These are the guys that Rice, hoodwinked by her advisers, seems to be banking on to bring the Islamic Republic back to reason.
With enemies like that, Ahmadinejad needs no friends.

Pakistan Rebuffs Secret U.S. Plea for C.I.A. Buildup
By ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON — The top two American intelligence officials traveled secretly to Pakistan early this month to press President Pervez Musharraf to allow the Central Intelligence Agency greater latitude to operate in the tribal territories where Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups are all active, according to several officials who have been briefed on the visit.
But in the unannounced meetings on Jan. 9 with the two American officials — Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, and Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the C.I.A. director — Mr. Musharraf rebuffed proposals to expand any American combat presence in Pakistan, either through unilateral covert C.I.A. missions or by joint operations with Pakistani security forces.
Instead, Pakistan and the United States are discussing a series of other joint efforts, including increasing the number and scope of missions by armed Predator surveillance aircraft over the tribal areas, and identifying ways that the United States can speed information about people suspected of being militants to Pakistani security forces, officials said. American and Pakistani officials have questioned each other in recent months about the quality and time lines of information that the United States has given to Pakistan to use in focusing on those extremists. American officials have complained that the Pakistanis are not seriously pursuing Al Qaeda in the region. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE : http://tinyurl.com/328k3f

9/11 Truth Is Not A PRIVATE CLUB . . . Or Is It?
WATCH THIS VIDEO _ Enlargen
9/11 Truth is Not a PRIVATE CLUB . . . Or Is It? I was reading a 9/11 truth blog for an organization up north, and saw something that kind of shocked me. The poster was talking about the new 9/11 truth telling novel, "The Shell Game" from NY Times best selling author, Steve Alten, and whether we should trust him "because he's new." Hit me in the head with a sledgehammer if I'm wrong . . . but weren't we all out in the s

This Week in the Pentagon

Ahmadinejad: The Secret History of Iran's Radical Leader by Kasra Naji
US Official in Iran Talks Quits
Detained Student Dies Under 'Suspicious' Circumstances
Missile Test - Launched from Palmachim, Heard in Tehran
Stopping Iran: Why the Case for Military Action Still Stands
Detained French-Iranian Journalism Student Leaves Iran
Bush Gets Help From UBS, Deutsche Bank in Iran Sanctions Effort
Iran Receives Russian Nuclear Fuel
Indiana Jones Meets the Da Vinci Code
White House: Bush Fully Backs Iran Intelligence Report
Radical Left Challenging Authority in Iran
Iran President Says Israel Was "Rapidly Doomed to Collapse"

Iran's Gulag Archipelago
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Roozbeh Farahanipour, an Iranian journalist, democracy activist and former political prisoner in Iran. He was a student leader in the 1999 uprising.

Stopping Iran: Why the Case for Military Action Still Stands
January 17, 2008 Commentary Magazine Norman Podhoretz
Up until a fairly short time ago, scarcely anyone dissented from the assessment offered with “high confidence” by the National Intelligence Estimate [NIE] of 2005 that Iran was “determined to develop nuclear weapons.” Correlatively, no one believed the protestations of the mullahs ruling Iran that their nuclear program was designed strictly for peaceful uses.

This GUN has been smoking for years....

آلمان: رژیم تهران با طالبان رابطه دارد

سایت حکومتی عصر ایران: یک مقام ارشد امنیتی آلمان اعلام کرد هرچند در خصوص ارتباط رژیم تهران با گروه تروریستی القاعده نمی توان با اطمینان سخن گفت اما این اعتقاد وجود دارد که جمهوری اسلامی با طالبان رابطه دارد و با آنها در حال مذاکره است. خبرگزاری رویترز به نقل از "آگوست هانینگ"، معاون وزیر کشور آلمان نوشت رژیم تهران قطعا مشغول مذاکره با طالبان بوده و در حال قاچاق سلاح به افغانستان برای استفاده علیه نیروهای ناتو از جمله 3 هزار سرباز آلمانی مستقر در این کشور است.پیش از این یک منبع اطلاعاتی در گفت و گو با رویتر گفته بود رژیم تهران برای هماهنگی جهت واکنش به حملات احتمالی آمریکا از خردادماه امسال تاکنون دو نشست سه جانبه با طالبان و القاعده در شهر مشهد برگزار کرده است. از صیف العادل مقام ارشد القاعده به عنوان یکی از شرکت کنندگان در این نشست ها یاد شده است.

Iraq and Afghanistan: Democracy Trumps Democrats : Kevin Fatemi*

WHATCH THIS NOW !

http://tinyurl.com/2pl7we

As the Democratic Party and brutal dictatorships around the world grimace and curse at each iota of good news coming from Iraq, the freedom-loving people of Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan shake their heads in puzzlement at the news from America. Democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan was born on the first election days when proud citizens of these newly-liberated nations risked being blown up by exercising their right to vote for the first time. Meanwhile in Iran, sham elections held with virtually no opposition, no freedom of the press nor any of the facets of true free elections installed a madman bent on internal oppression, external terror and nuclear weapons production on an industrial scale. Instead of condemnation and protest by the Democratic Party at the brutal internal repression of any and all political opposition in Iran, Ahmadinejad is cited as a potential partner in peace talks by the Democrats. As Amir Taheri pointed out on Fox News, the Middle Eastern people are "baffled" by the propensity of the American press to spin the news in a negative light and also baffled by the "defeatist self-flagellation" of the Democratic leaders such a Harry Reid whose declaration that the war in Iraq was "lost" was broadcast worldwide to the shock of millions who look to America as their only beacon of hope for freedom and to the delight of all those who envision the ultimate destruction of the United States and the rest of Western Civilization.
Please read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/243c2e



A Plan to Attack Iran Swiftly And From Above
November 22, 2007 Globe and Mail Paul Koring

WASHINGTON -- Massive, devastating air strikes, a full dose of "shock and awe" with hundreds of bunker-busting bombs slicing through concrete at more than a dozen nuclear sites across Iran is no longer just the idle musing of military planners and uber-hawks. Although air strikes don't seem imminent as the U.S.-Iranian drama unfolds, planning for a bombing campaign and preparing for the geopolitical blowback has preoccupied military and political councils for months. No one is predicting a full-blown ground war with Iran. The likeliest scenario, a blistering air war that could last as little as one night or as long as two weeks, would be designed to avoid the quagmire of invasion and regime change that now characterizes Iraq. But skepticism remains about whether any amount of bombing can substantially delay Iran's entry into the nuclear-weapons club. Attacking Iran has gone far beyond the twilight musings of a lame-duck president. Almost all of those jockeying to succeed U.S. President George W. Bush are similarly bellicose. Both front-runners, Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani, have said that Iran's ruling mullahs can't be allowed to go nuclear. "Iran would be very sure if I were president of the United States that I would not allow them to become nuclear," said Mr. Giuliani. Ms. Clinton is equally hard-line. Nor does the threat come just from the United States. As hopes fade that sanctions and common sense might avert a military confrontation with Tehran - as they appear to have done with North Korea - other Western leaders are openly warning that bombing may be needed. Unless Tehran scraps its clandestine and suspicious nuclear program and its quest for weapons-grade uranium (it already has the missiles capable of delivering an atomic warhead), the world will be "faced with an alternative that I call catastrophic: an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran," French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned. Bombing Iran would be relatively easy. Its antiquated air force and Russian air-defence missiles would be easy pickings for the U.S. warplanes.
Please Read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/2bwmp9

The German Connection
November 22, 2007 Ha'aretz Benjamin Weinthal

BERLIN -- In early 2005, German customs police raided a series of German firms involved in a clandestine relationship with Vero, a Berlin-based front company that was illegally supplying nulcear technology and equipment to Iran. The smuggling operation involved 50 German companies and used a nuclear reactor in the Russian city of Rostov to hide the fact that it was supplying equipment to Bushehr, a port city in southern Iran. Bushehr is the site of a feverish attempt by Russians and Iranians to rebuild Iran's nuclear reactors. Iran's Islamic government insists that these efforts are aimed at a non-military nuclear program, yet intelligence experts believe Bushehr is the gateway to an Iranian nuclear weapons arsenal. Vero's now-defunct Berlin office served as an illegal conduit, operating throughout Germany, for Iran's nuclear program. Germany bars the sale of nuclear equipment and "technological support" to Iran and nine other nations, including Israel, without a special permit from the German Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA). The Russian government, however, is not required to secure such a permit. Thus, German engineering firms can easily circumvent export regulations by designating a country that is not among the 10 listed in the export control law. Hartwig Muller, head of the German domestic intelligence service Verfassungsschutz in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), went so far as to say in an article in the weekly Die Zeit in late August that "we are seeing a regular procurement offensive ... Iran is putting out feelers even more greedily toward German high techs in NRW. The interest is primarily in arms and technology and know-how for the nuclear program."
Please read the full story here: http://tinyurl.com/2xrww8


Iranian Lawyer Representing Dervishes Is Detained : 11/22/07

November 21, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- One of the lawyers representing a Sufi order targeted by a recent crackdown has been detained in Iran, Radio Farda reported. Mostafa Daneshju was detained in Karaj on November 20, but the reason for his arrest has not been made clear, nor is it known where Daneshju is being held. A fellow lawyer, Farshid Yadollahi, told Radio Farda that Daneshju had previously been sentenced to a prison term and lashes on charges of spreading lies and insulting officials. He reportedly appealed against the sentence. Yadollahi also said Daneshju has been active in defending the rights of the Gonabadi order of dervishes. "Following the destruction of the Gonabadi worship house in Ghom, [Daneshju] launched a complaint about the legal and religious violations that happened there," Yadollahi said. "He also represented the case of a Sufi who had been attacked in Loristan Province." Daneshju's arrest comes about 10 days after clashes broke out between dervishes and Shi'ite hard-liners in the Western city of Borujerd. Dozens of people were injured and arrested during the skirmishes, and the Sufis' prayer house was partly destroyed. Human rights groups have expressed concern over what appears to be increased state pressure on the Sufi order in Iran. The U.S. State Department says respect for religious freedom in Iran is extremely poor and has been deteriorating since Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005 -- especially for Sufi Muslims and members of the Baha'i faith.

Latest News : British forces to capitalise on Taliban 'split' By Tom Coghlan in Sangin, Helmand province

Progress in Northern, Western Baghdad 'Remarkable'
WASHINGTON - The transformation of the northern and western outskirts of Baghdad "has been nothing short of remarkable," the commander of 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team operating there said today.Nov 13, 2007,
Concerned Local Citizen Groups Aid Progress in Iraq
WASHINGTON - Captures of al Qaeda operatives and seizures of weapons caches in Iraq are up, and casualties are down, a senior military official in Baghdad told online journalists and "bloggers" today.Nov 13, 2007,
Coalition Troops Kill Terrorist, Detain 14 in Iraq
WASHINGTON - Coalition forces killed one insurgent and detained 14 others today during a series of operations across central and northern Iraq, military officials said.Nov 13, 2007, Coalition, Afghan Forces Kill Enemy Fighters
WASHINGTON - Afghan national security forces and coalition forces engaged and killed a large group of insurgents today near the Deh Rawod district of Afghanistan's Oruzgan province.
Terrorist Facilitators Detained in Zabul Province
WASHINGTON - An Afghan and coalition operation in Afghanistan's Ghazni province yesterday resulted in the detention of five people suspected of being foreign-fighter facilitators.
Coalition Forces Detain Dozens in Iraq Operations
WASHINGTON - Coalition forces detained 16 suspects, including three wanted individuals, during operations today to disrupt al Qaeda in Iraq and foreign terrorist operations in central and northern Iraq.

Frontline: Our soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan

British commanders have pushed an armoured column deep into Taliban-held territory in southern Afghanistan, threatening the stronghold of Musa Qala as commanders seek to capitalise on a rift within enemy ranks.

Senior British officers told The Daily Telegraph that the convoy of more than 50 armoured vehicles from the Scots Guards is designed to "disrupt and confuse" the Taliban. The operation in northern Helmand province comes with the Taliban apparently facing internal splits. One of the four senior Taliban commanders in the area, Mullah Abdul Salaam, has been in negotiations with the Afghan government and indicated that he wishes to defect with up to a third of the forces defending Musa Qala.Intelligence reports suggest that the Taliban are anticipating an imminent full-scale assault on the town by British forces, who refused to speculate on whether such an attack is planned.The Daily Telegraph accompanied Bravo Company from 40 Commando of the Royal Marines last week as they initiated the push north, driving across the Helmand river north of Sangin to create a bridgehead for the Scots Guards convoy.The operation, which came under fire from Taliban fighters armed with rockets, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), could not be reported until now because of the sensitivity of the unfolding tactical situation in HelmandUnder salmon pink dawn skies, the Marines began their advance in Viking armoured vehicles by fording the Helmand river.In the fields beyond - an area of rich farmland and numerous compounds where local farmers were busy sowing next year's hugely lucrative opium crop - men in black turbans watched their passage in silent apprehension."Don't expect any smiles up there, there's heavy Taliban influence," said Maj Dan Cheeseman, commander of Bravo Company, in a pre-operation briefing.Two hours after they crossed the river a dull thud announced the arrival of the first Taliban mortar shell as the Marines stopped south of a drab hamlet called Khor Ghak.Engineers from the Royal Gurkha Rifles set about filling an irrigation ditch, knocking down walls and trees and driving a roadway through the edge of the village to clear a route for the Scots Guards to reach the open country beyond. The inhabitants watched with unconcealed dismay."If you come here, then the Taliban will also come here and we will suffer," said Haji Allah Jan, the elderly headman of the village, whose white beard and turban were offset with a pair of antiquated red spectacles missing one lens."We will pay compensation for any damage we cause," Maj Cheeseman told him. "Can my Engineers build anything you might need, a well perhaps?""No," replied the headman gloomily. He assessed that the damage would cost $20,000 to fix, a figure the British forces' interpreters suggested was vastly exaggerated. The village later accepted $550.From old Soviet-built trench positions in the hills above, Marines traded fire with Taliban fighters to the north, who fired mortar, 107mm rockets and RPGs.Accurate Taliban fire later in the day forced the convoy to delay pushing northwards till the following morning and left the Marines facing a freezing night in the open.American jets flew repeated low level passes during the hours of darkness to dissuade the Taliban from a night attack.According to Afghan intelligence sources, the Taliban mortar units are receiving instruction from Iranian instructors in Musa Qala.One round narrowly missed a weapons-mounted Land Rover parked just behind the ridge. The Marines responded with heavy machine gun fire and artillery fire missions from British 105mm howitzers firing from several miles to the south.The Marine spotters watched as Taliban fighters initially fled the area under fire but then re-occupied trench positions.Plumes of smoke marked the impact point of shells before an Apache helicopter was guided in to attack with its cannon. It did so with an explosive clatter that echoed across the valley floor.With the Scots Guards pushing forward towards Musa Qala, the Taliban then attempted to draw them southward again by attacking a British forward operating base on the edge of Sangin. Several Marines were injured, two of them seriously, and two Afghan soldiers were killed.Fighting around Sangin has reduced since British forces pushed Taliban fighters north in April and swept the area during the summer. However, British commanders remain wary of a Taliban resurgence.Intelligence officers believe they are seeing a sustained drop in the number of local people willing to fight with the Taliban — it is now the season for the season for the maize harvest and opium poppy planting — but this is being compensated by an increase in foreign fighters, most of them from Pakistan.Musa Qala has become a talisman for the Taliban leadership since the insurgents took it in March. British military officials said another unit was pushing overnight into the area to the west of Musa Qala. Officials declined to identify the unit, which was said to be "company strength", or in excess of 100 men.With the Scots Guards already to the south-east of the town, one senior military source said: "The pressure is mounting around Musa Qala."

Britain's New Afghanistan Plan - Pay Farmers To Ditch Opium - 2007-11-10 Intellpuke

Troops may target drug factories as part of new strategy to combat Taliban.British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is planning a radical scheme to subsidize farmers in Afghanistan to persuade them to stop producing heroin, as part of a wide-ranging drive to re-energize policy in the conflict the prime minister now regards as the front line in the fight against terrorism.
Britain's Foreign Office minister Lord Malloch-Brown has admitted that the rise in opium production in the country means Britain "cannot just muddle along in the middle" and must come up with more imaginative ideas on opium eradication. Ministers are looking at what Lord Malloch-Brown describes as a system of payments loosely along the lines of the common agricultural policy to woo the Afghan farmers off opium production. The government is conducting joint research on suitable economic incentives with the World Bank.British and allied forces are also looking at destroying drug factories inside Afghanistan, and a much better-targeted drive against the big traffickers responsible for 90% of the opium which reaches the west. Brown is expected to make a House of Commons statement on security and development in Afghanistan in the next few weeks, and is likely to highlight the strategic importance of the war against the Taliban in his first annual foreign affairs speech at Mansion House on Monday.
The focus on Afghanistan comes as British troop levels there are now higher than in Iraq. There are approximately 7,700 British troops in Afghanistan, compared with around 5,000 in Iraq.
Critics in the British aid agencies claim that too little western aid is set aside to provide alternative livelihoods for opium farmers in Afghanistan, and comparatively too much going on building state structures or funding public sector salaries. Senior British officers believe the Afghan war remains largely misunderstood in Britain, and say security is the precondition for building alternatives to opium production. Lord Malloch-Brown recently returned from Afghanistan to tell peers: "The Department of International Development is looking at whether we can put on a more formal and structured long-term basis what one would controversially describe as an Afghan equivalent of a CAP, with subsidised purchase of legal crops to make returns more like those from poppy." He added: "We have to do a much better job of not targeting the farmers, the producers whose hearts and minds we are trying to win in the counter-insurgency effort. We have to target the industry above that - the financiers, the shippers, the drug big men who are benefiting from the production. We know who they are and the government of Afghanistan know who they are. A system banning them from travel, listing them and freezing their bank accounts, hitting at the industry's infrastructure, strikes me as an area in which more can be done." He pointedly added that only the U.S. favored aerial spraying of opium crops. Illegal Afghan opium was selling for as much as $125 per kilo in 2006. The United Nations said the area under cultivation rose this year from 165,000 to 193,000 hectares and the harvest rose from 6,100 to 8,200 tons. Opium production is heavily concentrated in areas of insecurity, with the British area of responsibility in Helmand now the world's biggest source of illicit drugs. The U.K. has provided $20 million to an Afghan criminal justice task force that has managed to secure only 400 convictions. Some influential figures, including the former Foreign Office permanent secretary Lord Jay, have become so despairing of the fight that they are backing calls for opium to be produced legally and used as medical morphine, but the idea appears to have been rejected. Christian Aid has also called for an aid switch to improving irrigation and water management; achieving food security through expanded cereal production; credit facilities for farmers; and building export markets for fruit and nuts.

6 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghan Battle : Saturday November 10, 2007 7:31 AM

By JASON STRAZIUSO : Associated Press Writer

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Six U.S. troops and three Afghan soldiers died when insurgents ambushed their foot patrol in eastern Afghanistan, one of the deadliest attacks on American forces this year, officials said Saturday. The troops were returning from a meeting with village elders Friday afternoon in Nuristan province when militants attacked them with rocket propelled grenades and gunfire, said Lt. Col. David Accetta. ``They were attacked from several enemy positions at the same time,'' said Accetta, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force and the U.S. military. ``It was a complex ambush.'' Eight more Americans and 11 Afghans were wounded. The 14 total U.S. casualties was the highest number of wounded and killed from a battle in Afghanistan this year, Accetta said. Mohammad Daoud Nadim, Nuristan deputy police chief, said the ambush happened in the remote province's Waygal district. He said military aircraft fired on enemy positions but had no information on any casualties among the militants.

Suicide attack near NATO convoy in Afghanistan kills one:10 Nov 2007 07

Kabul - A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle near a convoy of NATO-led German troops on Saturday in northern Kunduz province, killing himself and one civilian, police said. "Afghan intelligence forces identified a suicide bomber who was driving a Corolla car and tried to stop him," Engineer Mohammad Omar, provincial police chief, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "The suicide bomber, who was following a convoy of German forces and was some 40 metres from the convoy, detonated his car, killing himself and wounding an intelligence agent and a passer-by civilian," Omar said. However, a police official at the site of attack, which is some three kilometres north of Kunduz city, said that the wounded civilian succumbed to his injuries. Omar said that no-one from the German military convoy was hurt in the attack.
"The security forces identified the bomber and he is a Pakistani national," Omar said.

11 including 8 Taliban killed in Afghanistan
Posted on : 2007-11-10 Author : Xinhua News Category :

Kabul, (Xinhua) A clean-up operation against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province killed 11 people including eight rebels, a local newspaper reported Saturday.
'The sweep was carried out after the slaying of a tribal elder Hajji Tadi Khan along with his three bodyguards by Taliban insurgents Thursday,' the daily Outlook quoted Paktika's provincial governor Akram Khapalwak as saying. In the operation backed by International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), eight Taliban fighters had been killed, Khapalwak said.
However, he did not identify the three others who lost their lives during the sweep. Militancy and conflict related violence in Afghanistan have claimed the lives of more than 5,600 people since January this year.

Troops Target Foreign Facilitators in Iraq; 19 Terrorism Suspects Detained
WASHINGTON - Coalition forces wounded one suspected terrorist and detained 19 others today during operations to disrupt foreign terrorist networks in central Iraq.Nov 9, 2007, Jim Kouri
Coalition Forces Capture Terrorism Suspects in Iraq
WASHINGTON - Coalition forces captured a suspected terrorist and detained four other suspects today during operations in central and northern Iraq.Nov 9, 2007,
Iraqi Citizens Step Up to Confront al Qaeda
WASHINGTON - Decreased violence in Iraq is the result of ongoing U.S. surge operations and Iraqi citizens' increasing willingness to confront al Qaeda insurgents, a senior U.S. military officer said here today.Nov 9, 2007,
Chickens Are Returning to the Roost
Thomas E. Brewton -- The exchange value of the dollar is declining at an accelerating rate, and China has blown the whistle to stop the game.
Bush and Merkel to focus on Iran Mathaba.Net 03:13
Gareth Porter: How Cheney Cooked the Intelligence on Iran The Huffington Post:weblog) 02:57
US seeks Merkel's backing over Iran sanctions Telegraph.co.uk 02:44
Tempers cool as US frees Iran prisoners Telegraph.co.uk 02:44
Report: U.S. presses European companies to stop business with Iran People's Daily 02:23
An Open Letter To President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad And The People Of IRAN:
OpEdNews.com 02:22
Iran 'must free' woman activist BBCi 02:18
Revealed: Israel Plans Nuclear Strike on Iran Guerrilla News Network 02:15
'Lesson' on Iran misses plenty of vital points The Southern Illinoisan, Illinois 02:07
Merkel arrives for talks with Bush on Iran (2nd Roundup) Monsters and Critics 02:04
Proton sells 5,000 Wajas to Iran for use as taxis The Star Online 01:48
Cheney Tried to Stifle Dissent in Iran National Intelligence Estimate Mathaba.Net 01:47

Officials: 59 Children on School Trip Killed by Afghan Homicide Bomber; 96 Injured : Friday, November 09, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan — Dozens of schoolchildren and five teachers were among those killed in a suicide attack in northern Afghanistan earlier this week — the country's deadliest since the fall of the Taliban — the government said Friday. The 59 schoolchildren had lined up to greet a group of lawmakers visiting a sugar factory in the northern province of Baghlan on Tuesday when a suicide bomber detonated explosives. "The education minister has ordered that no children should be ever again be used in these sort of events," said Zahoor Afghan, an Education Ministry spokesman. He said the children ranged in age from 8 to 18. In all, the explosion claimed the lives at least 75 people, including several parliamentarians, and wounded 96. It was the deadliest attack in the country since the toppling of Taliban regime from power in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared three days of mourning Wednesday and ordered an investigation. No group has claimed responsibility, and the Taliban denied any involvement. Also Friday, NATO and Afghan troops battled Taliban fighters near Gulistan district in western Farah province. The soldiers seized the district center, killing up to 20 suspected militants who overran it last week, said Gen. Abdul Rahman Sarjang, the provincial police chief. On Thursday, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops surrounded a compound where militants had gathered near Tirin Kot, in Uruzgan province, sparking a clash which left seven suspected Taliban fighters dead, said Juma Gul Hamat, the provincial police chief. Four militants were detained, he said.There were no casualties among coalition and Afghan forces, Hamat said.In southern Zabul province, Taliban militants on motorbikes ambushed and killed Shahjoy's district chief and two bodyguards as they were shopping on Thursday, said Mohammad Rasool Khan, a district police chief. Coalition and Afghan troops, meanwhile, came under fire from Taliban insurgents in southern Helmand province's Nahr Surk district on Wednesday, a coalition statement said. "The combined force immediately engaged the Taliban fighters with small-arms fire and close air support, killing many of the insurgents before they fled the area," it said.Violence in Afghanistan this year has been the deadliest since the Taliban's ouster. More than 5,700 people, mostly militants, have died so far this year in insurgency-related violence, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials.Separately, a British soldier was killed Friday in a vehicle accident in Afghanistan, the British Ministry of Defense said.

Latest News

Five Members Of Afghan Parliament Among Those Killed In Taliban Bomb Attack

Dead estimated between 30 and 70. "The attack is among the deadliest in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion," reports MSNBC. "Taliban bombers have killed regional governors in the past, but never have militants killed so many high-ranking officials in one attack."

Sarkozy Accused Of Working For Israeli Intelligence

A letter dispatched to French police officials late last winter -- long before the presidential election but somehow kept secret -- revealed that Sarkozy was recruited as an Israeli spy. The French police is currently investigating documents concerning Sarkozy's alleged espionage activities on behalf of Mossad, which Le Figaro claims dated as far back as 1983.

Whistleblowers Claim Contractor Fraud Ignored

"Barrington 'Barry' Godfrey of Houston tried to get mega-contractor KBR to quit overcharging the government for thousands of troops he said the company never fed. He alleges he was forced out for raising the issue, and that the Justice Department tried unsuccessfully to keep his allegations secret and then refused to join him in a whistleblower suit."igaro claims dated as far back as 1983.

Afghanistan: The Other War- what is going wrong and why

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As President Bush pledges another $10 billion to stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan, and a spring offensive is expected against a resurgent Taliban, FRONTLINE/World correspondent Sam Kiley reports from the frontlines of the conflict, where dual battles are being fought to win the trust of the Afghan people and combat the extremists living among them. In the film, Kiley and his crew are granted unprecedented access to the outgoing British NATO commander David Richards who led 37,000 troops from 37 countries. Kiley also travels with a battle-hardened Canadian unit stationed in Taliban territory in the south near the city of Kandahar. Their task is to provide humanitarian aid to local villages. Rather than showing the usual ground flashes of aerial bombings or chaos in city streets following a car bomb attack, Kiley's film is an unfiltered and often painstaking look at the other realities of war: solitary mortar fire into a barren mountainside at a seemingly faceless enemy; winning the trust of the Afghan people one mud-brick village at a time; and the futility and frustrations that often come with these encounters. And at a higher level, he shows how NATO is responding to criticism from the Afghan and international media about its perceived slow progress in stabilizing a country that has known nothing but conflict for the past 30 years. http://tinyurl.com/2betzv