18,000 troops begin winter offensive in Afghanistan against Taliban, al-Qa

[seemslikeadream]

STEPHEN GRAHAM

KABUL (AP) - The 18,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan have begun a new offensive to hunt Taliban and al-Qaida militants through the country's harsh winter, aiming to sap their strength ahead of planned spring elections, the American military said Saturday.

Operation Lightning Freedom was initiated after Tuesday's inauguration of Hamid Karzai as the country's first democratically elected president, Maj. Mark McCann said.

"It's going on throughout the country of Afghanistan. It's designed basically to search out and destroy the remaining remnants of Taliban forces who traditionally we believe go to ground during the winter months," he said.

Maj.-Gen. Eric Olson, the No. 2 American commander here, said last month that the mission would include a redeployment to tighten security on the border with Pakistan and raids by special forces to snatch rebel leaders.

Protecting Afghanistan's young democracy has become the most urgent priority for American commanders frustrated by their failure to capture al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who disappeared here after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

more
http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041211/CPW/34057022

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Operation Lightning Freedom" WTF?

Who makes this shit up?

George Orwell still lives.

Choco Rations may go up 1 mg. next year.

Big BushCo Loves You.

[tabasco]

11. "Lightning" probably means 25th ID is the command HQ.

The operation names usually begin with something identifying the division or brigade.

"Mountain Whatever" = 10th Mountain
"Lightning Whatever" = 25th ID (lightning bolt on unit patch)
"American Whatever" = 82d ABN ("All American Division")
"Ivy Whatever" = 4th ID (ivy leaf on unit patch)

and so on.

[radfringe]

15. why don't they stop with the euphemisms

and just call it the BLITZKRIEG?

[tngledwebb]

2. Wait, didn't we win that war already?

Which war have we won since we started on our own anyway? Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Slavery? No, not those, it's Grenada, right? Yes that's the one! Let's have a parade!

[SpiralHawk]

3. Well, yeah, we "won" and all that, but...

BushCo needs to maximize poppy harvest, and opium, heroin production this coming year.

I mean, the global economy is going in the toilet thanks to BushCo machinations. They must look for a way to maximize profits, and this is the most promising scheme: "Tightening the screws on the bastards," as Vice Dick, Mr. Cheney might put it, for the cause of global drug hegemony.

Trust BushCo. BushCo loves you.

[tngledwebb]

4. I forgot, yes those drug profits will come in handy

for all the other bloody surprises Satan's little helpers are giving the world this holiday season. And the next, and the one after that...

[xchrom]

5. what, are they sending invitations?

they've messed up there as well -- they don't know who they're looking for.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. Anyone with a beard will do

After all, that's the "Al Qaeda" trademark, isn't it? :crazy:

[livinbella]

8. Good question, how WILL we know who to kill?

They will just blend in until until we go away.
And then they will... blend back out again.

[Zerex71]

10. The basic rule for the US military is:

If they are brown, kill them.
If they have something we want, kill them.

It's really pretty simple when you boil it all down.

[Bono71]

14. Yeah, all those Serbs the military Killed to protect

ethnic Albanian Muslims were really "Brown People" in disguise.

I hate Bush, but its not the everyday soldier who is at fault, especially the ones fighting in a country that housed the outfit that murdered 3,000 people in 1 day.

[Zerex71]

18. Which country was that again?

Because it wasn't one of the following:
a) Syria
b) Iran
c) Iraq
d) Afghanistan

Sounds like the correct answer is more like:

e) Pakistan

But we wouldn't want to upset them, seeing as how they are ready to part with lots of cash to buy a big load of F-16s from us.

[Javaman]

7. Ummm? isn't this a repeat?

I'm sure the soldiers don't mind doing the same shit over and over and over and over and over...

[Zerex71]

9. Huh?

I thought we "eradicated the Taliban" and brought "freedom and democracy to Afghanistan"? Or wasn't it "bin Laden has been marginalized?"

Here's a big plate of heaping crow for the US to eat. Dig in!

[NNN0LHI]

12. I think it took the Soviets about 8 or 9 Afghan winter offensives until...

...they were all winter offensived out and went home.

Don

[Sin]

13. Gee i guess

Operation Lighting War was all ready taken.

[DrDebug]

17. And they couldn't use Ivy

Since Operation Ivy Liberation tends to be shortened to OIL

[Sara Beverley]

16. Weren't we told that we had wiped out the Taliban?

How long did it take Russia to find out that Afghanistan was an impossible mission? And what happened to Russia because of that long, long invasion?

OK, you get my drift.

[NNN0LHI]

19. I believe the actual term used was " eviscerated"?

"The Taliban and al-Qaeda have been eviscerated." - circa 2001

[seemslikeadream]

20. Tell us what we've won, Johnny

....

One by-product of Reaganism, though, has been the mess in Afghanistan. Reagan directed the CIA to funnel enormous material support to Islamist rebels fighting the Soviet army in Afghanistan in the mid 1980s. Among the aid we gave Afghan Mujahideen were shoulder-held Stinger missiles, which wreaked havoc on Soviet helicopter gunships and are now a primary source of concern for our counter-terrorism efforts. It is well known that Osama Bin Laden cut his teeth as a guerilla fighter during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Once Gorbachev withdrew Soviet forces in 1989, the resulting power vacuum ensured the eventual emergence of the Taliban, as Gorbachev feared would happen. In other words, in pursuit of ratcheting up conflict with the Soviet Union, Reagan helped sow the seeds of our greatest existing menace.

Ronald Reagan became a star in the world of make believe. His hagiographers appear determined to carry on that legacy by crediting him with bringing about the exctinction of the Evil Empire. Their hope is that we won't remember the much more sobering legacy he actually left us.
more
http://gadflyer.com/articles/?ArticleID=136



Proclamation 5165 -- Afghanistan Day, 1984

March 20, 1984

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

For much of the world spring is now beginning. It is a time of new life, renewal, freshness, and hope.

For the people of Afghanistan, March 21 is the traditional celebration of the New Year, the beginning of the cycle of life. It is a period of rejoicing and celebration for life's regeneration as a gift of God.

But today, for most of the people of Afghanistan, the March 21 New Year brings only the renewal of fighting, destruction, and death. For more than four years, the armed forces of the Soviet Union have occupied Afghanistan. More than 100,000 Soviet soldiers now occupy that beleaguered country. The overwhelming majority of the Afghan people are struggling against the Soviet occupation troops and the puppet regime headed by Babrak Karmal. It is a regime that is maintained only by Soviet force.

Afghan resistance to Marxist rule grew dramatically after the Soviet invasion, and it has now spread throughout the country. A solution to the Afghanistan problem must begin with the removal of the Soviet troops. A negotiated political settlement can be achieved if the Soviet Union agrees to withdraw its military forces of occupation.

The goal of United States policy remains clear and consistent. We seek the removal of Soviet military forces so that the Afghan people can live freely in their own country and are able to choose their own way of life and government.

Hope, it is said, springs eternal. We continue to hope that a negotiated settlement can be found, a settlement which fulfills the conditions spelled out five times in resolutions resoundingly endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

These resolutions, passed by the overwhelming majority of the world's nations, call for the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan; reaffirm the right of the Afghan people to determine their own form of government and to choose their economic, political, and social system; reiterate that the preservation of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence, and nonaligned character of Afghanistan is essential for a peaceful solution of the problem; and call for the creation of the conditions which would enable the Afghan refugees to return voluntarily to their homes in safety and honor.

We stand in admiration of the indomitable will and courage of the Afghan people who continue their resistance to tyranny. All freedom-loving people around the globe should be inspired by the Afghan people's struggle to be free and the heavy sacrifices they bear for liberty.

Afghanistan Day will serve to recall the fundamental principles involved when a people struggles for the freedom to determine its own future and the right to be free of foreign interference. Let us therefore resolve to pay tribute to the brave Afghan people by observing March 21, 1984 as Afghanistan Day. Let us pledge our continuing admiration for their cause and for their perseverance, and lend our support to the Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Let us redouble our determination to help find a negotiated settlement that will enable the Afghan people to again welcome spring without the suffering brought by war, but with celebration and joy.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 21, 1984, as Afghanistan Day.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.

Ronald Reagan


http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/resource/speeches/1984/320...



From Afghanistan to El Salvador
Reagan's Dark Global Legacy
By DENNIS HANS


Afghanistan. "Ronnie Poppy." This opium flower honors President Reagan's contribution to the explosive growth of the Afghan heroin industry in the 1980s through his unconditional support for the most extreme Islamic fundamentalists who were justifiably opposed to the murderous Soviet occupation....

Angola. "The Gipper Stump." This polished-oak peg leg features a heart-felt message from the Cold War commander-in-chief, who worked with the South African apartheid state to keep Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA terrorists armed and dangerous,.....

Argentina. "The Reagan Islands." Technically, the former Falkland/Malvinas Islands are no longer the property of Argentina, but Argentinians voted for the new name to honor Ronnie's role in the restoration of civilian rule in their country.....

Cambodia. "Reagan Skull Bag." This handy Khmer Rouge carrying sack holds up to 25 skulls. The Skull Bag recognizes the Reagan administration's unstinting support for Pol Pot's assaults on Cambodians from 1981 to 1989,.....

Costa Rica. "El Rancho Reagan." The former "front farm" of a CIA and contra collaborator, El Rancho Reagan is preserved in its mid-1980s pristine prime.....

El Salvador. "The Reagan Missionary Position." No, not a sexual position for raping American churchwomen (for that would be in poor taste), but a position as in a stand. The Reagan Missionary Position, formulated by high officials Al Haig and Jeane Kirkpatrick, is that the three nuns and one layworker were pro-Marxist "political activists" and thus hardly innocent.....

Guatemala. "The Reagan 'Bum Rap' Rap." Grandmaster Ronnie first laid down this rap in 1982 to discredit reports by Amnesty International and others of the army's slaughter of thousands of Indian villagers in the first months of General Efrain Rios Montt's rule.....

Honduras. "Reagan's Rascals." The crazy cut-ups of Battalion 316 comprised a secret unit of CIA-backed torturers and murderers. They rid Honduras of real and imagined subversives and dissidents,....

Haiti. "Ronnie Doc." Duvalier loyalists awarded Reagan the highest degree a Haitian can steal, the Doctor of Kleptocracy.....

Kurdistan. "Reagan Red Hot." Nothing's more appetizing than human skin drenched with mustard, or for that matter, mustard gas, which is what a "Reagan Red Hot" hot dog is.....

Laos. "Ronnie Rain." In the mountains of Laos, April showers dump bee feces on flowers. Ronnie Rain salutes the 1982 White House "Yellow Rain" disinformation campaign - spread by the demented Wall Street Journal editorial board.....

Lebanon. "The Reagan Wink." It's as good as a nod. Go into the home of any member of the Lebanese Phalange militia and you'll see a glossy photo of the handsome Gipper closing his right eye. In 1982, Reagan engineered the withdrawal of PLO soldiers from Beirut by guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian civilians left behind.....

Nicaragua. "The Reagan Wall." Modeled after the U.S. memorial to Americans who died in Vietnam, the Reagan Wall lists the names of the thousands of civilians murdered by "the moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers" (Ronnie's pet name for the contras).....

South Africa. "The Reagan White House." Not a replica of the Pennsylvania Avenue edifice but a Johannesburg mansion that harkens back to a simpler time when whiteness reigned supreme in Pretoria, to the delight of President Reagan. Pay the admission price of ten rand and hassle the black servants, demand to see their pass books, and interrogate the Nelson Mandela look-alike in the basement cell.....

Zaire. "Reagan Cane." Before he was chased into exile, President Mobutu Sese Seko high-stepped with this gold-encrusted walking stick. In its day, the Reagan Cane was ideal for maintaining balance or whacking a dissident.....

more
http://www.counterpunch.org/hans06072004.html

[Mari333]

21. Let me get this right...

18,000 troops in Afghanistan, 150,000 troops in Iraq.
Bin Laden still free somewhere, supposedley masterminded 9/11
Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11, and no WMDs or imminent threat in Iraq. But we attack Iraq.
and the US public just snores thru all the lies...

[seemslikeadream]

22. US tells Afghan warlords security needed for aid

MAZAR-I-SHARIF: US Undersecretary of Defence Dov Zakheim has told rival factions in northern Afghanistan they cannot expect reconstruction aid if they continue to fight each other.

Speaking after meeting faction leaders in the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif on Friday, Zakheim said there was a link between such aid and security. “Of course, if the conflict continues, it makes it very hard for the humanitarian efforts,” he said.

“They have seen that we have invested in places where there are no skirmishes.”

In Mazar, Zakheim met Uzbek warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum, his rival Ustad Atta Mohammad of the Jamiat-e-Islami faction, and a representative of the Shi’ite Hezb-i-Wahdat. Repeated clashes between Dostum’s and Atta’s forces in northern Afghanistan in recent months have claimed the lives of dozens of people, both soldiers and non-combatants.

Zakheim said he had received assurances from them that they would work to improve security to allow implementation of humanitarian and reconstruction programmes.

Last week, after a visit by the US special representative to Afghanistan Zalmai Khalilzad, the rivals agreed to start disarming their forces in the cities and remote areas.

Zakheim said relations between Dostum and Atta appeared civil.

“They seemed to be very comfortable together,” he said, adding that said they were working together to disarm and reduce the number of what they termed “skirmishes” between their forces.

Both Atta and Dostum are members of President Hamid Karzai’s U.S-backed government that came to power last year after the ouster of the former Taliban regime. However they have appeared more interested in pursuing regional interests than helping the central government establish its control.

Last month Karzai threatened to sack regional warlords and government officials if they continued to abuse their power.

Before his visit to the north, Zakheim met in Kabul with Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim to discuss US-backed efforts to rebuild the national army, ministry officials said. —Reuters

more
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_3-11-2002_pg4_15


It was Karzai who declared at a February 26 joint news conference, with US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on the occasion of his one-day visit to Kabul, that the Taliban were defeated and "as a movement does not exist any more." "They are gone," he said, attributing continuing violence to "common criminals", as opposed to politically driven insurgents.

These were the boldest public statements made by Karzai about the Taliban since he took office after the Taliban's ouster, in early 2002. Similarly dismissive of the group's capabilities, Rumsfeld stated: "I'm not seeing any indication the Taliban pose any military threat to Afghanistan." Only a week earlier, one of Rumsfeld's top aides at the Pentagon, Under Secretary of Defense Dov S Zakheim, contemptuously spoke of the "cowardly" nature of Taliban operations.

Such proclamations would normally arouse feelings of unbridled relief and joy among most Afghans and internationals working in Afghanistan - that is, if they did not contrast so sharply with recent events on the ground. More than 550 people have been killed over the past six months, making it the most violent period in the two years that have elapsed since the fall of the Taliban regime. Within 12 days, between February 14 and February 26, nine Afghan aid workers and one US soldier were killed in separate incidents across the country. Perhaps what is most alarming about this recent spate of attacks are the tactics that have been employed. Since December 28, 2003, there have been four suicide attacks in Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of eight people - six Afghan intelligence agents and two International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) peacekeeping soldiers.

The evidence does not support the notion of an overwhelmed and defeated enemy.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:Imcfb34lGvcJ:discuss.agonist.org/yabbse/index.php%3Fboard%3D1%3Baction%3Ddisplay%3Bthreadid%3D18492+zakheim+Fahim&hl=en

Defense Department Hails Progress Toward Afghan Elections
Official briefs reporters on Rumsfeld's agenda for Afghan stopover
11 August 2004

http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/m-news+article+storyid-2609.html