Taliban claim capture of four US troops

[DuctapeFatwa]

Pakistani as well as the Taliban sources on Wednesday claimed that four US soldiers had been captured by the pro-Taliban fighters in Paktia province of Afghanistan on Tuesday night in an attack on a convoy in the mountainous region.

"Our fighters have captured at least four American soldiers in Birmal area of Paktia province on Tuesday night," claimed a pro-Taliban source asking not to be named. Birmal district shares borders with two tribal agencies of Pakistan, North and South Waziristan agencies.

The claim was also backed by tribal sources, living on the Pakistan side of the Pakistan-Afghan border, saying that the capture of the Americans was talk of Miranshah, headquarters of North Waziristan Agency. However, no official confirmation of the arrest of the soldiers has been made by the US so far.

The sources said US forces with the support of their Afghan militias have established several new security check posts in Birmal. "The US soldiers were patrolling in the area when they came under attack. The captured Americans have been shifted to safe places," the source claimed.

http://www.balochistanpost.com/item.aspx?ID=4349

[UpInArms]

1. if I have my history correctly,

the last ruler to conquer Afghanistan was Ghengis Khan.

[DuctapeFatwa]

2. He and Alexander the Great both ran screaming from it

They were followed by various other attempts, Kipling noted of the British experience there:

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.

[mmm]

4. What a prospect

That is some awesome Kipling.
What a horrible prospect.

[jus_the_facts]

5. huh.....that's not the version of those two's history in that area.....

....I remember learning? :shrug:

[DuctapeFatwa]

11. Oh they got people pregnant, hence Hazaras and some colored eyes

But if either of them had actually conquered it, as long ago as that was, is probably a question you'd have to ask the Afghans ;)

[Character Assassin]

22. Alexander the Great did not 'run screaming' from AFG

He captured Herat and Samarkand and went on to India.

Alexander appointed Seleucus I as the viceroy of the Asian territories he conquered, roughly the area that stretched from the northwestern borders of India to most of Anatolia and parts of Syria-Phoenicia. A few years after Seleucus I took over the reign, however, roughly 303 BC, Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire from eastern India waged a war with Seleucus defeated him.

[AmandaRuth]

3. i hope they come home

soon and safe, for real and

remember, Courage Mom!

[BiggJawn]

6. "Taliban"??? But we defeated them...

<Sarcasm OFF>

We never defeated them, except in Rumsferatu's mind. We "Ran them outta Town", which to Sheriff George, might seem a good time to kiss his horse, but guess what?

They're BACK.
And they're PISSED....

What I don't understand is why, out of every foreign agency that has tried to come in and take over Afghanistan, have only the Pakistani Taliban been successful?

[reprobate]

7. Because all the others were outside governments.

While the taliban is not a gov't as such, but an ideology.

[BiggJawn]

14. But they're still outsiders.

Religious fanatics booted out of Pakistan and lookin' for a new home is how I always heard it.
Are you saying that they came in, got settled in as religous leaders, then took over?
A lesson that was lost on us, evidenced by that square peg Karzai wobbling atop his round hole...

All those lives and resources wasted, and things just go back to the way they were...

[Devils Advocate NZ]

17. No, you're wrong.

'Taliban' means 'student'.

The Taliban were Afghans trained in the madrassas or religous schools of Pakistan when they fled from Soviet occupation. You see, hundreds of thousands of Afghans became refugees living across the border in Pakistan, from where the mujahadin mounted their raids on Soviet forces, regrouped, resupplied and in the case of the Taliban received religious indoctrination (often sponsored by the CIA-ISI).

The key point to remember is that the tribal areas of Pakistan and the area across the border in Afghanistan share a common ethnic ancestry. They are the same people.

Thus, the Taliban were NOT outsiders, they were merely refugees from the Soviets that returned to fight for supremacy after the Soviets withdrew.

[TahitiNut]

20. Not "merely refugees" ...

... but often the best and the brightest (and more affluent?). Hence, they were students rather than herders or plowmen. Even in a third world economy, it's mostly the ones who're capable who'll seek an education, even if only obtainable in a foreign land.

[BiggJawn]

23. Sooooooo.....Lets see if I have this now...

They were Afghan religous scholars (albeit Fundy to Da Bone) who went to Pakistan when the Ruskies came, continued their studies there, came back to Afghanistan after the Mudjahadien (sp) ran the Ruskies out, then, by virtue of their education, were uniquely positioned to assume positions of authority. Then they used said positions to impose their peculiar flavour of Islam on the rest of the country.

Do I have it now?

Now I understand.

[TahitiNut]

25. Yup.

Insofar as "impose" however, it's difficult to see how much of an imposition it is since the cultural history is one of ebb-and-flow of religious doctrine interrupted by invasions and occupations. These are cultures wherein theocracy has far more prevalent popular (i.e. secular) support than democracy. For anyone to take a side based on their own religious beliefs merely amplifies the use of theocratic motives. I find it very difficult to segregate my own spiritual beliefs from my preference for secular civil governance since such a segregation is, in itself, a part of my spiritual beliefs. Catch-22.

It's worth noting that religious schools are, by far, the most prevalent source of "public" education in Islamic countries. The culture doesn't make the same distinctions we do -- but that's inherent in Western religiosity, too. ("Render unto Caesar" and all that.)

Islam isn't unique in this respect. Consider Confucianism.

[ConsAreLiars]

27. Not quite

Afghanistan was/is a tribally based federation with control of Kabul being an important prize and a source of additional power. The Taliban formed in the manner indicated above but were also one of the major fighting groups among the Anti-Soviet forces that were nurtured and armed by the CIA. Although some (notably family members) were refugees in Pakistan, others were fighting. The US strategy for recruiting and motivating fighters relied heavily on fostering extreme religious fundamentalism to bring (temporary) unity among the various ethnic groups and ideologies. When the Soviets withdrew the various factions contended for hegemony, and the Taliban, due to the nature of the US strategy and the ISI-Pakistan support, won that battle, although not completely. The Taliban were the dominant force among the Pushtun tribes of the more heavily populated southwestern parts of the country, and quite strong in numbers, and they also successfully formed an alliance with the foreign jihadists like AlQaeda. During the war the Pushtun were the tribes which received the greatest amount of US support, because the natural rear bases of the other major groups were in Iran or the Soviet Union.

[tkmorris]

8. ????

I REALLY have to wonder how this post can be sinking so fast. This is colossally bad news here.

[Pert_UK]

9. Holy Shit......

I hope this isn't true, I really, really hope this isn't true...

I can't think of many things worse than being captured by the Taliban as an American soldier.

P.

[Karenina]

13. I sincerely doubt these are the first

or the only ones. Suddenly Afghanistan is back on the radar screen.
:shrug:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. When the old Soviet Union was "occupying" Afghanistan, it got to the...

...point that the last thing any soldier wanted was to be captured by the other side. During the last few years of the Afghan-Soviet War, very few prisoners were taken by either side...they were shot immediately.

The Afghans did capture a few soldiers late in the war, but it was usually for the purposes of filming their beheading with a combat knife or axe. The video would then be sent to the nearest Soviet commander.

The Soviet military got the point where the mutilated bodies of their soldiers were cremated in Afghanistan and shipped home in a metal container the size of a shoebox.

That whole region is infamous for the family blood feuds that have rages for thousands of years. The only time they stop their feuds is when they band together to oust an invader. We're next.

[Kool Kitty]

12. Kick for the real late nighters.

And the real early AMs. :kick: This is so bad.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

15. Boy are they suppressing this one

google turned up only one other link. also from Pakistan... link

[BeHereNow]

16. "Afghanistan...

Where's that?" asks the average American.
The one thing the neocons knew they could count on
is the two second attention span and memory of the sheeple.

I am starting to get really angry about the lack of
news about the OTHER M.E. war. I suspect soon enough, they
will drag our service men and woman into yet another country
and we will cease to hear any more about Iraq or Afghanistan
.
Colin Powell to W:"It's getting reaaly bad in Iraq George...
your poll numbers are slipping, we can't kill ALL the reporters
and the people are reading those damn foreign papers on the
internet....it's bad, looking pretty bad sir. "

To which W. replies with a smirk,
"Well, hell C.P. just invade another country and the 'murikkkans will
forget all about I-RAQ...prepare me a report about
WMD's in Syria and call Fox news and arrange a special
appearance to announce the new threat to the homeland...
Maybe I can dress up like Jesus for that one...I like that idea...
git me my bible..."

I am a wreck- my nephew is in Afghanistan.
DAMN THE NEOCONS- DAMN THEM TO HELL.

BHN

[NewYorkerfromMass]

18. Your nephew is in Afghanistan!?!

Sorry to hear but I wish you and your family all the best.

[BeHereNow]

19. Yes, and what makes me scared is

the fact that he is sceduled for a transport to this week...
His last email with his sister was that they had been in a
fairly calm area, but that he was scared because they were
moving to a more actively hostile location.
He is 19. He joined to get an education- he is extremely
intelligent, but the family fell apart afew years ago and
his mother disappeared (drugs) and my brother was working
two jobs to try and survive with the kids- seeing no future,
the kid enlisted to try to have a future.
He is sweet child- wouldn't hurt a fly, so I really can't
imagine what he must be feeling finding himself in
the middle of this hell.

I am sick to the seat of my soul over it.
BHN

[UpInArms]

21. BHN, I am so sorry

and will worry with you :(

[Dhalgren]

24. Me too.

I will worry with you and I will keep a very possitive vibe going for your nephew. I can't help but hate these neocon assholes. Hate is a bad thing ... but sometimes it is appropriate.

[Eloriel]

29. Oh, how heartbreaking

Yes, I'm worried with you too. We'll hold him in our thoughts and prayers. Poor kid. Poor YOU.

Eloriel

[TacticalPeek]

26. Zero western coverage gives me a little pause.

But pick the lying Taliban or the lying bushco, and disbelieve whichever.

I grok the malAdmin's incompetence and tortured ideological approach to the Stans. But I do have a whiff of wonder that no counter-force from Congress or the international community seems evident. At least a few of the R's on the hill know better than this.

[BonjourUSA]

28. It's a terrible political mistake because the real "war on terrorism"..

... is taking place in this area.

But Bush chose to mislay money, energy, soldiers in a stupid war and kill many Iraqi who weren't really our enemies.

The terrorists don't necessarily live close to the oilfields