US heralds start of Operation Mountain Storm

[leftchick]

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=22&art_id=qw1079350561238B212&set_id=1

<snip>
The US military announced the start of the operation only on Saturday, describing it in a statement as just the latest in a series of campaigns by the 13 500-strong coalition in Afghanistan to hunt down fugitives from the al-Qaeda network and the former ruling Taliban regime.

Yet Colonel Bryan Hilferty insisted their net will eventually close on bin Laden. "The leaders of al-Qaeda and the leader of the Taliban need to be brought to justice - and they will be," he said.

The military gave few details about the operation, though they have said it would involve stepped up searches, impromptu road checks and community projects to win Afghans' hearts and minds.

Taliban rebels continue to wage frequent attacks in lawless regions of the south and east, in an effort to undermine the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai and threatening plans for summer elections.

[jamesinca]

1. If they had spent the last year doing this and staying out of Iraq

maybe we would not be looking for bin-Laden right now. If the UN weapons inspectors were allowed to do their job for the last year, Hussein would be cleared of weapons charges and a sense of co-operation with the ME would be born. Instead we started a war and got a lot of dead Spaniards this weekend.

[Mairead]

2. Ah yes, the endless war, ramping up when Bush needs a rise in popularity

We can count on bin Laden or something they claim to be his body being produced before November, and judging from last year's change of command in SKorea, we might well see an invasion of NK any time from June onward (September, probably, on the basis of 'you don't introduce a new product during the summer')

[leftchick]

3. Two Key Points for Americans to ponder...

Though I know they won't....

One...
<snip>"There are a lot of US coalition forces, and a lot of patrols - much more than the previous two years," General Khan Mohammed, corps commander of Afghan government militia in the south, said this week.


And two...
<snip>But if the United States really is now hot on the trail of bin Laden, some analysts question why U.S. officials would signal so openly to the al-Qaida leader to rethink his hiding place.

"What I don't understand is why they've been so public about it. I don't see what it accomplishes." said Vikram Parekh, with the International Crisis Group in Kabul. "Tactically, it's foolish."

[Just Me]

5. Parekh needs to consider the possibility that this is a propaganda,...

,...blitz,...just like all the other preparatory tactics for serving the wealthy (in tax cuts and deregulation) and the military industrial complex (via waging an unlawful war). Prepare to witness the magical capture of Osama,...coming to a station near you *LOL*.

[leftchick]

6. I agree JM...

The analysts don't seem to understand that EVERYTHING bushco* does is purely political.

[Walt Starr]

4. It's pretty clear to me, they wanted to put this off until closer

to the election.

Fucking fuckers knew they had time to invade Iraq. The only thing that will fuck them up now is if bin Laden is nowhere to be found.

[denverbill]

7. Bush is to blame for the attack in Spain.

His rash decision to attack Iraq cost the US valuable manpower that would have been more prudently spent rounding up bin Laden. He's wasted 3 years while allowing bin Laden a free hand to continue plotting terrorist attacks.

[damnraddem]

8. Is it really going to take them seven months to dig up Osama ...

for the October Surprise?

[bobthedrummer]

9. Col. Hilferty used to be based in D.C.

He was sent back to Colorado Springs for awhile, and now he's over in Afghanistan.

He was too gung-ho and outspoken about TIA/IAO and other domestic programs-he was the guy talking up The Office of Strategic Influence--planting fake news stories and lies in the world press.

Col. Hilferty/Office of Strategic Influence, that's what I recall most about that guy.

It was "reported" that The Office of Strategic Influence never opened.

We all await "news" of the "capture" of OBL from Col. Hilferty now.
:puke:

BTW, I hate OBL, the CIA asset/terrorist too.

[bobthedrummer]

10. It's poppy-harvest time there too. Maybe Col. Hilferty can stop that.

One thing that Seymour Hersh wrote about has always made me angry.
It was when many terrorists were evacuated to Kashmir to protect ISI/Pakistan Military Intelligence operatives.

Who knows who was among them? A tall guy with kidney problems?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/HER206A.html