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  1. #1
    Small Wars Journal SWJED's Avatar
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    Default The Taliban collection (2006 onwards)

    2 June Washington Times - Ambassador Predicts Taliban Ferocity.

    The Taliban will wage its fiercest campaign of attacks in the coming months in an attempt to hamper the transfer of security duties in Afghanistan from the U.S. military to NATO, Kabul's ambassador in Washington says.

    "During the upcoming months, the Taliban will resort to the utmost violence to prevent reconstruction and discourage NATO countries from further deployment," Said Jawad told The Washington Times...

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    From USIP: Afghanistan and its Neighbors: An Ever Dangerous Neighborhood
    ...a military-focused partnership with Afghanistan may be the wrong way for the United States to demonstrate its commitment to Karzai and Afghanistan. It slights the contribution of reconstruction and improvement in the lives of most Afghans in making the country secure from its enemies. Many Afghans view a concession to Washington on long-term military basing as akin to those demands associated with an occupying power, having little relation to Afghanistan’s own needs. A strategic partnership could also undermine what has been the Afghan president’s largely successful personal rapport withmost of the region’s leaders. As this study has shown, Afghanistan is unlikely to succeed without coming to terms with its difficult neighborhood.

    The United States is frequently accused of lacking a holistic approach to this turbulent region. Its regional policies on security, democracy, and development are said to be often inconsistent if not contradictory. The decision by the U.S. State Department to incorporate Central Asia’s Islamic states into the same bureau as Afghanistan can contribute to a strengthened region-wide perspective. Along with the international community, the United States might also begin to address how it can benefit Afghanistan’s quest for security and recovery through aid projects and other policies specifically intended to promote regional cooperation and integration. For this to occur, U.S. priorities that are now so unidimensionally focused on counterterrorism must be better aligned with the aspirations of citizens of Afghanistan and those of its neighbors.

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    Council Member marct's Avatar
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    Default Frontline: Return of the Taliban (Oct 3, 2006)

    FYI

    Return of the Taliban
    coming Oct. 03, 2006 at 9pm (check local listings)

    (60 minutes) FRONTLINE reports from the lawless Pakistani tribal areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and reveals how the area has fallen under the control of a resurgent Taliban militia. Despite the presence of 80,000 Pakistani troops, the Taliban and their supporters continue to use the region as a launching pad for attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Off limits to U.S. troops by agreement with Pakistan's president and long suspected of harboring Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, the area is now considered a failed state. President Pervez Musharraf tells FRONTLINE reporter Martin Smith that Pakistan's strategy, which includes cash payments to militants who lay down their arms, has clearly foundered. In a region little understood because it is closed to most observers, FRONTLINE investigates a secret front in the war on terror.
    This documentary is already playing in the Canadian press.

    Marc
    Sic Bisquitus Disintegrat...
    Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D.
    Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies,
    Senior Research Fellow,
    The Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, NPSIA
    Carleton University
    http://marctyrrell.com/

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    Council Member SSG Rock's Avatar
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    Default Regarding the Taliban.....

    I was astonished this morning, as I was going through my morning email subscriptions to find that The Philadelphia Times printed an article stating that Senate Majority Leader Frist was quoted as saying the Taliban will never be defeated militarily. I quite agree with that assessment, and although late in coming, perhaps our civilian leaders are beginning to grasp the concept of counterinsurgency operations? As we all know, it is just as much, if not more a political and idealogical fight than it is military, that perhaps inviting the Taliban to be represented in the new Afghan government might be a tactic worth testing? I posted the article here.....http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=1292
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    Council Member Tom Odom's Avatar
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    Default Got it tagged already

    Marc,

    Thanks, mate. I had it tagged on my cable box already and put a notice out at work yesterday it was coming on. I meant to put up one here.

    Best

    Tom

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    Council Member marct's Avatar
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    Hi Tom,

    No probs . A friend of mine in the feds sent me a link to the Globe & Mail story on it and I thought that it showed some of the spin coming out in Canada now after the visit by Karzai and Hellier.

    Marc
    Sic Bisquitus Disintegrat...
    Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D.
    Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies,
    Senior Research Fellow,
    The Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, NPSIA
    Carleton University
    http://marctyrrell.com/

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    Frontline: Return of the Taliban

    Excellent documentary. Essentially it turned out to be a long indictment of Pakistan. I was surprised that Musharraf and his generals allowed themselves to be interviewed in that manner as well as filmed squirming in the hot seat making weak denials. I was especially interested in the video of the Pakistani general giving the anti-American speech to the tribesmen in Waziristan.

    The full documentary, as well as transcripts of the interviews, is available on the website - along with a few extras.

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    Default 10 April PBS Frontline - Afghanistan: The Other War

    Afghanistan: The Other War - 10 April on PBS Frontline.

    Inside an underground bunker in a secret location in Kabul, soldiers from an international military force monitor daily attacks from the Taliban, which has re-emerged this year as a major threat to Afghanistan's weak national government. The bunker is manned by members of the small NATO force now in charge of countering a growing insurgency there, as the United States shifts many of its own combat troops to Iraq. In "The Other War," FRONTLINE/World correspondent Sam Kiley confronts the reality of the West's struggling campaign in Afghanistan, with exclusive access to the NATO command in Afghanistan and provocative reporting from the front lines in the run up to a major offensive the Taliban has promised this spring.

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    Council Member tequila's Avatar
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    Watched part of this last night. Very enlightening, especially the segment on the Canadian PRT in Nuristan. Hard to believe that they could not even repair more than 3 water pumps for the village. At the end of the effort, NATO boards the choppers and flies away, leaving the village completely at the mercy of the Taliban. One wonders at the lack of resources available for the mission there.

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    Council Member SSG Rock's Avatar
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    Default Pulling Taliban leaders into government?

    QALAT, Afghanistan - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said yesterday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas could never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring "people who call themselves Taliban" and their allies into the government.....

    http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/n...t/15664062.htm
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    Council Member Uboat509's Avatar
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    Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but one central tenants of the Taliban is rule by Theocracy which is not terribly compatible with democracy. Don't get me wrong I am happy hear a Senator saying that neither a pure military solution nor a cutting and running is the answer. I'm just not sure that trying to get former Taliban into the government is the answer either.

    SFC W

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    Council Member SSG Rock's Avatar
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    Default Yes....

    IMO, yes, the Taliban were absolutely a "dictatorial" Islamic Theocracy. And you might be right in that they won't play well with others. But I'm heartend to at least hear a civilian leader talking about this....finally.
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    Council Member marct's Avatar
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    It's certainly something that does need to be on the table. We've had some experience in Ontario with attempts to get parts of Sharia law introduced as "optional" (e.g. in some adjudication proceedings). So far, it has failed, mainly due to action from moderate Muslims and questions as to which law, Canadian or Sharia, would have ultimate precedence.

    Marc
    Sic Bisquitus Disintegrat...
    Marc W.D. Tyrrell, Ph.D.
    Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies,
    Senior Research Fellow,
    The Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, NPSIA
    Carleton University
    http://marctyrrell.com/

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    Quote Originally Posted by SSG Rock View Post
    IMO, yes, the Taliban were absolutely a "dictatorial" Islamic Theocracy. And you might be right in that they won't play well with others. But I'm heartend to at least hear a civilian leader talking about this....finally.
    Question - were more people victims of murder, rape, sectarian and religious violence under the Taliban or since Oct. 2001?

    What was the level of heroin production under the Taliban? What has it been since?

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    Council Member SSG Rock's Avatar
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    You mean in terms of executions, or collateral damage?

    I'm not sure what kind of correlation heroin production has to do with anything. We might be better served to ask who is growing the poppies and why?
    Don't taze me bro!

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    Council Member tequila's Avatar
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    Default Taliban must be involved in peace process: UK Defence Minister

    Taliban must be involved in peace process: Defence Minister - AFP 25 Sep.


    Afghanistan's Islamist Taliban militia will have to be involved in the country's peace process, Defence Minister Des Browne told delegates at the Labour Party conference.

    Browne also echoed comments made by the head of the British Army General Richard Dannatt, who said in June that Britain faced a "generation of conflict."

    "In Afghanistan, at some stage, the Taliban will need to be involved in the peace process because they are not going away any more than I suspect Hamas are going away from Palestine," Browne told delegates at a fringe meeting late on Monday.

    "But in my view, those who convene that process are entitled to say there are some basic parameters that people ought to apply to their engagement ..."

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    Default Someone Is Not Getting the Message

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20990358/

    "165 insurgents reportedly killed in Afghanistan
    Two battles takes heavy toll on fighters, U.S.-led coalition statement says"

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    Afghanistan's Islamist Taliban militia will have to be involved in the country's peace process, Defence Minister Des Browne told delegates at the Labour Party conference.
    Interesting stuff--I had a not-for-attribution conversation with a senior UK official in the spring on this issue, and was told in no uncertain terms that the government was dead-set against dialogue with Taliban elements. Indeed, I was rather taken aback with the vehemence with which the view was expressed.

    I wonder if its a MoD/FCO split, a Blair/Brown difference, a change over time, or whether my interlocutor was expressing a personal view as government policy.

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    Council Member tequila's Avatar
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    One wonders how much of this is related to current strains in Afghan politics.

    Karzai's continued replacement of former Northern Alliance and associated former mujahidin/warlords/commanders in both the provinces and in the central government has largely gone unnoticed and unremarked upon. That a lot of the replacements are semi-Westernized Popolzai Pashtuns like Karzai himself is significant, and increasingly the Tajiks and Uzbeks are feeling marginalized. A real showdown is brewing and we had better be ready.

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    RFE/RL, 17 Jan 08: Former Taliban Commander Advises US Ambassador
    ....Salaam, a powerful local commander who has brought some 300 militia fighters to the side of the Afghan government in northeastern Helmand Province, even gave the U.S. ambassador tactical advice on how to prevent the Taliban from attacking the strategic Kajaki hydroelectric dam, which is about 25 kilometers from Musa Qala.

    In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan on the sidelines of the talks, Salaam said the international community must understand that residents of Musa Qala blame British forces for allowing the Taliban to seize their town in February 2007.

    He says that is because of a deal brokered by the British in 2006 under which local militia fighters were disarmed and then expected to prevent the Taliban from moving back into the area.....

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