The Taliban Can Be Beaten, Radical Islamism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Radical Islamism and Jihad

The Taliban Can Be Beaten

Re-reading the future

By Swagato Ganguly

9 Jun 2009

West Asia has oil, so it's sexy and glamorous in a way that South Asia isn't. But a lot of transnational jihadist activity is centred in South Asia. This part of the world being un-sexy for western analysts is perfect cover for al-Qaeda. It also enables those who still dream of 'strategic depth' within the Pakistani establishment to hope that the West will give up on Afghanistan and hand over Kabul's keys to Islamabad as it withdraws. The latest salvo in that regard has been fired by a Pakistani ex-intelligence officer known as Colonel Imam, who has worked with the Taliban and with Mullah Omar. According to him the Taliban can never be defeated on the battlefield because their losses only help them to expand.

Such mythmaking is reinforced by those 'liberal' western commentators who, as a backlash to the excesses of the Bush administration, now recommend withdrawal from Afghanistan. The historical precedents they cite, of the failure of earlier British and Soviet efforts to tame Afghanistan, are shallow. In a 21st century, post-Cold War framework it's no longer a question of bringing Afghanistan to heel, but enabling it to become a modern nation with the backing of the international community. Not doing that would leave a vacuum for the Taliban and for petrodollars looking for jihadist causes to fill. That would provide the conditions for Colonel Imam's prophecies to come true.

http://newageislam.com/the-taliban-can-be-beaten-/radical-islamism-and-jihad/d/1453

Will Bush Bully Maliki Into Backing Off a Withdrawal Timeline -- Again?, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West

Will Bush Bully Maliki Into Backing Off a Withdrawal Timeline -- Again?

By Gareth Porter, IPS News.

Posted July 31, 2008.

Under the spur of those negotiations, al-Jaafari and Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaei had developed a plan for taking over security in all 18 provinces of Iraq from the United States by the end of 2007. During his first week as prime minister in late May, al-Maliki referred twice publicly to that plan.

At the same time al-Maliki began working on a draft "national reconciliation plan", which was in effect a road map to final agreement with the Sunni armed groups. The Sunday Times of London, which obtained a copy of the draft, reported Jun. 23, 2006 that it included the following language:

"We must agree on a time schedule to pull out the troops from Iraq, while at the same time building up the Iraqi forces that will guarantee Iraqi security, and this must be supported by a United Nations Security Council decision."

That formula, linking a withdrawal timetable with the build-up of Iraqi forces, was consistent with the position taken by Sunni armed groups in their previous talks with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, which was that the timetable for withdrawal would be "linked to the timescale necessary to rebuild Iraq's armed forces and security services". One of the Sunni commanders who had negotiated with Khalilzad described the resistance position in those words to the London-based Arabic-language Alsharq al Awsat in May 2006.

http://newageislam.com/will-bush-bully-maliki-into-backing-off-a-withdrawal-timeline----again?/islam-and-the-west/d/380

Pakistani jihadis in Taliban?, Islam,Terrorism and Jihad, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam,Terrorism and Jihad

Pakistani jihadis in Taliban?

Reports from Pakistan need to be looked at

By B Raman

After an unidentified jihadi group (about 200 strong) attacked a US-commanded outpost in the Kunnar-Nuristan area of East Afghanistan and forced its withdrawal on July 13,2008, Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was reported to have stated as follows: "We're seeing a greater number of insurgents and foreign fighters flowing across the border with Pakistan, unmolested and unhindered. We simply must all do a better job of policing the border region and eliminating the safe havens, which serve today as launching pads for attacks on coalition forces. The group that launched the attack trained in safe havens in Pakistan. We see this threat accelerating, almost becoming a syndicate of different groups who heretofore had not worked closely together." (The News of Pakistan of July 17 and The Financial Times of London of July 18.)

In preparation for his visit to Washington, DC later this week, accompanied by Mr Asif Ali Zardari, the co-Chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), for talks with President George W Bush, Mr Yousef Raza Gilani, the Pakistani Prime Minister, was reported to have convened a special meeting with his senior officials to get himself briefed on the ground situation. Mr Zardari was also believed to be present.

http://newageislam.com/pakistani-jihadis-in-taliban?/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/276

In Jerusalem, Obama vows support for Israel, Islam and the West, NewAgeISlam.com

Islam and the West

In Jerusalem, Obama vows support for Israel

McCain argues that the United States is succeeding in Iraq — although the war is still not over — because of last year’s “surge”of US troops, which Obama opposed. McCain’s aides and surrogates continued that theme on Tuesday, accusing Obama of what Rep Heather A Wilson called “a complete inability to acknowledge that the surge worked”.

But the Iraqi government’s newly stated position on troop withdrawals has put the McCain campaign — and many congressional Republicans who have been on record opposing timelines — in a difficult position. Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s chief foreign policy adviser, told reporters on a campaign conference call that the senator would gauge the proper level of US troops in Iraq according to security conditions on the ground and the advice of US military commanders. He made no mention of the views of Iraq’s elected government.

http://newageislam.com/in-jerusalem,-obama-vows-support-for-israel-/islam-and-the-west/d/295