Iran – Elections Aren’t the Issue

Fuck the big media circus surrounding the painfully obvious fraudulent Iranian elections – Sure, the Iranians have never taken to the streets to his degree in direct opposition of the ayatollah (and I will not capitalize that), but it doesn’t matter what the outcome is unless it keeps the Iranian government from developing nukes.

Either leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Mir-Hossein Mousavi, both will pursue the weapons program which, of course, they claim is for civilian purposes (Didn’t Saddam say the same thing before the Israelis wrecked his shit [Osiraq] in 1981?).

Bottom line: The United States of America and Israel, especially, have been developing war plans against Iran for years now, and this election bullshit simply clarifies the need for it, and intensifies it.

Because now that it is clear that  Ahmadinejad will remain the president, the same man who believes the apocalypse will be in 2012 (Rather convenient, seeing as he’ll now be in office come 2012) and who, along with the ayatollah, has called publicly for the destruction of Israel and has been ominously pushing for nuclear capablility since he first came into office, will continue faster than ever to establish Iran as a nuclear state.

And Mousavi would do the same, but would take a softer public face to the acceleration of the program, and likewise would make it more difficult for the Persians to get hit.

The unnamed man says: “Darken the sky with airplanes – bomb them ’till they crack.”

The illegitimacy of the post-election Iranian government will make a strike against them much easier to pull off – it’s a lot easier hitting a dictatorship than a quasi democracy (With their un-elected supreme leader the ayatollah and all that). And speaking of which, we thought pre-election that we were dealing with a quasi democracy – as it turns out, we’re now dealing with a paper quasi democracy (Aka: Dictatorship).

It goes without saying that if we don’t hit Iran before they get nukes, Israel will, regardless of what we (The Americans) say, for they view a nuclear Iran as an “existential threat” to their very existence.

And we all know the Israeli IDF slogan, right?

“Never again.”

Now, as for planning an actual attack, I would need to have intelligence resources available to me that only the top echelons of the government and military have, so I cannot, in this report, lay out the specifics for any strike.

I can, however, lay out a basic, textbook framework:

The Iranians learned from Iraq in 1981 that positioning a nuclear facility in one location is a bad idea (The Israelis launched one wave of aircraft and destroyed it), so to counter that, they’ve spread their facilities across the country, many underground.

Alright, so that rules out a swift, one-time strike. Which means any attack against Iran in order to keep it from gaining status as a nuclear power will require limited war.

First, create a breach in their air defenses at the border and get in the stealth bombers to hit preliminary targets before the main bomber/fighter wave comes through (In the First Gulf War, several groups of Apache gunships created a hole for the initial barrage of warplanes to get through into Iraq), and this is done by simply targeting a series of inter-connected radar/air defense positions along a stretch of the Iranian border. Once the hole is made, pour in the planes of war.

As stated above, the nuclear sites are situated everywhere, so a single strike wouldn’t be enough – the Iranians would know what was up rather quickly and would try to get their own air force off the ground.

Solution: First step is to establish air supremacy by destroying not only air defense systems and radar installations, but also the Iranian air force – preferably while it’s still on the ground (reminiscent of Israel doing just that to the Egyptian air force in their opening salvo in the Six Day War).

Once air supremacy is established, start hitting the nuclear facilities.

And what’s Iran going to do? Send colulmns of tanks and troops into Iraq to take on American forces? We’d bomb them on their way across the border and destroy any remnants with out vastly superior military.

The Iranians will undoubtedly unleash their various proxies across the Middle East in the event of such a strike against their country. Hezbollah, Hamas, various Shiite militias in Iraq, will certainly rise up in full force to create as much havoc and confusion as they can – let them, and see what happens.

Would Russia come to Irans defense? Would Russia really risk nuclear war over Iran? After all, we’re not going for regime change here, nor would we put troops on Persian soil (Although the CIA has supposedly escalated their operations in Iran since the fall of Afghanistan), we’d simply be destroying their air capabilities and nuclear program: The latter of which cannot be achieved without first neutralizing the prior.

Russia can go fuck herself – it’s essentially a third-class state that just so happens to maintain a vast and capable nuclear arsenal. So unless they want to take us on conventionally (Surely they’re smart enough to avoid that), then their only alternative is nuclear war.

I don’t think they’d do it.

And I cannot stress enough that the success of any strike against Iran, or any nation for that matter, comes down to who is put in charge of planning and execution. If they know the score, if their minds are completely wrapped around all the dynamics confronting them in such an engagement, then the plan should be a success – especially when dealing with a military inferior to our own.

Norman Schwarzkopf and his team in the First Gulf War knew the score, and they wrecked the fourth largest military in the world – a military, I might add, that had been hardened after nearly a decade of combat against neighboring Iran.

Fuck the government of Iran (Not the people; the vast majority are young and pro-American … I wonder if they would still hold the same sentiment after we put their government in its place by destroying its air force and any chance it may have at obtaining nuclear weapons?).

A successful strike against Iran would bring great relief not only to the U.S., Europe and Israel, but also to the Sunni bloc of nations in the Middle East who are freaked out over Iran’s attempts at regional hegemony.

Iran has an official “Death to America day” … Give them a month of perpetual American aerial bombardment and I think they’ll keep their mouths shut, and their fake muscles hidden in white billowing blouses.

 

juice

Rebuttal of Pro-Hezbollah, Pro-Hamas Posters

The following is a rebuttal of claims made on another blog (link below) in which the author, and those leaving comments, declare as fact that Hezbollah and Hamas do not and have not under any circumstances used civilian shields/infrastructure in carrying out their military operations; particularly in the 2006 Lebanon War.

http://pulsemedia.org/2009/04/28/hiding-behind-civilians/

My response:

The things I reported of here come from years of newspaper and online reading. To think that I have all of these resources in front of me, or bookmarked, is ridiculous.

Nonetheless, I will present some source material, per request, to substantiate what I have written above.

Now, before I present source material, I remember watching an international media conference during the 2006 Lebanon war in which Israel showed imagery captured via satellite of a pick-up truck mounted with a rocket launcher, firing in front of a civilian shelter and then speeding away. Moments later, the shelter was hit by Israeli return-fire.

Your comment regarding the throng of women in Gaza who came to rescue the Hamas fighters who had fled into a mosque, is absurd.

You wrote: “It rates as one of the best and most effective instances of non-violent civil resistance I have seen.”

So, an IDF convoy/patrol comes under ambush by Hamas, who claim so vehemently that they wish to kill Israelis, but when the fighting heats up, they flee into a mosque, and, once surrounded by the IDF, call upon a contingent of the local female population to step into the fray so that they may hide amongst them and escape the battle that they started. Some even dressed in the head-to-toe black garbs they found within the mosque prior to making their dash into the crowd of women.

Non-violent eh? Hamas engaged the IDF in a fire fight. If you’re going to start a fight, then fight. Don’t bring the civilian population into an ambush that you orchestrated and executed.

Regarding the source material below, I am sure you will brush off as nothing more than “Zionist propaganda.”

Excerpts from source reports will be documented below, each with links to the original material.

1) Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S), written by a team led by Dr. Reuven Erlich (Col. Ret.):

“This study analyzes two central concepts of Hezbollah’s warfare,
demonstrated during the second Lebanon war (July-August 2006). The first is
the broad use of the Lebanese civilian population as a living shield; the
second, viewing the Israeli civilian population as the primary target for the
enormous rocket arsenal Hezbollah built up over a period of years. Both acts
are considered war crimes under international law.”

“The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, which is part of the
Center for Special Studies,2 took upon itself to bring before the public
important aspects of the recent war, sifting, verifying, confirming and
compiling information that illustrates Hezbollah’s policies and modus
operandi. The IDF was forced to deal with a terrorist organization, generously
supported by two terrorism-sponsoring states (Iran and Syria), which
constructed a broad military infrastructure within populated areas in south
Lebanon. The organization systematically used local inhabitants as human
shields, cynically endangering their lives and well being.”

“This study examines Hezbollah’s exploitation of Lebanese civilians as
human shields. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization which
constructed a broad, advanced, comprehensive military
infrastructure within densely populated areas of Lebanon.
During the last war Hezbollah used that infrastructure to carry out a
massive series of previously planned rocket attacks against
population centers in Israel.”

“Hezbollah’s long-term plan, which was speeded up when the IDF
withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, was to a construct orderly, organized
military infrastructure within densely populated areas. They
were established in the southern neighborhoods of Beirut
(especially in Harat Hreik, where the organization’s command center is
located), in south Lebanon (especially south of the Litani River, the
heart of its operational infrastructure) and in the Beqa’a Valley
(especially in the region of Baalbek, where its training and logistics
facilities are located).”

“Hezbollah’s main deployments are the following:
a. Offensive: Before the outbreak of the second Lebanon war,
Hezbollah stockpiled an arsenal of more than 20,000 rockets of
various ranges, including long-range rockets capable of reaching
both the north and center of Israel. They were primarily
concentrated in south Lebanon and for the most part kept in
designated storehouses located in civilian structures (private
residences and public institutions) in many towns and villages. That
enabled Hezbollah to wage a long-term campaign against Israel
and to inflict extensive damage on its civilian population. Hezbollah
aspired to create a balance of deterrence with Israel and exploit
it to carry out attacks and encourage terrorism in the Palestinian
Authority-administered territories, and at the same time to
continue building up its military power in Lebanon.
b. Defensive: Hezbollah’s defensive deployment is based on its
military infrastructure south of the Litani River and in the hills
around Nabatiya. Its objective was to enable Hezbollah to conduct
guerilla attacks against the IDF with advanced anti-tank missiles,
engineering forces and well-trained and well-equipped infantry. Its
defensive infrastructure is based on a broad deployment within the
Shi’ite towns and villages south of the Litani River and the intention
to wage determined urban warfare (a concept well-illustrated by
operational plans captured by the IDF during the war). To
6
complement its military infrastructure within populated areas,
Hezbollah also constructed such an infrastructure in non-populated
areas, but its function is secondary in its overall defensive
strategy.”

<This study is huge; read more at below link>

http://www.ajcongress.org/site/PageServer?pagename=secret2

 

2) NGO Monitor:

“Summary:  During the Israel-Hezbollah war in July/August 2006, major NGOs claiming to promote human rights, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), published numerous reports primarily condemning Israeli military actions.  The claims were based on “evidence” provided by Lebanese eyewitnesses, whose credibility and links to Hezbollah were not investigated.  The Intelligence and Terrorism Center at the Israeli Center for Special Studies, in conjunction with the American Jewish Congress, has now issued a detailed report on these events.  It provides extensive documentation and photographic evidence of “Hezbollah’s consistent pattern of intentionally placing its fighters and weapons among civilians,” showing that Hezbollah was “well aware of the civilian casualties that would ensue” from this activity.”

“This NGO Monitor report compares the documented evidence presented in the report with HRW’s and Amnesty’s claims.”

“Human Rights Watch Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Report Discredits HRW’s “Fatal Strikes” Report (August 2006)

HRW’s “Fatal Strikes”
 
Claims HRW “found no cases in which Hezbollah deliberately used civilians as shields to protect them from retaliatory IDF attack.”
 
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Report

Shows through images, videos, seized documents, and other evidence that Hezbollah had a deliberate policy of “cynically exploiting the civilian population” by planting its “military infrastructure” within civilian areas.[3]

Specific Instances of Hezbollah Activity in Areas HRW Claims There was No Hezbollah Presence
 
 
“Fatal Strikes”
 
Bint Jbeil: Killing of 4 Civilians on July 15.

HRW eyewitness: “there was no fighting taking place in the village—there was no one but civilians. The civil defense was there to help us [recover the bodies].”
 
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Report

20 Bases and 5 Weapons storehouses inside the village are shown in an aerial photograph.[4]
87 rockets fired from within village houses, 109 from within a 200 meter radius of the village, and 136 within a 500 meter radius of the village.[5]
60 regular Hezbollah operatives in the village, including about 15 in charge of storehouses.[6]
Arms, ammunition, and equipment were stored in the village before the war. Some equipment was placed in storehouses; some inside civilian residential buildings.[7]
 
“Fatal Strikes”

Qana: Killing of “at least” 28 civilians on July 30.[8]
 
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Report

3 rockets fired from within village houses, 36 within a 200 meter radius, and 106 within a 500 meter radius.[9]
Aerial photograph of weapons storehouse located next to a mosque in the village.[10]
Hezbollah compound in former UN outpost just southwest of Qana.[11] “In Hezbollah’s view, outposts only serve to complement its infrastructure in the villages, perceived as the primary operative system.”[12]

“Fatal Strikes”

Aitaroun: Killing of 16 Civilians, July 16, and 10 civilians, July 17.

HRW eyewitness quotes:
“The positions of the [Hezbollah] resistance are around the village, not inside the village.
“There was no presence of the [Hezbollah] resistance inside the village.”
“To my knowledge, Hezbollah was not operating in the area, but I can’t be 100% sure because we were sleeping.”
 
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Report

18 rockets fired from within village houses, 23 within a 200 meter radius, and 54 within a 500 meter radius. [13]
Senior Hezbollah Figure, Nabil Qawouk speaking in Aitaroun at the memorial service for those killed in the village: “The arms are in the villages and towns on south Lebanon, but they are invisible.”[14]
 
“Fatal Strikes”

Dibbin (near Marja’youn): Killing of three civilians, July 19.

One witness told HRW that “Hezbollah was active outside the village but not inside it.”
 
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center Report

Explosives from warehouses inside Dibbin transferred to Hezbollah sabotage teams; these explosives were to be used on key places on roads and junctions. [15]
The Hezbollah defense plan for the eastern sector of southern Lebanon involves both the reporting of fighters to the “infantry center” in Dibbin and the transfer of explosives from “storehouses” in Dibbin, to Hezbollah sappers.[16]
7 rockets fired from within village houses in Marjayoun, 11 within a 200 meter radius of Marjayoun, and 11 within a 500 meter radius of Marjayoun. [17]
 

<This list is quite expansive, and details account after account of Hezbollah deliberately using civilians and civilian infrastructure in its fight against Israel in 2006; click the below link for the full report>

http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/amnesty_and_hrw_claims_discredited_in_detailed_report

 

3) Anti-Defamation League:

“Hezbollah – a U.S.-designated terrorist organization – has occupied the region south of the Litani River since shortly after Israel’s U.N.-certified withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. Following that withdrawal, Hezbollah moved into the vacated area and established themselves in bunkers throughout civilian areas, despite the presence of UNIFIL observer troops stationed there under the terms of Security Council Resolution 1559.”

“Hezbollah terrorists live among civilians, store their weapons and hold meetings in civilian houses, and fire their rockets into Israel from civilian neighborhoods, in direct violation of international humanitarian law.”

 http://www.adl.org/Israel/advocacy/glossary/Lebanon_War_2006.asp

 

These are just a few source reports that validate my claims.

I surmise that the people reading this post and leaving the above comments are at the core anti-Jew, anti-Israel.

May it be known that a large Jewish presence existed in Palestine long before the UN-mandated creation of the state in 1948 (The first proposal [UN Partition Plan] called for two states, Israel and Palestine, but the Palestinians rejected it, and therefore Israel was created in full); so large a presence that the Jews had multiple political wings and armed militias to protect their individual territories and people.

The growing Jewish population in Palestine can be traced as far back as the 12th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel

If this turns into a bitter dispute between conflicting ideologies, as I feel it might, then I will refrain from further posting here.

Read the above mentioned reports if you are truly interested.

 juice

Taliban Lack the Will

Bottom line: The Taliban lack the will to carry out an effective and sustained close-quarters guerilla campaign against U.S., and even NATO, forces.

They certainly are capable: They have the manpower, the munitions and the TERRAIN to do so.

Sure, they’ll hit Afghan police-manned checkpoints and kill them, or send a suicide bomber into a throng of civilians, or detonate an IED as a NATO convey passes, but these are all peripheral aspects of an asymmetrical war.

In order to be viable, these things must be nitched together within the framework of an overall, comprehensive asymmetrical approach that uses an effective engage and displace policy for their front-line fighters as its crux.

Terrain-features of the Afghan-Pakistan border make up a PARADISE for ambushing operations; and through this terrain U.S. forces patrol daily, and yet, until recently (As outlined below), rarely, if ever, come into any kind of close-quarter ambush combat scenario.

Talibani code of guerilla fighting seems to be to engage American outposts with indirect fire and then flee; just like the tactics favored by their ancestors in ancient times (One reason why the soldiers of the Persian Empire were so disturbed when fighting the Greeks; the Greeks fought face-to-face, whereas the Persians, with their Arab contingents, preferred fighting from a distance via arrows and closing only when a victory seemed certain).

The Taliban as of late, and in very isolated incidents, have been ambushing NATO/U.S. patrols (Not many, but they are starting to walk their talk, or at least trying to give that impression).

One confirmed American patrol was caught in an interesting revenge ambush, which I related in a recent post (Came a week after the same unit devastated a Taliban contingent via setting up their own ambush).

A few others confirmed against NATO forces operating with the Afghan Army.

The Talibani ambushes failed.

The encounters were relatively brief and left the Taliban fleeing amidst the bodies of their fallen comrades, while Coalition/Afghan forces sustained little to no casualties.

But the Taliban are least beginning to actually engage in close-quarters combat again.

When first invaded they tried a somewhat conventional approach, in the form of pitched battles in open areas, in which they were obviously wrecked by overwhelming U.S. military prowess.

After that they withdrew to the mountain areas and would ambush U.S. patrols here and there, but the high level of casualties they would sustain, as compared to the small number on behalf of U.S. and Coalition forces, caused them to back away from the face-to-face ambush scenarios and move more toward the lobbing-mortars-from-a-mile-or-two-away-and-then-fleeing tactic.

More of these real ambushes, and by “real” I mean close-quarters, will come with the influx of U.S. combat troops into the South and Eastern portions of Afghanistan this summer, and especially once said forces begin encroaching upon their opium fields.

<For a related post, see “Cowardice of the Enemy”>

juice

Revenge Against American Ambush

UNDER ATTACK Specialist Robert Soto ran for cover last week as his platoon was ambushed in Afghanistan. Across the river, two comrades crouched behind a rock.

At the bottom of one of my reports, “Cowardice of the Enemy,” I included a New York Times article that covered a devastating ambush against Taliban fighters by U.S. soldiers of the Second Platoon, Company B, of the First Battalion, 26th Infantry.

About a week after their triumph, the same platoon was ambushed in an apparent revenge attack (Given the Taliban’s reluctance to engage American forces, even in ambush).

The article is an excellent read, and gives a thorough blow-by-blow report of the Taliban’s revenge ambush, which, while claiming the life of one American, fell drastically short of what they were hoping for.

Very intense article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/world/asia/20ambush.html?pagewanted=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

juice

Response to Mr. Head in Stars

The following is my response to Masood Sharif Khan Khattak’s report, the link to which is:

 http://pakistanpal.wordpress.com/2009/04/28/faltering-us-strategy-pii/

My response:

Alright;

“Replacing military activity with developmental activity.”

Bullshit.

The two go hand in hand. First route the Islamo-Fascists that are the core of the Taliban, and then civilian workers move in and create viable institutions.

Peace deals with the Taliban? Are you reading about the SWAT Peace Accord?
You cannot deal with the Taliban, because they are strongarms.

In the accord, the Taliban agreed to disarm, and to cease all violent/military activities, and in return the Pakistani government would allow them to implement their variant of Sharia law in SWAT and neighboring districts. That was the core of the agreement.

What happened?

Within days, hundreds of heavily armed Taliban marched into Buner, raided civilian-based instituations, routed government officials and occupied their houses.

Yes, they listen to peace deals.

As far as the U.S. withdrawing after said “peace deals” are in place, this is completely absurd.

This is the whole reason why the ISI continues to support the Taliban, because they fear another abandonment by the United States similiar to that which occured when the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan.

Because of this, the ISI uses certain elements of the Taliban, along with other non-state militant entities, as a hedge against both India in Kashmir and Afghanistan (A long-standing border dispute exists between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Pakistan sees the Taliban as a viable bulwark against potential Afghani trespasses made against the border).

So, we have “peace talks,” and disengage from operations against the Taliban, who claim so strongly they wish to kill every westerner. That would be great wouldn’t it, because then the Taliban will be able to lay down their arms, large swaths will go back to their home countries, and the natives can tend their fields and flocks, right?

No, they will see the weakness of this American approach, and will begin preparations for further advances.

TALIBAN, and fanatical Arab militant groups in general, at the core level, LISTEN AND RESPOND TO VIOLENCE, not talking.

Your point about Indian influence in Afghanistan is certainly valid, and steps do need to be made to curb that.

And large elements of the ISI DO SUPPORT non-state entities such as certain elements of the Taliban as a hedge against India and Afghanistan, this is in Pakistan’s own strategic interest.

The Obama administration is putting forth a huge increase in diplomatic and civilian activity so as to facilitate a stabilizing of Afghanistan.

But you say we should sit back and let the Taliban spread out eh?

Disrupt Taliban/Al Qaida infrastructure via military strikes and covert activities, then install civilian institutions.

We were building a highway in Afghanistan, something the locals in that area had long wanted. The Taliban came in and told them they’d be killed if they continued to support and work on the project; so out of fear they withdrew from the highway development project.

Had we had a military outpost in or near the village, the Taliban’s access would have been severely limited, and the civilian infrastructure program would have proceeded unchecked.

https://juiceempire.wordpress.com/

juice

Pakistan Continues Offensive (2)

Now in the third day of fighting, the Pakistani offensive against Taliban positions in the districts bordering the SWAT Valley has expanded into Buner, a newly established Taliban stronghold a mere 60 miles from Islamabad.

Initial operations targeted militants based in Lower Dir – an estimated 70-75 Taliban were killed, along with 10 Pakistani “security personnel,” according to chief Pakistani military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas.

The fighting in Lower Dir, he said, was coming to a close, as operations in Buner have now commenced.

Warplanes, helicopter gunships, heavy artillery and Pakistani army troops, along with elements of the Frontier Corps, are said to be involved in the Buner offensive (with ground units maneuvering into positions while aerial and artillery strikes marked the opening barrage).

In a Guardian report, written by Declan Walsh, a resident of Buner is quoted as saying:

“‘I saw the jet planes earlier and now I can see two helicopters. They are hitting targets in the mountains close to the town,’ resident Jaffar Shah told the Guardian by telephone, shortly after the attack started.”

So, it appears to me, the Taliban are getting wrecked.

Some contributing factors leading to this offensive:

1) Taliban leadership, in recent weeks, called for Sharia law to be implemented across Pakistan, and that the Pakistani constitution should be done away with.

This struck an intense chord with a myriad of political factions within Pakistan who objected to such a claim (Some of whom had actually supported the Taliban initially). The constitution was meticulously drawn up by a group of some 60-plus Islamic scholars and politicians to ensure that it did adhere to Islamic law.

The underlying tone of the Talibani assertion, whether they realized it at the time or not, also made it obvious to Pakistan, if not the world, of their intentions to gain eventual control of the country. They threw that card at the wrong time.

2) They moved, in force and brandishing an array of weaponry, into Buner, just days after signing the SWAT Peace Accord which called for them to disarm and in return they would receive their demand of having Sharia law implemented in SWAT and neighboring districts.

And Buner, about 60 miles from the capital, would be a nice jumping-off point for a surprise infiltration/offensive against the heart of the country, in coordination with other fanatical Islamic groups not directly connected to the Taliban already lying dormant across Punjab Province, in which the federal area of Islamabad is located.

3) Western, namely American, pressure to act. The portrait was painted by Mullen, Holbrooke, Clinton, etc. (See Pakistan Launches Taliban Offensive [1]).

We’ll see what comes of this.

juice

Pakistani launches Taliban Offensive (1)

It seems that, while denied by top Pakistani officials, we, the Americans, have successfully persuaded Pakistan to act.

An offensive has been launched yesterday, Sunday, against Taliban elements in the Lower Dir district of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) – a neighbor of the SWAT Valley.

Said offensive is now in its second day, and scattered reports seem to imply it has carried over into other limited areas of the NWFP – although details regarding the expansion of operations are slim at this point.

It seems elements of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps, a smattering of tribal entities pulled together into a cohesive unit numbering about 80,000, are the spearhead of this offensive, and are being supported by air forces and ground-based artillery/armor.

Now, the Pakistanis, to save face of course, and to try to deconstruct the image of them as puppets of Western, namely American, influence, deny that this offensive is a cave-in to American pressure to act.

And yet it’s quite obvious, given the near-perpetual string of high-level talks between America and Pakistan in the past number of weeks (Namely between Admiral Mullen [the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and therefore the highest ranked military officer in America] and what is essentially his counter-part in the Pakistani military, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chief of Army Staff) that this offensive is a direct response to candid advice given to the Pakistani government/military by the American military and affiliated agencies.

Perhaps our top commanders (Military, CIA, and diplomatic [the pitbull Richard Holbrooke]) have finally painted a more holistic, sweeping picture of Pakistan’s fate if they fail to deal with the newly embolded Taliban (After having the SWAT Peace Accord officially recognized and signed recently) as they methodically sweep from district to district in the NWFP.

And this picture painted by the U.S. would not simply encompass the strategic failure of having more and more of Pakistan under the thumb of Talibani elements, but also would bring into focus other, more indirect matters, such as economic aid given to Pakistan, which President Obama has made clear will from this point on be determined by “benchmarks” of progress (not officially defined as of now) regarding Pakistan’s commitment to fighting radical elements within their country; namely within the NWFP.

I certainly put forth the notion that we are supplying them intelligence and logistal support regarding these most recent strikes against Taliban strongholds in Lower Dir and, most likely, other areas of the NWFP.

One of many questions that come to my mind regarding this most recent offensive: How serious is it?

In scope and expected level of intensity, is this just a show of potential strength by Pakistan to get America to shut up?

I will say it comes at an excellent annual juncture, as the traditional Afghan-Pakistan tribal “fighting season” is about to commence, as crops are harvested and the weather improves. This Pakistani offensive will at the very least disrupt Taliban preparations for the incoming influx of 17,000 American combat troops who are scheduled to arrive, within the coming month or two, in the very Afghani provinces in which Taliban activity has spiked in recent months.

The New York Times is reporting that this offensive is a ” prelude to a larger one against the Taliban in Buner in the coming days, according to a government official who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the news media.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/world/asia/27pstan.html?_r=1&ref=world

Buner, a neighbor of SWAT, was infiltrated by large numbers of Taliban fighters last week. After “talks” with the Council of Elders for the region, the Taliban agreed to withdraw. That withdrawal is dubious, as reports are still coming in of armed Taliban fighters roaming in at least one border village of Buner.

Other reports from the New York Times claim that, while the initial Taliban forces that invaded and consolidated control over Buner have withdrawn, elements of “local” Taliban entities still maintain control over strategic areas of Buner, and are looting supplies.

Some analysts are saying this Pakistani offensive jeopardizes the SWAT Peace Accord.

Bullshit.

The Accord called for the Taliban to lay down their arms and in return Sharia law would be implemented in the SWAT Valley and neighboring districts.

And then, within days of this being officially signed by the Pakistani president, heavily armed Taliban forces enter Buner. Ha.

Hopefully Pakistan is beginning to see the absurdity in trying to deal with the Taliban.

Time will tell.

 

juice

 

One news outlet detailing the initial progress of the offensive is:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8019518.stm

In this report, the BBC reports:

“A militant commander was among a number of militants killed in gun battles in the Lower Dir district of North West Frontier Province, the military said.”

And also:

“Helicopter gunships and tanks were reportedly used in the fighting.

There was no immediate word of casualties from the Taleban and independent sources have not been able to verify the army’s claims.

Pakistani interior ministry chief Rehman Malik has repeated his call for the Taleban to disarm.

‘Enough is enough,’ told a TV channel on Sunday.

‘We have decided to flush them out. The peace accord was linked to peace. When there is no peace, there is no use for that accord.’

The clashes seem to suggest that the government has finally decided to try to stop the spread of the Taleban across northern Pakistan, the BBC’s Mark Dummett reports from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.”

Cowardice of The Enemy

Taliban-style ambush is, generally speaking, as follows:

A small group, say 12-20 fighters, will pitch up on a ridgeline a mile from an American outpost in Afghanistan, and will commence firing mortars, rifles, etc., and then disappear.

Bullshit.

These fuckers claim to be fighting JIHAD, right? Jihad against the American infidels – and martyrdom is the fruit of death while fighting against the evil Americans, and rewards abound in the afterlife…This is what they say, right?

Then why not fight? Why not BALL UP and ambush our patrols in close quarters, like the Viet Cong of olden times?

Because they are full of shit pussies…And this can be found in virtually all fanatical Islamic armed factions that declare their official purpose as being to “destroy the enemy,” whether it’s America, Israel, etc.

But they don’t fight. They hide.

Sure, they are faced by overwhelming military superiority, so a pitched battle is out of the question. But they won’t even employ the basic tenets of the guerilla warfare they claim to champion. 

This is something that really irritates me. Man up and fight, or shut the fuck up and tend your flocks.

I mean, good grief man.

I recall reading an article from a New York Times affiliated newspaper some months back that reported on an American outpost coming under direct frontal assault by a Taliban contingent numbering around 300 fighters.

The outpost, newly created, had a force of 30-50 American soldiers who, with the help of air support, fought off the attacking force.

Taliban got wrecked, but at least they walked their talk.

Nowadays, I read no reports of American patrols coming under concerted ambush by the Taliban.

Sure, they’ll put an IED on the side of the road and detonate it as a convoy of NATO troops, or Afghan securty personnel, pass.

And of course they love suicide bombing CIVILIANS, oh what BALLS!

 You want to fight us, Mr. Taliban, as you so vehemently claim (that is, afterall, the official reason for your existence, right?) then fucking fight us.

We have patrols roaming the countryside along the border with Afghanistan daily; why don’t you hit them? You’re afraid of air-power? That makes sense, that’s why you ENGAGE AND DISPLACE.

By no means am I encouraging the Taliban to carry out attacks against U.S. forces, or any forces for that matter, I’m simply pointing out the pussiness of these pieces of shit who claim their whole life’s purpose is to FIGHT AND KILL US.

I enjoyed reading the April 17, 2009 edition of The New York Times, in which a report was given of a U.S. platoon of 30 soldiers carrying out a devastating ambush against Taliban forces as they climbed a ridge to fire some pop-shots at a nearby American outpost in the valley below.

Oh yes, the Taliban were ambushed, an ambush that was actually an ambush, and they got their asses beaten down. Ya, only 13 confirmed kills (no American dead or wounded), but it’s still quite refreshing to read of such a thorough turning of the tables – but more than that, we actually ambushed them, as opposed to standing a mile away and lobbing some mortars and then high-tailing it into the mountains.

The article is as follows:

April 17, 2009

Turning Tables, U.S. Troops Ambush Taliban With Swift and Lethal Results

 By C. J. CHIVERS

 KORANGAL OUTPOST, Afghanistan — Only the lead insurgents were disciplined as they walked along the ridge. They moved carefully, with weapons ready and at least five yards between each man, the soldiers who surprised them said.

Behind them, a knot of Taliban fighters walked in a denser group, some with rifles slung on their shoulders — “pretty much exactly the way we tell soldiers not to do it,” said Specialist Robert Soto, the radio operator for the American patrol.

If these insurgents came close enough, the soldiers knew, the patrol could kill them in a batch.

Fight by fight, the infantryman’s war in Afghanistan is often waged on the Taliban’s terms. Insurgents ambush convoys and patrols from high ridges or long ranges and slip away as the Americans, weighed down by equipment, return fire and call for air and artillery support. Last week a patrol from the First Infantry Division reversed the routine.

An American platoon surprised an armed Taliban column on a forested ridgeline at night, and killed at least 13 insurgents, and perhaps many more, with rifles, machine guns, Claymore mines, hand grenades and a knife.

The one-sided fight, fought on the slopes of the same mountain where a Navy Seal patrol was surrounded in 2005 and a helicopter with reinforcements was shot down, does not change the war. It was one of hundreds of firefights that have occurred in the Korangal Valley, an isolated region where local insurgents and the Americans have been locked in a bitter stalemate for more than three years.

But as accounts of the fight have spread, the ambush, on Good Friday, has become an emotional rallying point for soldiers in Kunar Province, who have seen it as a both a validation of their equipment and training and a welcome bit of score-settling in an area that in recent years has claimed more American lives than any other.

The patrol, 30 soldiers from the First Battalion, 26th Infantry, had left this outpost before noon on April 10, and spent much of the day climbing a ridge on the opposite side of the Korangal River, according to interviews with more than half the participants.

Once the soldiers reached the ridge’s crest, almost 6,000 feet above sea level on the side of a peak called Sautalu Sar, they found fresh footprints on the trails, and parapets of rock from where Taliban fighters often fire rifles and rocket-propelled grenades down onto this outpost.

The platoon leader, Second Lt. Justin Smith, selected a spot where trails intersected, and the platoon dug shallow fighting holes before dark. Claymore antipersonnel mines were set among the trees nearby.

At sunset, Lieutenant Smith called for a period of absolute silence, which lasted into darkness. Then he ordered three scouts to sit in a listening post about 100 yards away, 10 feet off the trail.

The scouts set in. Less than a half-minute later, a column of Taliban fighters appeared, walking briskly their way.

Sgt. Zachary R. Reese, a sniper, whispered into his radio. “We have eight enemy personnel coming down on our position really fast,” he said. He could say no more; the Taliban fighters were a few feet away.

More appeared. Then more still. The sergeant counted 26 gunmen pass by.

The patrol, Second Platoon of Company B, was in a place where no Americans had spent a night for years, and it seemed that the Afghans did not expect danger.

The soldiers waited. The rules of the ambush were long ago drilled into them: no one can move, and no one can fire until the patrol leader gives the order. Then everyone must fire at once.

The third Taliban fighter in the column switched on a flashlight, the soldiers said, and quickly switched it off. About 50 yards separated the two sides, but Lieutenant Smith did not want to start shooting too soon, he said, “because if too many lived then we’d be up there fighting them all night.”

He let the Taliban column continue on. The soldiers trained their weapons’ infrared lasers, which are visible only with night-vision equipment, on the fighters as they drew closer. The lasers mark the path a bullet will fly.

The lead fighter had almost reached the platoon when Pvt. First Class Troy Pacini-Harvey, 19, his laser trained on the lead man’s forehead, moved his rifle’s selector lever from safe to semi-automatic. It made a barely audible click. The Taliban fighter froze. He was six feet away.

Lieutenant Smith was new to the platoon. This was his fourth patrol. He was in a situation that every infantry lieutenant trains for, but almost no infantry lieutenant ever sees. “Fire,” he said, softly into the radio. “Fire. Fire. Fire.”

The platoon’s frontage exploded with noise and flashes of light as soldiers fired. Bullets struck all of the lead Taliban fighters, the soldiers said. The first Afghans fell where they were hit, not managing to fire a single shot.

Five Taliban fighters bolted to the soldiers’ left, unwittingly running squarely into the path of machine-gun bullets and the Claymore mines. For a moment, the soldiers heard rustling in the brush. They detonated their Claymores and threw hand grenades. The rustling stopped.

Two other Taliban fighters had dashed to the right, toward an almost sheer drop. One ran so wildly in the blackness that his momentum carried him off the cliff, several soldiers said.

Another stopped at the edge. Pvt. First Class Brad Larson, 19, had followed the man with his laser. “I took him out,” he said.

The scout at the listening post shot three of the fleeing fighters, and dropped two more with hand grenades. “We stopped what we could see,” Sergeant Reese said.

The shooting had lasted a few minutes. The hillside briefly fell quiet. The surviving Taliban fighters, some of whom had run back up the trail, began shouting in the darkness. “We could hear them calling out to one another,” Specialist Soto said.

Lieutenant Smith called the listening post back in. After two Apache attack helicopters showed up, an F-15 dropped a bomb on the Taliban’s escape route, about 600 yards up the trail. Then the lieutenant ordered teams to search the bodies they could find on the crest.

Sergeant Reese gave his rifle to another sniper to cover him while he tried to cut away a Taliban fighter’s ammunition pouches with a four-inch blade. The fighter had only been pretending to be dead, the soldiers said. He lunged for Sergeant Reese, who stabbed him in the left eye.

In all, the soldiers found eight bodies on the crest. They photographed them to try to identify them later, and collected their weapons, ammunition, radios and papers. Then the patrol swept down a gully where a pilot said he saw more insurgents hiding.

Four scouts, using night-vision gear, spotted five fighters crouching behind rocks, and killed them with rifle and machine-gun fire, the scouts said. The bodies were searched and photographed, too. The platoon began to hike back to the outpost, carrying the captured equipment.

Second Platoon, Company B has endured one of the most arduous assignments in Afghanistan. Eight of the platoon’s soldiers have been wounded in nine months of fighting in the valley, part of a bitter contest for control of a small and sparsely populated area.

Three others have been killed.

In a matter of minutes, the ambush changed the experience of the surviving soldiers’ tours. The degree of turnabout surprised even some the soldiers who participated.

“It’s the first time most of us have even seen the guys who were shooting at us,” said Sgt. Thomas Horvath, 21.

The next day, elders from the valley would ask permission to collect the villages’ dead. Company B’s commander, Capt. James C. Howell, would grant it.

But already, as the soldiers slid and climbed down the mountain, word of the insurgents’ defeat was traveling through Taliban networks.

Specialist Robert C. Oxman, 21, had put a dead fighter’s phone in his pocket. As the platoon descended, the phone rang and rang, apparently as other fighters called to find out what had happened on Sautalu Sar. By sunrise, it had been ringing for hours.

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

juice

Wrecking Af-Pak (Phase One)

Alright then; this is big-time, real-time, will take serious balls.

This effort is phase one of a plan I have developed that would involve the use of U.S. unconventional Special Operations Forces (SOF) to destablilize, confuse and, eventually, destroy the Taliban-Al-Qaida infrastructure in place in the tribal areas in Pakistan, along the border with Afghanistan.

If the U.S. government and affiliated agencies devoted the manpower, resources and BALLS needed to carry out the operation, as documented below, I feel certain it would, on a strategic level, completely revamp global perceptions of the United States and how we operate.

Also, it would secure the drip of power that has increasingly become like a flood flowing into the jowls of Taliban-Al-Qaida factions in Pakistan.

—————————————————————-

A group of elite American forces, numbering in the thousands, would be trained in the nitty gritty of asymmetrical warfare: They will become the best guerrilla fighters the world has ever seen.

How?

It goes without saying they would have to look like Arabs.

I recall reading an article in a New York Times affiliated newspaper a few years back that reported a raid carried out in an Afghan village by U.S. Special Forces. After the lightning-quick attack, locals were telling reporters that a group of Arabs with full beards had carried it out.

Turned out they were U.S. Special Forces.

So the pretense already exists: Our SOF operating in and around Afghanistan have already undertaken to look like Arabs. Why not broaden this?

The group that would be involved in the first phase of the operation I am detailing would number about 3,500 – all training with the utmost of secrecy.

Initially small groups would infiltrate enemy territory.

They will sunbath daily, to darken the skin; facial hair will be grown into full beards (facial hair follicle transplants for those who can’t) and dye to darken the hair. They will learn the language(s) of the area(s) in which they will be operating, along with the specific dialects.

They will specialize in unorthodox methods of warfare; and while they train the CIA, namely the Special Activities Division (SAD), will step up their activities drastically in Pakistan, where they already have a large presence.

A operational hypothetical involving the opening engagement phase of this operation will be as follows:

Three units of these specially trained American fighters (Force A, Force B and Force C), each numbering 350 men, will infiltrate Pakistan via indirect routes, under the cover of darkness.

These three groups will be augmented by several groups of similiarly training SOF, numbering 50-100 each, to secure flanks and spread further confusion and hamper enemy movement.

They will not simply march in via column formation; perhaps groups will be inserted at a time, and meet up at designated rendezvous points.

The three main units will be operating deep into the rear operating areas of the Taliban and their respective client militias.

The U.S. forces will be wearing Arab clothing common for the area, and will fight using weaponry associated with such insurgent groups: They will have no U.S. air support, no large-scale artillery.

Instead, they will use AK-47s, mortars, light to heavy machine-guns, grenades, rocket-propelled grenades, etc.

Group A will attack a Taliban stronghold, some kind of village, at night.

The unsuspected Taliban fighters will be destroyed, and those remaining will be routed.

Group A will then cut the heads off the dead enemy and stick them onto stakes surrounding the village, forming a ring of sorts, along with some kind of symbol of the Taliban.

And what says Taliban? What is their signature? The black turban.

On each stake, below the head at the top, tie an unraveled black turban to the stake and have it spiraling toward the ground.

Message: Taliban got fucked up here, Taliban stay away, be afraid.

<Update:

Upon conversing with an associate of mine, perhaps the staking of Taliban heads on pikes surrounding the villages of conquered Taliban strongholds by American elite forces operating under the guise of an unknown “Arab militia” is a bit much, in realist terms, when taking into account the standards of American morality as a global beacon.

So, instead of putting the heads of dead combatants on pikes, we’ll just pile the bodies into large mounds at the village center, with their black turbans scattered about like wild desert rollers blown in the breeze of devastated late-afternoon.>

Nice.

Group A would then displace and leave the area, dissolve into the terrain and hide.

Meanwhile, when Taliban reinforcements reach the attacked and conquered village, the only people around will be stunned, confused villagers talking about how a group of Arabs stormed the place and caused all this damage.

So now the Taliban will be asking: Who did this? A rival faction? Have the Americans paid of some outback tribal group to do this?

Confusion and dissension will be born, and their minds will begin churning around all the possibilities of betrayal, revenge, etc.

At about this time, Group B, operating say 100 miles to the northwest, will carry out a similiar attack against another Taliban strong-point, and will again disappear, leaving only the grissly remains and the symbolic stakes rooted into the ground around the village’s periphery, or simply a MOUND of dead enemy combatants at the village center.

The location for this second attack will be far enough away so as to give the impression that the first attacking party could not possibly have transversed the grounds in time to carry out the second attack; or could they?

Now what? Ghost divisions? What’s happening?

Meanwhile Group C will be holding in a mid-point between Group A and B, acting as a quick-reaction force to any sudden counter-moves.

These initial attacks would have to focus on the same Taliban faction; make them think another player has emerged, grappling for power.

I understand the complicated dynamics involved regarding the Afghanistan-Pakistan-India axis, and what has been detailed here in this report is simply a covert, hypothetical and undisclosed military operation targetting the assymetrical fighters of the Taliban, and their client militias, who have been gaining more and more ground in the Pakistani Tribal Belt.

The diplomatic, official push regarding the above-mentioned issues I will not touch upon in this piece.

As the days progress, more such units will be inserted, each consisting of a few hundred men. They will create chaos and confusion: Controlled chaos.

Stronghold after stronghold will fall; confusion, disorientation and paranoia will consume the minds of the Taliban commanders, and their front-line fighters will suffer serious damage to their morale and will to fight.

Some will ask: After this is all said and done, what will the world think of the cutting off of enemy heads and staking them to the ground by the Americans?

Well, the CIA does fucked up things all the time that are not disclosed; and the U.S. government could either refuse to comment, or disclose an “alliance” with local “tribal entities.”

This is Phase One.

juice

Pussy Pirate Offensive

These pussy pirates just attacked the unarmed American-flagged Liberty Sun with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons off the coast of Somalia, just days after the incident in which they got wrecked after trying to capture the Alabama (the first American-flagged ship attacked by pirates in 200 years).

Apparently these pirates, whose leaders apparently issued a statement that they would “avenge the deaths” of the three killed by U.S. sniper fire, are really pushing the limits here.

The pirates rode up on the Liberty and opened up with their weapons in an opening pre-boarding barrage; but boarding they were never able to do, thanks to the maneuvering of the Liberty Sun’s crew.

The USS Bainbridge, the U.S. destroyer that initially responded to the crisis involving the Alabama, was still carrying the rescued captain when she made contact with the Liberty Sun after this latest failed assault. After off-loading a unit of SEALS onto the Liberty Sun, the latter proceeded under Naval escort to their destination.

Since the captain of the Alabama was freed on Sunday, Somali pirates have captured four more vessels in an apparent offensive of muscle flexing, trying to prove they are undaunted by Obama’s call to take steps toward ending, or at least stemming, the amount of pirate-related activity in the region.

And the pirates say they will not be intimidated – thus this sudden surge in activity, directly after the stand-off involving the captain of the Alabama, I see as a potential sign of weakness, rather than strength.

It has been a commonly held notion that these brigands, at the core,  are nothing more than businessmen (albeit thieving thugs) – they capture vessels (brandishing weapons and firing into the air), and hold the crew and ship hostage until they are paid.

As the Associated Press wrote:

“So far, Somali pirates have never harmed captive foreign crews except for a Taiwanese crew member who was killed under unclear circumstances. In fact, many former hostages say they were treated well and given sumptuous food.”

Ok, then why are the Somali pirating warlords turning this into a war against international forces?

They claim the whole reason they began pirating was because other nations would fish illegally in Somali waters, while others would dump toxic waste off their coast. In response, the Somalis began seizing such ships, and soon realized they stumbled into a lucrative business.

Ok, back to the matter at hand:

It has been said the issue of brigandry on the open seas is a direct reflection of conditions in Somalia.

Things are shitty in Somalia; controlled by rival warlords, including a fundamentalist Islamic militia, Al-Shabaab, which has links to al Qaida.

The U.S. already has branches of the CIA operating in the area, and at least one reported airstrike has been carried out against a suspected training camp linked to al-Qaida, in 2007.

If we landed Marines onto these coastal pirate-village strongholds in Somalia, would the pirates even fight? Or would they simply hide their weapons and slip into the population?

That’s where the CIA comes in…Maybe some psych-ops?

We could always pull a Tony Poe and blanket the pirate stronghold villages in the decapitated heads of white people.

It would have to be white people; if the heads were of their own ethnicity, it would incite rage and revenge, but to drop white heads on their villages, and I’m talking thousands and thousands, from the air, would terrify them.

But where would we get these heads?

Perhaps a more logistically sound operation would be to pile up the guts and entrails from American-based slaughter houses, and I’m talking like 20-tons of the stuff, and blanket the strongholds with that.

If we had a greater breadth of intelligence gathering resources in the coastal areas of Somalia, we could initiate a target killing campaign, via airstrike, against the leaders of these pirating rings.

Another alternative that has been floated in American media is to devote a large contingent of American and international warships to completely blockade Somalia, while simultaneously rooting through their shipping and destroying the “mother ships” used as jumping off points for the smaller pirate skiffs in the open seas. Again, the CIA would have to be heavily involved to pinpoint land-based targets, epicenters of operation.

I don’t know – Somalia is a piece of shit with no government, and I sure as shit don’t want to see American forces get entangled in that bullshit, especially after what went down in the ’90s.

We’ll see.

juice