Pakistan strikes two al Qaeda camps in North Waziristan

[Airbornelawyer]

Another Bill Roggio piece. Maybe the Pakistanis are more scared of Barack Obama than of the Taliban.

Pakistan strikes two al Qaeda camps in North Waziristan

Artillery, helicopters assault two camps near the Afghan border

http://billroggio.com/archives/2007/...strikes_al.php

As the security situation in North Waziristan and the greater Northwest Frontier Province deteriorates, the Pakistani military launched an assault on two "militant" bases near the Afghan border. The military struck two Taliban and al Qaeda bases in the village of Daygan with artillery and Cobra gunship helicopters. "No ground forces were used in the assault," the Associated Press reported. The attack, which occurred 10 miles west of Miramshah, lasted four hours.

Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, the chief spokesman for the Pakistani military, said the attacks in North Waziristan are not linked to the Camp David talks between President George Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, where the situation in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province was a focal point. Since the release of the National Intelligence Estimate this summer, which stated the Northwest Frontier Province has become an al Qaeda haven, there have been conflicting statements on whether the US would take unilateral action against al Qaeda inside Pakistani territory.

While there has been much talk of a pending Pakistani operation to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda in North Waziristan, an all out assault has yet to materialize. Pakistani military operations have been defensive in nature. The Taliban has repeatedly launched ambushes and mortar and rocket attacks against Pakistani troops that have deployed in the region, and Taliban casualties have occurred during counterattacks. Pakistan has lost 200 troops in the tribal areas since July 19. Today’s action highlights the hesitance of the Pakistani military to engage in ground combat in North Waziristan, as the military relied on helicopters and artillery to destroy the camp.

The strike on the Daygan camps are the latest in a series against al Qaeda and Taliban training facilities strung across the Northwest Frontier Province. Compounds in Damadola, Danda Saidgai, Chingai, Zamazola, and again in Danda Saidgai over the course of 2006 and 2007. Most recently, a camp in Mami Rogha in North Waziristan was struck in June 2007, killing upwards of 32 Taliban and al Qaeda operatives. These strikes have done little to disrupt the growth of al Qaeda and the Taliban in northwestern Pakistan.

The US is believed to have been behind the bulk of these strikes, with the Pakistani government providing cover for the operations. The Danda Saidgai attack, which was launched against Osama bin Laden’s elite Black Guard, was conducted by US Special Forces. Unmanned US Predator attack aircraft have been spotted in several attacks, and others occurred at night, which stretch the limits of the Pakistani military’s capabilities.

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Airbornelawyer

Another Bill Roggio piece. Maybe the Pakistanis are more scared of Barack Obama than of the Taliban.

I know that I am.

Obama is much more dangerous.

TR

[Airbornelawyer]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

I know that I am.

Obama is much more dangerous.

TR

Obama is only dangerous because the Taliban and AQ are dangerous. His and the rest of the Left's recklessly irresponsible defeatist policies, if implemented, would only encourage, aid and abet the resurgence of the terrorists. But the terrorists would still be the ones doing the killing.

And if anyone seriously believes the Democrats oppose the war in Iraq because they are chomping at the bit to fight the "real" war against the terrorists in Afghanistan, there's a bridge just south of my apartment here I'd be interested in selling.

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Airbornelawyer

Obama is only dangerous because the Taliban and AQ are dangerous. His and the rest of the Left's recklessly irresponsible defeatist policies, if implemented, would only encourage, aid and abet the resurgence of the terrorists. But the terrorists would still be the ones doing the killing.

AL, I would respectfully disagree.

I believe that Obama, and the rest of the Dem field, as well as a few of the Republican candidates, threaten this country internally with corruption, a paid for voting bloc of those dependent on the state, a total abrogation of the responsibility to secure the borders of this great nation, expansion of the government, the namby state, and entitlement wards, rewriting of large portions of the Constitution, movement towards socialism and away from the capitalism that built this nation, alliances and favored status with countries who oppose us and are not our friends, stripping the defense budget of the resources needed to rebuild the military into a threat based organization (rather than writing the threat to appear matched to our existing forces), and serious strides towards financial insolvency by expansion of government welfare programs while failing to address national debt and the impending Social Security and Medicare implosions.

With no further terrorist attacks or serious external threats, I do not believe that the United States will exist, as we know it, by the turn of the next century.

IMHO, history will lay this at the feet of our leadership, socialism (starting with FDR), a dependent underclass, and the desire of our elected officials to remain in office and to rob the public coffers to ensure that.

TR

[Airbornelawyer]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

AL, I would respectfully disagree.

I believe that Obama, and the rest of the Dem field, as well as a few of the Republican candidates, threaten this country internally with corruption, a paid for voting bloc of those dependent on the state, a total abrogation of the responsibility to secure the borders of this great nation, expansion of the government, the namby state, and entitlement wards, rewriting of large portions of the Constitution, movement towards socialism and away from the capitalism that built this nation, alliances and favored status with countries who oppose us and are not our friends, stripping the defense budget of the resources needed to rebuild the military into a threat based organization (rather than writing the threat to appear matched to our existing forces), and serious strides towards financial insolvency by expansion of government welfare programs while failing to address national debt and the impending Social Security and Medicare implosions.

With no further terrorist attacks or serious external threats, I do not believe that the United States will exist, as we know it, by the turn of the next century.

IMHO, history will lay this at the feet of our leadership, socialism (starting with FDR), a dependent underclass, and the desire of our elected officials to remain in office and to rob the public coffers to ensure that.

TR

I am afraid I cannot disagree more. It is bad enough when leftists go to rhetorical excess dismissing murderous foreign enemies while attacking political rivals with vitriole unprecedented in the country's history. We should not fall into that same trap. And many of the problems you outline above are hardly the province solely of the left, such as the failure to expand the military. We have had a Republican Administration for over six years which has espoused transformation not as a means of matching our technological prowess to our military prowess, but as an excuse for favoring high-tech weapons over soldiers, and thinking war can be won on the cheap.

I live in New York City, where even the "Republican" mayor is to the left of Obama and most of the Democratic field. Almost all of the problems you outline above, plus a few others such as a preference for "Red" Ken Livingstone's pseudo-fascist controls over daily life (smoking and trans-fat bans, surveillance cameras everywhere, anti-gun lawsuits, driving taxes, etc.). But nothing that has happened to this city, from nanny state measures to Eliot Spitzer's attacks on free enterprise to PC multiculturalism keeping immigrants from fully assimilitating, nothing Bloomberg or Spitzer or Hillary or their ilk has done to this city compares to what 10 men from al-Qa'ida did almost six years ago.

[The Reaper]

Well, clearly, we will have to agree to disagree. You did note that I included members of both parties, did you not?

Hopefully, neither of us will live long enough to see the fall of this great nation.

But I fear my children might.

TR

[magician]

The US is believed to have been behind the bulk of these strikes, with the Pakistani government providing cover for the operations. The Danda Saidgai attack, which was launched against Osama bin Laden’s elite Black Guard, was conducted by US Special Forces. Unmanned US Predator attack aircraft have been spotted in several attacks, and others occurred at night, which stretch the limits of the Pakistani military’s capabilities.

These guys just cannot resist running their mouths.

[3SoldierDad]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

With no further terrorist attacks or serious external threats, I do not believe that the United States will exist, as we know it, by the turn of the next century.

No matter what happens in the next 93 years - good or bad - the United States as we know it now, will not exist.

The United States as it existed for our great-grandfathers in 1907 doesn't exist today.

I'm certain if a time machine were available to bring folks from 1907 to 2007, they'd generally be inspired and delighted with our comforts, the conveniences and our overwhelmingly incredible science. However, they'd probably also be horrified by the dissolution of our moral fabric, the relativism of truth among our great institutions, the dulling of our senses with respect to common decency and virtue as well as the general effeminate drift of our culture.

It would probably do us a lot of good to take a peek at America circa 2107. It'd probably scare the crapola out us and sober us up. America could very well go the way of the Aztecs or Mayans.

Some observations...

• Change is only accelerating - and, at an exponential rate.

• In times of vigorous change multi-generational prosperity across a nation or culture historically has not been demonstrated to be sustainable...

• When I tell people that my sons serve their country in the military and they express to me their remorse and condolences rather than their pride and gratitude...I know that our ability to exist as a free nation is rotting from within

• A generation that assumes freedom is like air - a given. Is a people marked out for trial and tribulation

More Happy thoughts from...

Three Soldier Dad...Chuck

Edit: P.S. I'm not necessarily a total pessimist. I do think people can respond when they get "historical spankings" - For example, I think the destruction of Nazi Germany actually saved Germany. The same is true with the destruction of the Japanese Empire - It saved Japan. Horrific events can be wake-up calls and save a people....Bad experiences can become watershed events. America may face some grim realities in the coming century - something terrible may actually serve a salutary purpose.

.