Terrorism Archives
"They are not a revolutionary group..."
By Charlie
"...They are terrorists."
So says Mark Gonsalvez speaking against the FARC, who held him captive, after his rescue. From MSNBC, Powerful stuff that should remind us all about the very real dangers of terrorism across the globe.
This operation is an example of a victory in the War on Terror, which will never be as high profile as capturing an enemy city or defeating an enemy unit on the battlefield (in 3GW). The media war against FARC, and the constellation of terrorist groups out there, will continue, but I hope this clip gets some air time.
"WILLFUL BLINDNESS"
By Lt Col P
Great interview in NRO with Andrew McCarthy, regarding his new book, Willful Blindness: Memoir of the Jihad.
He gets right to the point:
Kathryn Jean Lopez: Do I have the sides right? They say “Allahu Akbar!” we say “Imagine the liability!”Andrew C. McCarthy: Unfortunately, that’s exactly right, and you’ve hit on the key difference. They are a religious ideology reveling in a mission for which, far from making any apologies for their brutality, they exude a zeal found only in people convinced they are both right and justified. You won’t ever hear from them the slightest misgiving — no careful references to Infidelo-fascists so as not to offend all the wonderful moderate infidels out there.
We, on the contrary, are an odd combination of diffidence, self-loathing, and arrogance: doubtful we are worth the trouble to defend; apt to figure that if people hate us, we must deserve it; and sure that it is within our power to satisfy their grievances — even though we didn’t cause them — by dialogue, political processes, sensitivity-training, and, of course, buying them off — which simply confirms them in their suspicion that we don’t have the stomach for the fight.
They continue in that vein for three pages. Here's more, and this is my favorite, concerning the pitfalls of using the legal system as the primary defense against terrorists:
... But a national security threat is not, essentially, a legal case. When the protection or even the preservation of the country is at stake, our position has to be that government must prevail — not that we’d prefer to see government lose. Government does not create our rights and our freedom, but it is necessary to their protection. If the system is not preserved, we are no longer free and our rights are worthless.
Sounds right to me.
Brits in Afghanistan
By Charlie
John over at the Weekly Standard link to this article:
British soldier awarded the Military Cross for fighting off 150 TalibanA BRITISH soldier who almost single-handedly took on 150 Taliban after he and his 50-man convoy were ambushed in Afghanistan has been awarded the Military Cross.
Fusilier Damien Hields used his grenade machinegun to destroy seven Taliban positions before his ambushers realised he was their main threat. After peppering his vehicle with bullets, they hit the 24-year-old soldier. He had to be dragged off for treatment by his driver after he tried to continue fighting.
This, of course, reminded me of a previous outnumbered engagement by the Brits, a bit earlier in their military history, the Battle of Rourke's Drift, which was the basis for what I consider the best military film of all time: Zulu.
The Zulus lost tactically in the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, but the defeat delayed their advance on the unsuspecting British Corps. This caused news of the defeat at Isandlwana to reach the British main force, and allowed them to counter-attack, decisively defeating the Zulu force and securing the South African region. Since 1856, only 1355 Victoria Crosses have been awarded for extreme valor. 11 were awarded for this engagement, the most awarded to a regiment for a single action.
Good to see this fighting spirit is still there.
Afghanistan Suicide bombings become more effective
By Charlie
Bad news for NATO, as the enemy upgrades its capabilities and tactics:
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide car bomber targeting a Canadian military convoy killed 35 civilians at a busy market in southern Afghanistan , a police official said.At least 28 people were wounded in the attack in Spin Boldak, a town in Kandahar province near the border with Pakistan , said Abdul Razeq, the Spin Boldak border police chief. Three Canadian soldiers were lightly wounded, he said.
The attack comes one day after Afghanistan 's deadliest bombing since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. More than 100 people were killed by a suicide bomber outside Kandahar city on Sunday.
The back-to-back bombings could indicate a change in tactics by militants. Though attacks occasionally have killed dozens, insurgents in Afghanistan have generally sought to avoid targeting civilians
This should only serve to reinforce the need to up the combat troops in southern Afghanistan , and defeat these networks of AQ and Taliban that are deploying these devices.
A Lovely Development In Syria
By Lt Col P
One of the benefits of being an early is riser is seeing the occasional live report in the wee hours. I just saw the lovely Reena Ninan deliver some lovely news from the Levant-- to wit, the particularly vile heathen known as Imad Mughniyeh has assumed room temperature. In about a thousand pieces. And not a moment too soon.
It's a pity he won't be ascending the golden stairs, because he'd find that the streets are guarded by United States Marines. I suppose he'll just have to make do below decks, as it were. Waaay below decks.
Pakistani militants 'call truce'
By Charlie
Yeah, it probably sounded like “Stop Shooting! We’re Reloading!”
A leading Pakistani militant group is reported to have declared a truce in the South Waziristan region and be willing to enter peace talks.Few details have emerged about the terms of the truce, announced on Wednesday by Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan, a militant umbrella group.
The group's leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is accused by the government of being behind the murder of Benazir Bhutto.
The government has not confirmed the truce, but Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz said the national leadership was ready for a dialogue with the militants.
Isn’t that tremendous, a “a dialogue with the militants.” The sad fact here is that the Pakistani army is having a tough time rooting out the Taliban from their Northwest Frontier province and their Federally Administrated Tribal Area. Negotiating with them in order to gain a better position on the battlefield may be the only option that the Pakistani forces have left, granting them some time and space to re-arm and reinforce. Which raises an interesting question –who can do it faster, the army, or the Taliban?
Gaza Roundup
By Charlie
Terror! International Intrigue! War! Read my Gaza roundup below the fold!
Read More »
US Troops to Pakistan ?
By Charlie
Caught this on EarlyBird this morning:
The Pentagon is "ready, willing and able" to send U.S. troops to conduct joint combat operations with Pakistan's military against al-Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday.The U.S. military is also beginning to construct as many as eight coordination centers along the Afghan-Pakistani border that will be staffed by officers from the three countries to more closely share intelligence and conduct combat operations, according to Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, the top U.S. commander for eastern Afghanistan.
Gates said al-Qaeda has allied with other extremists in the border area, possibly including Baitullah Mehsud, a tribal leader linked to the Taliban. "They clearly are much more active and working with other people," he said.
Rodriguez said Pakistani military leaders are increasingly willing to cooperate in operations on either side of the border. There is "a growing realization amongst all of them, that everybody needs to do more together," he said at a Pentagon briefing this week.
This is being framed correctly by both sides, rather than initiate hostile military action, partner with Pakistan and help them remove a threat to Afghanistan , Pakistan , and America . The Taliban elements and AQ-terrorists that are lurking in the hinterland between Afghanistan and Pakistan are becoming an increasingly destabilizing force inside Pakistan, which is giving Musharraf –or who ever is in charge next –a strong incentive to resolve the issue.
So does this mean the road is paved for a US training mission? Nope, there is still a high amount of anti-American sentiment in Pakistan , and a large percentage of the population may favor a jirga –or tribal elder sit-down –with the Taliban in order to solve the crisis. In American-speak, a jirga amounts to negotiating with the enemy and declaring peace with the Taliban, which is unacceptable unless it is on our own terms. Remember, Pakistan already did this in 2006, where a jirga resulted in a peace deal in northern Waziristan . Remember:
Details of the deal signed by the two sides were given in a brief speech by local MP Haji Nek Zaman, a member of the council of elders which was authorised to negotiate on behalf of the Pakistani government.Under the accord, the Pakistani military promises to end major operations in the area.
It will pull most of its soldiers back to military camps, but will still operate border check-points.
That whole thing didn’t work out too well, and it allowed Taliban-linked groups to re-fit, re-arm, and re-group. They even got a new leader with Baitullah Mehsud, who has been blamed for the Bhutto assassination.
It would be great if we could have SF imbedded with the Pakistani Army, working jointly with the Afghan nation army along the border region, calling in air strikes on the Taliban and wiping them out in an enormous pincer operation. That is the gold standard of what we want, but sometimes reality intrudes on the plan, so we’ll have to wait and see how this works out.
Terror Threat (suprise) Continues in Europe
By Charlie
I thought Spain already surrendered in the war on terror:
Details surrounding the weekend bust of 14 suspected Islamist extremists in Barcelona are giving European security forces reason for concern — even beyond the evidence suggesting the group was working toward an eventual terror strike. Whereas radicals of North African origin have long been the main jihadist threat in Europe, Spanish authorities say 12 of the 14 men arrested Saturday are Pakistani. The reason that's so troubling, counter-terrorism officials believe, comes with the considerable risk of two different arching lines eventually crossing: the fast-growing size of Pakistani communities on the continent, and their close ties to a homeland where Islamist radicalism is rampant.
Again, the nexus of world terrorism continues to be the gray area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. I wonder how long Non-US countries will allow themselves to be continuously threatened by groups based in this area. One would think that repeated terror threats that can be traced back to this area would spur some kind of combined action...
Q and A with AQ
By Charlie
Hmm.... Commenters not getting feedback yet. Strangely familiar...
CAIRO, Egypt - Sympathizers submitted hundreds of questions to al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri's "on-line interview" before a recent deadline. Among them: Why hasn't al-Qaida attacked the U.S. again, why isn't it attacking the Israelis and when will it be more active in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria?This article goes on to point out that the terror threat may not be as monolithic as previously perceived, and that nationality, internal differences in goals and tactics, and debates on how to be an effective terrorist can be as disruptive to AQ as US JDAMS.One thing is clear from the questions: Self-proclaimed al-Qaida supporters are as much in the dark about the terror network's operations and intentions as Western analysts and intelligence agencies.
Is Pakistan Softening on US Training Mission ?
By Charlie
Pakistan is getting it handed to them by Taliban and AQ-linked fighters in its Western territories.
Up to 20 Pakistani troops were missing and feared dead after 200 Islamic militants armed with rockets overran a remote military outpost in south Waziristan, close to the Afghan border.A spokesman for the Pakistan military said the attack happened at midnight and lasted for about two hours. He said up to 40 of the attackers were killed.
About 40 members of the paramilitary Frontier Corps occupied the fort.
…Which may explain this story:
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Pakistan is taking a more welcoming view of U.S. suggestions for using American troops to train and advise its own forces in the fight against anti-government extremists, the commander of U.S. forces in that region said Wednesday.
We are technically fighting the same bad guys, just on different sides of the mountains. AQ and Taliban are just as threatening to Pakistan as they are to Afghanistan , it just took Pakistan a while to figure that out, as they have always seen India as the #1 threat. In the past, the Pakistani government viewed the Islamic radicals camped out in the western frontier as a strategic reserve against India ’s larger and better trained army. Now, that strategic reserve has become a massive internal security problem that just assassinated a major public figure, and would love to target Musharaf next.
Partnering with Pakistan and helping them do the heavy lifting of COIN in the Western areas is no easy task. There is very high anti-US sentiment in Pakistan , a significant support base for terrorists, and a shaky internal situation. On top of that, the “AO” of Western Pakistan ’s Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) is crawling with foreign Al Qaeda fighters, Taliban, warring tribes, and other shady characters that further complicate the situation.
The bottom line is that Pakistan has to solve this problem. If we can help them, it helps us.
The Sudanese Military shot at the Peacekeepers?
By Charlie
Is this a peacekeeping mission, or combat?
A Sudanese driver was seriously wounded when a supply convoy of the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force was attacked Tuesday night in Darfur, the U.N.'s news portal reported. The attack was carried out by Sudanese soldiers, who fired on the convoy damaging a diesel truck and an armored vehicle. The United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) says it did not return fire and no UNAMID casualties were sustained in the attack.
Sri Lanka's Government to Withdraw From Truce Agreement
By Charlie
The government of Sri Lanka says it is withdrawing from a cease-fire agreement with Tamil rebels because the pact has become meaningless. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi the withdrawal is largely symbolic because the Norwegian-brokered truce collapsed two years ago.The government's decision to end a 2002 truce agreement with Tamil rebels came as virtually everyone acknowledged that the pact existed only in name.
Really? A peace treaty with a known terrorist group fell through? Who’d have thunk it?
"From the beginning it was observed only in the breach by the LTTE. In the first couple of years, it used the cease-fire agreement to regroup, rearm, and then in 2005 it launched massive attacks on government forces," said Kohona. "In a real practical sense, this agreement served very little purpose."
That seems to be what most “truces” are with terrorist groups, re-fit, re-arm, and hen they’re ready, and in a position of better strength, start fighting again-on their terms. This has been observed in Gaza, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Recall this post about the MILF getting their “truce” in the Philippines, because it is likely to work out the same way Sri Lanka’s did:
Any time an insurgent group actually gains a chunk of territory, it is a HUGE victory on their terms, and validates their struggle for more land, and political control of it. All other things being equal, expect an information operations campaign to follow once the MILF takes political control of this territory, emphasizing how “just” the governance now is, showing new roads, schools, and happy children. Expect the MILF, and its fellow travelers, to set up shop in their new home territory, and use it to re-fit, re-am, train, and recruit forces to continue the unconventional fight elsewhere.
