CIA Puts Taliban On Their Heels
The CIA is working hard for America.
The Taliban and their al-Qaeda associates, in what they considered a master stroke, this year started to target the Western alliance’s supply lines that run through Pakistan into Afghanistan.
Their focal point was Khyber Agency, in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a key transit point for as much as 70% of the alliance’s supplies needed to maintain its battle against the Afghan insurgency.
The spectacular blowing up on March 20 of 40 gas tankers at Torkham - the border crossing in Khyber Agency into Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province - sent shock waves through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led (NATO) coalition. So much so that it made a deal for some supplies to transit through Russia, a much more arduous route.
[...]
Then came this week’s incident in which the Taliban seized two members of the World Food Program (WFP) in Khyber Agency, and it became obvious the Taliban had been betrayed, and all for the princely sum of about US$150,000.
Their Khyber dreams are now in tatters.
[...]
The Americans were fully aware of the Taliban’s designs on Khyber Agency and invested a lot in the tribes to protect the route. In response, the Taliban threatened tribal chieftains, and launched a suicide attack on a jirga (meeting) convened to discuss eradicating the Taliban from the area. Over 40 tribals were killed.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte also visited Khyber Agency to meet with chiefs, but out of fear for the Taliban only six tribal elders showed up. It appeared the Americans had been outwitted, but their game was not over.
[...]
Unlike in previous Taliban attacks in the area, local paramilitary forces chased the Taliban after this incident. The Taliban retaliated and five soldiers were killed, but then their ammunition ran out and they surrendered the two workers and tried to flee, but they were blocked.
The Taliban called in reinforcements, but so did the paramilitary troops, and a stalemate was reached. Eventually, the Taliban managed to capture a local political agent (representing the central government) and they used him as a hostage to allow their escape.
They retreated to their various safe houses, but to their horror, paramilitary troops were waiting for them and scores were arrested, and their arms caches seized. A number of Taliban did, however, manage to escape once word got out of what was happening.
The only person aware of the safe houses was Namdar, their supposed protector: they had been sold out.
[...]
The immediate result is that Taliban operations in Khyber Agency have been cut off. This in itself is a major setback, as the attacks on supply lines had hit a raw NATO nerve.
In the broader context, Namdar’s betrayal vividly illustrates the dangers of traitors within the ranks of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The fear is that the various peace deals being signed now between the Islamabad government and selected tribal leaders could lead to a whole new batch of betrayals.
It sure would be nice to have read this story on CNN or MSNBC instead of the Asia Times.
Hat tip Pine River World News.
Maybe because we hear this stuff a million times and it goes no where or our adversaries pop back up stronger than ever.
Especially on this site. I remember the breathless report you ran from Steve Hayes about the discovery of weapons on mass destruction in Iraq.
I wish it were true, but with this current leadership it’s one screw up after another.
Wake us when you hear something.
Posted by on April 26, 2008 at 1031 hrsOn the flip side, we keep hearing from people like you that it’s a lost cause and we’re failing, yet we keep reading about these successes.
Hmmm…
Posted by Owen on April 26, 2008 at 1041 hrsThis would be great, except for the fact that we invaded Afghanistan 7 1/2 years ago. I wonder how much progress could have been made had the Bush administration not been dropping bombs on civilians in Iraq all these years.
Posted by Michael Mathias on April 26, 2008 at 1044 hrsCan you liberals not bring yourselves to be happy for any American success?
Evidently not.
I have news for you… wars are not pure successes or pure failures. They have some of both. WWII may have been a success at the end, but only after many MANY failures that resulted in many needless deaths. Your demand for perfection at every step is both unrealistic and insulting to our American heritage.
Posted by Owen on April 26, 2008 at 1052 hrsThe reason this isn’t on CNN or MSNBC is because it’s a complicated story that would involve more than 30 seconds to explain.
The problem with the corporate media isn’t that they’re biased. It’s that they’re in the business of getting ratings and making money instead of being in the business of providing information and putting it in context.
It’s so much easier, and cheaper, to talk about flag pins and wayward pastors, or macaca or airport bathrooms or sniper fire, and on and on ad nauseum, than it is to maintain a bureau in Asia.
Plus, what Keith said. It’s hard to take anything seriously from these guys any more.
Posted by on April 26, 2008 at 1106 hrsThis story seems to reveal the same strategy that is responsible for the Sunni “Awakening”. Just bribe people. We are having more success giving people bags of cash than we have had dropping bombs.
Posted by on April 26, 2008 at 1123 hrsNobody’s demanding perfection at every step. The occasional bout of mere competence would have been nice.
And every disagreement is not an insult to the troops, or our heritage, or whatever. OK? My pointing out that Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, et.al., have royally screwed this up in no way besmirches the memory of Yorktown, Shiloh, Valley Forge, Iwo Jima, or the Battle of Fallujah, for that matter.
Posted by on April 26, 2008 at 1128 hrsAre you suggesting that this story is NOT an example of an “occasional bout of mere competence?”
Posted by Owen on April 26, 2008 at 1157 hrsOwen, thanks for linking to me. Not to backtrack, but I agree with ‘apc’ (#5 above) - a lot of U.S. success stories come across the various newsfeeds, often from foreign sources, but they do require more than 30-seconds to explain—hence there’s little interest by US media in dedicating time to them. Another reason that America doesn’t hear this news is because many of our correspondents find it easier to grab stories off the newswires rather than conduct ‘investigative journalism’ and dig up newsworthy items themselves. A notable exception is our own “Voice of America” which still has reporters ‘on the scene’ in many foreign hotspots. Regrettably VOA discontinued their domestic shortwave broadcasts to America in preference to overseas. Their website, however, still carries this news.
Posted by Steve in Wisconsin on April 26, 2008 at 1411 hrsNews flash - we have not screwed up anything in the ‘Stan. To call it anything other than a success is to demand perfection that does not exist this side heaven.
The some of the folks around here probably would have would have said, “just think how much sooner we could have taken Berlin if we weren’t bogged down in the Pacific.”
Posted by on April 26, 2008 at 1631 hrs“News flash - we have not screwed up anything in the ‘Stan. “
Um, where’s Osama bin Laden?
Posted by Michael Mathias on April 26, 2008 at 1651 hrsSo.. you set the capture/killing of one man as the sole measure of achievement? Seems rather arbitrary to me.
Posted by Owen on April 26, 2008 at 1700 hrsjust think how much sooner we could have taken Berlin if we weren’t bogged down in the Pacific
WWII may have been a success at the end, but only after many MANY failures that resulted in many needless deaths
These WWII analogies should stop. The dynamics of our current conflicts bear as much resemblance to the dynamics of WWII as WWII does to the civil war.
Posted by on April 26, 2008 at 2000 hrsI’m not suggesting this is or isn’t a “bout of competence.” Maybe. I certainly hope so. But how many times before have we heard this kind of thing, only to have it turn out to be an exaggeration. I hope this turns out better than they hoped; I hope it puts gigantic dent in the Taliban’s operations. It’s desperately needed. The Taliban has been in resurgence for quite some time.
But realistically, you have to admit, this administration’s credibility doesn’t inspire much confidence. There aren’t too many people who dont take their pronouncements with a grain of salt.
Posted by on April 26, 2008 at 2033 hrsWell I doubt if FOX is reporting much about this either. They have no correspondents in Iraq, so no doubt none in the Stans.
The WWII analogies should stop. We had the Truman Commission combatting corruption in that war effort. They’d have a field day with this administration in the way they allowed this grab for cash while our brave soldiers are dying for this “cause.”
As far as “successes,” every time were hear about one of these it is usually followed with reality. Living in the Green Zone I hear is a real treat if you enjoy watching in-coming mortar fire.
Posted by on April 26, 2008 at 2105 hrsHow do you judge success in this war?
I judge it as not another attack on American soil since it began.
You can move the goal posts all you want but that is a fact.You site seven years, well duh, it is seven years since we were attacked.
You speak of the Green Zone, yet you have never trod on any soil near that locale. You quote N.Y. Times crap written by reporters sitting in a bar in a hotel in that Green Zone fed to them by “stringers” (read sunnis) who you assume have no agenda.
You constantly denigrate our soldiers and hide it under the guise of folly by an “administration”. Who do you think is implementing policy on the ground? Dick Durbin?
Then of course the usual profiteer tripe. The evil no-bid contracts right?
Was there any corporation other than Kellogg Brown and Root who could have handled the enormous scope of a mission supporting an Army of 200,000? No! None in the world existed.Can you even envision 37 million people being free to govern themselves?
Your negativity disgusts me, blame America First rewrite history later.
But then again I’m just sitting here clinging to my guns and religion and hating people of color.
Posted by on April 27, 2008 at 0155 hrs
Literally I have a shotgun under one arm draped with a rosary while my other hand “clings” to the Bible. Got to go now I have a meeting of the mysoginistic, yellow,brown,black,red, womens haters club, No Girlz Allowed.Wow, dch. That’s a finely tuned analysis there.
Posted by on April 27, 2008 at 0535 hrsI hope your article is a wake up call to everyone.
Posted by gewinnspiele kostenlos on April 27, 2008 at 0957 hrsThe WWII analogies will not stop when they are appropriate.
I am glad the current crop of commentators were not around during that war, we would have never got off of the beaches of Normandy. Or how about the ‘44 German offensive in the Ardennes, you guys would have been screaming what a bunch of incompetents Ike and Roosevelt were.
Where is Osama Bin Laden? I didn’t know we were playing chess.
Posted by Marcus Aurelius on April 27, 2008 at 1014 hrsDon’t think so Marcus. The isolationists that didn’t want us to get involved were from the GOP, including Prescott Bush, W’s Nazi-loving grandfather.
Us liberals have no problem fighting real enemies as when we went into Afghanistan, not coming up with that bonanza for private contractors known as Iraq. As far as Brown and Root goes, that kind of work used to be done by the US Military—for a hell of a lot less money. But if you like your taxes to go to these corporate friends of Bush…
As far as the 37 million people, governing themselves, does that include the 4 million who have been displaced by this boondoggle, including people who need real protection that we won’t allow to come into this country?
Posted by on April 27, 2008 at 1406 hrsLOL. Praising this administration’s occasional successes is like getting your hopes up when Derrick Turnbow throws a strike.
So now we’re handing out bags of cash to get people to like/tolerate us.
Is that a sustainable policy? If not, what happens when the cash stops?
I seem to remember the Mujahid loved the U.S. in the 1980s when Charlie Wilson scored them a blank check.
Posted by on April 27, 2008 at 2045 hrsNice try at changing the subject Keith.
The fact is your side in this debate can not possibly admit to any success whatsoever, anywhere or anytime. Listening to the likes of the NYT they make Sadr out to be King Midas and our guys are made out so they make the Three Stooges look talented.
Posted by Marcus Aurelius on April 27, 2008 at 2246 hrsKeith Schmitz: Joe Kennedy was the biggest isolationist out there as Ambassodor to England. I didn’t know Joe was a Republican. I learn something new everyday.
Michael Mathias: We still havent found Hitler yet so does that mean we failed in WW II. ?
The fact of the matter is that we as a society have been “USA Todayed”. Short articles that keep our attention span for the 2 minutes or less that we spend on it and we take whatever is written as gospel. We as a society dont bother to read or have an indepent thought. we take the crap that the mainstream media puts out as fact because to put any effort into finding the facts would require an effort that for most would be “totally a waste of time”. sort of like reading the fine print on the adjustable rate mortgage application that you bought your mansions with, that are now in foreclosure.
Posted by on April 28, 2008 at 0802 hrsWhich Taliban is back on its heels? Is it like AQ in Iraq and there’s a couple of them? This one doesn’t look like its been subdued.
You’re like a kid standing in the ocean trying to empty it one bucket at a time. Afghanistan was instrumental in breaking both the British and the Russian Empires. What makes you think the US will be sucessful in the long run?
Posted by on April 28, 2008 at 0827 hrsHow did Afghanistan break the British Empire?
Posted by on April 28, 2008 at 1034 hrsdavod,
Ok maybe “break” was a little strong, stymied would certainly fit
http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armycampaigns/ind iancampaigns/campafghan1878.htm
Posted by on April 28, 2008 at 1406 hrsGlad you could find one Democrat Irwin That’s like saying James T. Harris represents the political views of all Afro-Americans.
But that’s problem with us liberals is we do have long attention spans, and some knowledge of history. It’s pretty pathetic when you think that two of the mightiest powers in the world at the time were defeated by a guy in wheel chair in less than four years time versus a brush-clearin’ “cowboy” whio has us bogged down in the 3rd world in a war that is crippling our economy.
This all goes beyond Bin Laden’s wildest dreams when he hit us on 9/11. Who’da thunk except us liberals that a provocation would cause this admin with a rant radio mentality to go all overboard.
If you whine every time Doyle proposes a $10 tax increase, then you have nothing to say bottomless rat hole of money.
Posted by on April 28, 2008 at 1433 hrsOwen, kind of surprised AT is not on your daily read list.
Great stuff and certainly not what you are going to find in any media outlet in the US or anywhere else for that matter.
Herr Spengler and Chan Akya are especially entertaining.
Check out the archives.
Posted by on April 28, 2008 at 1435 hrsHey Grumps, it looks like we don’t have to do anything, Darwin will catch up with these idiots…
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSSP22490020 080430
Posted by on April 30, 2008 at 0752 hrsKABUL (Reuters) - Five Taliban militants blew themselves up in a house in the Afghan capital Kabul after 10 hours of clashes with besieging Afghan security forces on Wednesday, an Interior Ministry official told Reuters.
Ol' Army
