16 September, 2008

Pakistan Allegedly Repulses US Raid
Washington Post – United States
By Candace Rondeaux KARACHI, Pakistan, Sept. 15 — Pakistani troops turned back a US attack in Pakistan’s tribal areas on Monday by firing warning shots …
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2008/09/15/AR2008091503013.html?hpid=sec-world

Official says Pakistan fighting kills 8 militants
The Associated Press
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Security forces backed by air support again pounded suspected militant hideouts in a northwest Pakistan tribal region,…
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iY68JOyN
IHbng1p0gU3svyBH9g3gD937MM4G4

Pakistan troops pound militants, killing 15
Times of India – India
KHAR, Pakistan: Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships and jets shelled hideouts of Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida in a northwestern tribal …
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Pakistan_troops
_pound_militants_killing_15/articleshow/3489224.cms

India accuses Pakistan of supporting militants
Pakistan Dawn – Karachi,Pakistan
NEW DELHI, Sept 15: India’s Defence Minister AK Antony said on Monday he was seriously concerned about support for militants from Pakistan after a string of …
www.dawn.com/2008/09/16/top9.htm

Facing Islamist chaos and America’s Rambo, Pakistan is turning to …
Guardian Unlimited – UK
After claiming to have spent nine years nurturing democracy in Pakistan and festooning the country’s military dictatorship with $11bn in aid, …
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/16/pakistan.usa

Shots fired as US-led troops near Pakistani border: officials
Peshawar, Pakistan (AFP) Sept 15, 2008 – Shots were fired when US-led coalition helicopters based in Afghanistan neared the border with Pakistan, officials said Monday, but there were conflicting accounts of the incident. Security officials said the threat of an incursion Sunday led Pakistani troops and tribesmen to fire their weapons, but the chief Pakistan army spokesman, the Pentagon and the coalition denied any such incident to
www.spacewar.com/reports/Shots_fired_as_US-led
_troops_near_Pakistani_border_officials_999.html

US drones bring fear and firepower to Qaeda war in Pakistan
by Staff Writers
Miranshah, Pakistan (AFP) Sept 14, 2008
Two air-to-ground missiles ripped through the sky before smashing into the house where a Taliban leader with close links to Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was thought to be hiding.
www.spacewar.com/reports/US_drones_bring_fear
_and_firepower_to_Qaeda_war_in_Pakistan_999.html

Confusion Over Reports of Clash at Afghan Border
New York Times – United States
By ISMAIL KHAN and PIR ZUBAIR SHAH PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Confusion swirled over a possible incursion by United States forces into Pakistani territory in …
www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/world/asia/16pstan.html?ref=world

analysis: Winning a losing game —Rasul Bakhsh Rais
Daily Times – Lahore,Pakistan
NATO forces entered Afghanistan amid the deafening thunder of strategic bombing and daisycutters, and declared that their mission was to free Afghanistan …
www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=
2008%5C09%5C16%5Cstory_16-9-2008_pg3_2

Pakistanis Protest US Airstrikes
OneWorld US – Washington,DC,USA
Meanwhile, ramped-up US and NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan are causing an increased civilian death toll, raising concerns about the fallout from civilian …
us.oneworld.net/article/357490-pakistanis-protest-us-airstrikes

Pakistan’s Anti-Muslim Taliban
Foreign Policy In Focus – USA
The United States and NATO follow in a long line of foreign armies that have claimed to bring order to the region but have instead killed many civilians …
fpif.org/fpiftxt/5534

FC Abroad: Sure Iran is scary, but maybe Pakistan is scarier
National Post – Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Today, US foreign policy makers, present and future, are getting loads of unsolicited advice from op ed pages on what to do about Iran and Pakistan…
network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008
/09/15/fc-abroad-sure-iran-is-scary-but-maybe-pakistan-is-scarier.aspx

A Hot War In Pakistan?
By Andrew Sullivan
“The US choppers came into Pakistan by just 100 to 150 meters at Angor Adda. Even then our troops did not spare them, opened fire on them and they turned away,” said one security official. The US and Pakistani military both denied that …
andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily
_dish/2008/09/a-hot-war-in-pa.html

Pakistan’s new president Zardari is a clone of Musharraf
By sudhan
Zardari’s first major policy statement was a vow to continue waging the so-called “war on terror” in northwest Pakistan. His choice of the Bush administration’s terminology was a clear message to Washington that he intends to pursue the …
sudhan.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/pakistans-
new-president-zardari-is-a-clone-of-musharraf/

President to confront many challenges during US visit
By bilal qureshi
“During his endeavour, President Zardari was likely to extend full assurance to his counterpart about Pakistan’s decisiveness and resolve to go after the Taliban and foreign fighters in tribal areas with full force,” he said. …
pakistan.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/09/15/
president-to-confront-many-challenges-during-us-visit/

Obama and Pakistan: So much for his “judgment”
By Michael Eden
it was a real ominous statement, and many conservatives jumped all over it: the man who would be willing to talk to enemies such as Iran and North Korea without preconditions was actually threatening to invade an ally like Pakistan. …
startthinkingright.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/
obama-and-pakistan-so-much-for-his-judgment/

Reports Say Pakistan Soldiers ‘Confront’ US Raid
By Cernig
The Pakistan military says only local tribesmen held the US raid back. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman denied the reports, saying they were“spurious”, “(I) cannot find any mission that correlates to the report I saw out of Pakistan. …
www.newshoggers.com/blog/2008/09/reports-say-pak.html

15 September, 2008

Pakistani tribal chiefs threaten to join Taliban —US warned of uprising if armed incursions continue —New counter-terror policy backfires on Washington 15 Sep 2008
A controversial new US tactic to mount counter-terrorist operations inside Pakistan has met with fresh hostility, it emerged yesterday, as Pakistani tribesmen representing half a million people vowed to switch sides and join the Taliban if Washington does not stop cross-border attacks by its forces from Afghanistan.
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/15/pakistan.usforeignpolicy

Tribesmen say they are with army, warn US —Elders: Eight million tribesmen vow to fight US 14 Sep 2008
Tribal elders in North Waziristan on Saturday vowed to defend the country’s frontiers by fighting alongside security forces against any ‘possible American attack’. The elders welcomed Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani’s statement, adding that it was the voice of eight million tribesmen. They said that their tribal brethren living on the Afghan side would also join the fight, as the foreign troops were subjecting them to gross injustices.
www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008
%5C09%5C14%5Cstory_14-9-2008_pg1_11

Pakistan order to kill US invaders 13 Sep 2008
Key corps commanders of Pakistan’s 600,000-strong army issued orders last night to retaliate against “invading” US forces that enter the country to attack militant targets. The move has plunged relations between Islamabad and Washington into deep crisis over how to deal with al-Qa’ida [al-CIAduh] and the Taliban What amounts to a dramatic order to “kill the invaders”, as one senior officer put it last night, was disclosed after the commanders – who control the army’s deployments at divisional level – met at their headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi under the chairmanship of army chief and former ISI spy agency boss Ashfaq
www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/
0,25197,24336245-2703,00.html

Pakistan troops fire shots to warn off Americans 15 Sep 2008
Pakistani troops have fired shots to warn US troops not to cross into the South Waziristan region of Pakistan. Reports from the border say seven US helicopters landed on the Afghan side of the line before US troops attempted to cross the border. The incident has come amid growing anger in Pakistan over US attacks along the border region.
feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=406586

US denies helicopters fired on in Pakistan
AFP
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Pentagon on Monday denied that US-led coalition helicopters based in Afghanistan were fired on in Pakistan and forced to turn back. …
afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gnpzwkQieHnAaz3X_YI8jvoQGP7A

Detainee’s son handed to Pakistan
BBC News – UK
By Syed Shoaib Hasan Afghan officials have handed over to Pakistan the son of a US-trained Pakistani academic with alleged links to al-Qaeda. …
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7616838.stm

When a big power acts with impunity?
Malaysia Star – Malaysia
BY MARTIN KHOR The increasing frequency of missile attacks on villages in Pakistan and the continuing high civilian casualties of attacks in Afghan villages …
thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/
2008/9/15/focus/2027991&sec=focus

32 militants killed in Pakistan
Scotsman – United Kingdom
SECURITY forces killed 32 people, including three women, in strikes against suspected militant hideouts in northwest Pakistan, an official said today.…
news.scotsman.com/world/32-militants-killed-in-Pakistan.4491593.jp

Pakistan Says US Forces Repulsed by Military
www.truthout.org/article/pakistan-says-us-forces-repulsed-military
Reuters: “Firing by Pakistani troops forced two US military helicopters to turn back to Afghanistan after they crossed into Pakistani territory early on Monday, Pakistani security officials said.”

Tribesmen chase NATO forces out
Online – International News Network – Islamabad,Pakistan
ANGORADDA: Violating country’s air and ground borders, NATO helicopters and troops intruded into Pakistani’s territory in South Waziristan early Monday. …
www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=133405

Pakistani tribal chiefs threaten to join Taliban
Saeed Shah, The Guardian
A controversial new US tactic to mount counter-terrorist operations inside Pakistan has met with fresh hostility, it emerged yesterday, as Pakistani tribesmen representing half a million people vowed to switch sides and join the Taliban if Washington does not stop cross-border attacks by its forces from Afghanistan. Reacting to American missile attacks in north Waziristan last week, which followed an unprecedented cross-border ground assault earlier this month, tribal chiefs from the area called an emergency meeting on Saturday. “If America doesn’t stop attacks in tribal areas, we will prepare a lashkar [army] to attack US forces in Afghanistan,” tribal chief Malik Nasrullah announced in Miran Shah, north Waziristan’s largest city. “We will also seek support from the tribal elders in Afghanistan to fight jointly against America.”..
www.uruknet.de/?p=47243

No al-Qaeda or Taliban leader was killed in recent US strikes
Hamid Mir
No prominent Taliban or al-Qaeda leader has been killed in recent US air strikes in the Pakistani tribal areas, a visit to the area has revealed. All the injured victims of the US air strikes admitted in hospitals in Miramshah and Bannu are women or children. Four Arabs killed in the Dande Darpakhel area close to Miramshah last week were not associated with al-Qaeda. One of them, Abu Harris, has been living in North Waziristan since 1987. Some media outfits had claimed that Abu Harris was the al-Qaeda chief in Pakistan but the local Taliban in Dande Darpakhel area told this scribe that Abu Harris was an old friend of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, who has not been an active militant for the last 20 years…
www.uruknet.de/?p=47250

Pakistan Disagrees With US
By Admin
An interviewee lashed that it was a great cruelty with the tribal not safeguarding them adding that if it had occurred in Islamabad, Lahore or any other city of Pakistan then how the government would have reacted that might have yielded …
afghanpress.org/2008/09/15/pakistan-disagrees-with-us/

Pakistan: US troops come under fire near Afghan border
guardian.co.uk – UK
As the US troops disembarked and tried to cross into Pakistan, Afghan soldiers at a checkpoint opened fire into the air, forcing them to turn back. …
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/15/pakistan.afghanistan

New Pakistan clashes kill 15 suspected militants
MSNBC – USA
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships and fighter jets killed 15 suspected militants Monday as security forces advanced on …
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26716626/

Is the Bush Administration at War with its Own Weapons in Pakistan?
By noreply@blogger.com (Juan Cole)
According to sources, US troops boarded on two helicopters were trying to enter onto Pakistan’s areas near Angoor Adda along Pak-Afghan border when local tribes and troops of Pakistan army resisted the move and opened fire,…
www.juancole.com/2008/09/is-bush-
administration-at-war-with-its.html

Raids into Pakistan: What US authority?
By sudhan
WASHINGTON – Orders President Bush signed in July authorizing raids by special operations forces in the areas of Pakistan controlled by the Taliban and Al Qaeda and undertaking those raids without official Pakistani consent, …
sudhan.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/
raids-into-pakistan-what-us-authority/

Pakistan: An existential crisis
By johnibii
Alarm bells suddenly went off in government offices from Washington to Ottawa to London to The Hague when Pakistan’s newly minted democratic government, after almost nine years of military rule, suddenly closed the border to all NATO …
johnibiii.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/pakistan-an-existential-crisis/

US forces the terror issue with Pakistan
Asia Times Online – Kowloon,Hong Kong
Pakistan. US Predator drones and US special forces have carried out five attacks in September inside Pakistan’s tribal areas, even though Washington is well …
www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JI16Df01.html

US Congressional panel to examine supply of F-16 to Pakistan
Press Trust of India – New Delhi,India
Washington, Sept 15 (PTI) In the backdrop of an upsurge in unilateral American strikes on militants near Pakistan’s Afghan border, a US Congressional panel …
www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/2362EB4
1508807B3652574C500277B47?OpenDocument

Pakistan Surge – Three Phase Plan To Go After al Qaeda Terrorists
By national
NPR is reporting that the Bush administration has approved a three-phase plan to capture top Al Qaeda leaders and has increased military strikes inside Pakistan to achieve this target. The plan, according to the report, represents an …
www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/09/15/pakistan
-surge-three-phase-plan-to-go-after-al-qaeda-terrorists/

Quagmire, Phase 2: The Invasion of Pakistan
By sudhan
This follows a period of tension, with some armed clashes, between American and Pakistani military units, the latter defending “Pakistan’s national sovereignty.” Pakistan public opinion seems largely against“America’s war” being fought …
sudhan.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/qua
gmire-phase-2-the-invasion-of-pakistan/

A Perfect Storm Brewing in Pakistan?
By Hassan Abbas(Hassan Abbas)
Within a matter of days, events on the Afghan border seem to be creating a perfect storm of mistrust and conflict between the United States and Pakistan: The recent US heliborne attack with troops inside Pakistan’s tribal area; …
watandost.blogspot.com/2008/09/
perfect-storm-brewing-in-pakistan.html

Official: Women among 32 dead in Pakistan clashes
The Associated Press –
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Security forces backed by helicopter gunships and heavy artillery struck suspected militant hide-outs in northwest Pakistan, …
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jIE0IUn4
WIiaMBpjG8SI_6H5RXzgD93709D80

US drones bring fear and firepower to Qaeda war in Pakistan
Miranshah, Pakistan (AFP) Sept 14, 2008 – Two air-to-ground missiles ripped through the sky before smashing into the house where a Taliban leader with close links to Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was thought to be hiding. “There was a glittering flash of light and a prolonged roar,” said Hameedullah Khan, one of the first on the scene of Monday’s suspected US drone strike in the Pakistani town of Dande Darpa Khel, near the Afghan …
www.spacewar.com/reports/US_drones_bring_fear_
and_firepower_to_Qaeda_war_in_Pakistan_999.html

Pakistan Says U.S. Copters Repulsed
By REUTERS
Firing by Pakistani troops forced two U.S. military helicopters to turn back to Afghanistan after they crossed into Pakistani territory early on Monday, Pakistani security officials said.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20762.htm

Zardari is the New Musharraf
By Eric S. Margolis
The US has been in a bizarre state of semi-war against its ‘ally’ Pakistan for months, launching covert ground and air raids into its territory while claiming to be a close ally of Islamabad in the so-called war on terror. This week, it was revealed that President George Bush has given the Pentagon the green light to launch major ground attacks inside Pakistan’s tribal territory.
www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20761.htm

64 Taliban militants killed near Afghan border:
Pakistani security forces claimed to have killed 64 Taliban [Images] militants in an intensified operation in various parts of the troubled Bajaur tribal region near Afghan border, as the locals continued shifting to safer places.
ia.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/15pak.htm

Fighting in Pakistan kills 15:
Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships and fighter jets killed 15 suspected militants Monday as security forces advanced on Taliban strongholds near the Afghan border, an official said.
www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-09-15-Pakistan_N.htm

Pakistani troops fire on US soldiers near Afghan border, reports say:
According to reports, US helicopters landed on the Afghan side of the border at about midnight. As the US troops disembarked and tried to cross into Pakistan, Pakistani soldiers at a checkpoint fired into the air, forcing them to turn back.
tinyurl.com/5u8g5h

US Attacking Al-Qaida In Pakistan:
NPR’s Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman talks with host Scott Simon about how CIA officers are being pulled from around the world for this campaign.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94591136

Pakistani President, PM discuss US forces border violations:
“Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani called the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari on telephone last night in Dubai and discussed with him frequent violation of country’s air space and incursions by the US forces,” an official statement said.
www.mathaba.net/rss/?x=606116

No foreign force allowed to fight terrorism in Pakistan: Fehmida:
Acting President Dr Fehmida Mirza on Sunday reiterated the government’s policy that no foreign force would be allowed to fight the war against terrorism on Pakistani soil.
www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/Sep08/15/12.htm

Pakistan’s tribes threaten to join Taliban :
AMERICA’S cross-border raids into Pakistan have drawn fresh hostility from Pakistani tribesmen, who vowed to form an army to launch attacks on US troops in Afghanistan.
quqnoos.com/index.php?option=com_
content&task=view&id=1606&Itemid=49

US faces the F-16s it supplied Pakistan:
The United States is suddenly faced with the uncomfortable scenario of confronting the very same weapons and military hardware, including F-16 fighter jets, it has armed Pakistan with for decades.
tinyurl.com/6c8d5l

F-16 flights are just for public consumption:
Much has been made of the recent statement by General Kiyani about stopping US attacks on Pakistani territory. Yesterday it was reported PAF jets have started flights over North Waziristan suggesting Pakistan was ready to strike back at US forces. But is it really the case? If we look back at the recent F-16 deal, it appears there is no such possibility and these F-16 flights are just for public consumption.
pkpolitics.com/2008/09/15/general-kiyanis-handicap/

US Army general warns Pakistan of new war:
A new war could begin if Pakistan does not step up its fight against terrorists, Maj Gen Jeffrey J Schloesser of the US Army said in a report published in an American weekly on Sunday.
dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=
2008\09\15\story_15-9-2008_pg7_29

Quagmire, Phase 2: The Invasion of Pakistan: .
In 1970, the problem was the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Cambodia. Today it is Taliban and al-Qaida bases inside Pakistan, which the United States has been attacking from the air for some time, with controversial “collateral damage.”
tinyurl.com/6b6vk7

Raids into Pakistan: What U.S. authority?:
The evolution of operations in Pakistan from covert to overt actions is reminiscent of a trajectory followed in some aspects by the Vietnam War, some analysts note.
www.csmonitor.com/2008/0915/p02s01-uspo.html