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Hunting for Haqqanis, US deploys troops along N Waziristan border

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  • Hunting for Haqqanis, US deploys troops along N Waziristan border

    Hunting for Haqqanis, US deploys troops along N Waziristan border
    PTI | Oct 18, 2011, 05.58AM IST
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    Read more:US troops|North Waziristan tribal region|North Atlantic Treaty Organization|Nato forces|National Security Council|HaqqanisSHARE
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    TweetISLAMABAD: The US has moved hundreds of new troops to the Afghan area bordering Pakistan's insurgentinfested North Waziristan tribal region along with heavy artillery, helicopter gunships and sealed movement on the border.

    US forces deployed to new positions in the border areas facing Ghulam Khan in Pakistan between Saturday and Sunday night. The troops occupied nearby vantage heights on hilltops, setting up observation posts, The News International said quoting Pakistani security officials and tribal elders.

    Geo television reported that tribesmen living in the border areas said Afghan and US authorities had clamped a curfew in parts of Afghanistan's eastern Khost province and started house-to-house search.

    The News reported that the abrupt deployment of US forces near the border area with Pakistan has escalated tension in the militancyplagued North Waziristan tribal region as US forces immediately sealed the main road connecting Pakistan border town of Ghulam Khan and Khost for traffic.

    Pakistani security officials in North Waziristan confirmed the latest development and said they were monitoring the situation on the border with Afghanistan, The News reported.

    There is no word from the US and NATO forces on the Pakistani media reports.

    The American troop movement has been reported as US unmanned spy planes have stepped up strikes in the Waziristan tribal belt over the past few days. Washington Post quoting US officials has said that US has opened a new more aggressive approach towards the dreaded Haqqani network.

    "The Obama administration has launched the opening salvos of a new, more aggressive approach towards an Afghan insurgent group it asserts is supported by Pakistan's government," the report said. The post quoted officials as saying that the new operation may include intensified drone strikes on Miranshah, centre of North Waziristan and was made "at a National Security Council meeting chaired by President Obama two weeks ago" .
    And so it begins... Bets on how long before the Pakistani Army shells the American positions?
    In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

    Leibniz

  • #2
    Originally posted by Parihaka View Post
    Hunting for Haqqanis, US deploys troops along N Waziristan border
    And so it begins... Bets on how long before the Pakistani Army shells the American positions?
    They would not. Lethal counter battery fire is just 50,000 feet away.

    Comment


    • #3
      Now this is going to be really interesting!
      Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie!'...till you can find a rock. ;)

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by citanon View Post
        They would not. Lethal counter battery fire is just 50,000 feet away.
        They are already doing it.

        Tensions Flare as G.I.’s Take Fire Out of Pakistan

        Another officer, who analyzed each incident, said attacks often come from positions next to Pakistani military or Frontier Corps border posts. He said there has been no sign of Pakistani units trying to stop the firing, or of willingness to help American units identify who is shooting at them.
        And their media is more quick on blaming USA; assisting cross border attacks on Pakistan.
        Link

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Parihaka View Post
          Hunting for Haqqanis, US deploys troops along N Waziristan border
          And so it begins... Bets on how long before the Pakistani Army shells the American positions?
          Depends if the Pakistanis want their military reduced to a scrap heap now or later.
          "Draft beer, not people."

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Parihaka View Post
            Hunting for Haqqanis, US deploys troops along N Waziristan border
            And so it begins... Bets on how long before the Pakistani Army shells the American positions?
            Or a drone strikes the Paks artiliary in return?
            Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Parihaka View Post
              And so it begins... Bets on how long before the Pakistani Army shells the American positions?
              Depends on what day they planned on committing mass suicide by superpower.
              "Draft beer, not people."

              Comment


              • #8
                For all his faults, Obama will go down in history as one of the most aggressive and prolific Commander in Chief in US history.

                Comment


                • #9
                  The General's Warning and US Response | SAAG | Oct 21 2011

                  Gen. Kayani had some more serious messages to the US. The main one was that the Pak army will not take action against the Haqqani network as it was too important an asset in Afghanistan. Like the US which is keeping all options with the militant forces in Afghanistan open including with the Haqqanis, Pakistan also has to do so. There may also be some truth in Pakistan's stated apprehension that making the Haqqanis enemy could increase internal terrorism in Pakistan.
                  Before leaving for Pakistan from Kabul on October 20 evening, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear that the US will target all terrorists in their safe havens including Pakistan. Following the Abbottabad Osama bin Laden operation, the US had said that if need be such operations could be repeated.

                  In Islamabad (Oct.21) addressing a joint Press Conference with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani, Hillary Clinton flatly said that for too long terrorists had been able to operate from Pakistan's soil and "you cannot keep snakes in your backyard which bite your neighbours" She could not have been more forthright publicly. Clinton was reportedly more sharp in the closed door meetings with her Pakistani interlocutors.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    We continue to provide openings for the Pakistani leadership by our incessant pleading and imploring. While Kiyani and Pasha remain largely silent publically our most senior officials can be found speaking and, even, contradicting one another-

                    "...Before stepping down as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen said the group was “a veritable arm” of Pakistan’s intelligence agency.

                    Mrs. Clinton faced skeptical questioning from the two audiences of Pakistanis she arranged to meet to make her case to the broader public here. Pressed by a Pakistani journalist, she backed away from Admiral Mullen’s assertion, saying she had “no evidence” to support it..."


                    Should the Pakistanis or I believe the U.S. government hasn't made a clear determination upon where the Pakistani government's relationship with the Haqqani network stands? It would seem so based upon the above contradiction.

                    Or, for that matter, the following-

                    "...On three occasions, she was also asked to explain the seeming contradiction in the United States’ urging Pakistan to crack down on the Haqqani network and the Taliban, while Washington was also pressing for negotiations with elements of such groups as part of a political reconciliation in Afghanistan.

                    For the first time, she acknowledged that the United States had met secretly with a Haqqani representative this summer — at the urging of the Pakistani intelligence service, an aide later said, declining to discuss it further.

                    “We had one preliminary meeting to essentially just see if they would show up for even a preliminary meeting,” Mrs. Clinton said..."


                    Clinton Widens Audience In Pakistan But Sticks To Tough Message-NYT Oct. 21, 2011

                    That's fine but do we suggest a willingness to explore talks with entities deemed uncontrollable?

                    "...You cannot let these terrorists get a foothold anywhere, because they are uncontrollable and they create consequences...”

                    Clinton Confirms U.S. Contact With Haqqani Network-WAPO Oct. 21, 2011
                    "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
                    "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      The Americans no longer seem to have a coherent policy for dealing with Af-Pak; if they did have it any point.

                      All signs seem to point to the President pulling the plug on the operation in the near future like in Iraq.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        "The Americans no longer seem to have a coherent policy for dealing with Af-Pak; if they did have it any point..."

                        Think India will shine the light?

                        "...All signs seem to point to the President pulling the plug on the operation in the near future like in Iraq."

                        Gee, which sign was that? This?

                        "Vice President Joe Biden said ...that the July 2011 troop reductions will be "more than token," adding, "We are starting it in July 2011 and we are going to be totally out of there, come hell or high water, by 2014."

                        Biden: Out of Afghanistan by 2014 "...come hell or high water"-WAPO Dec. 19, 2011

                        Anything you read since then suggest otherwise?
                        "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
                        "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Doubt India will get involved in Afghanistan; we have no land access; except maybe through Iran. And we are infidels too; the last thing we need is more reason for the terrorists to strike us; which is easier for them then trying to hit the US again. The Taliban may have learnt their lesson in that regard atleast perhaps.

                          It would have been good if the US had succeeded in making a relatively stable; non fundamentalist regime in Afghanistan; but it wont be happening. The only good thing out of all this; atleast from the Indian point of view is that the US will never trust the Pakistanis again.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            InExile Reply

                            "Doubt India will get involved in Afghanistan; we have no land access; except maybe through Iran..."

                            What sort of land access have we but through other countries?

                            "...And we are infidels too..."

                            How is that relevant when a significant portion of your own population is muslim? Further, since when would that matter to the muslims of the northern alliance?

                            "...the last thing we need is more reason for the terrorists to strike us..."

                            Do you imagine by India avoiding Afghanistan that forebearance against India will now somehow magically become part of the terrorist lexicon? Forgive me but that seems wishful thinking. Strategic depth for Pakistan means never having to worry about a western front. Conceding such to them by a taliban takeover will permit Pakistan's undivided focus upon India.

                            That's as certain as the sun rising in the east.
                            "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
                            "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              That is assuming that Afghanistan does fall to the Taliban in its entirety which is doubtful. Would the US permit that; after more than 10 years of war??

                              Even if all ground troops are removed; the Taliban can be destroyed from the air if they were to mass for an attack on major cities.

                              The more likely scenario is that of a weak Afghan government with little authority outside the larger cities; an Afghanistan which is neither a Western or Indian ally but not entirely a Pakistan allied , Taliban ruled, running large Al Qaeda terrorist camps that it was before 9/11.

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