Pakistan has handed over 240 suspected Taliban fighters to Afghan authorities this week as a hunt for the Islamist militants continues in the country's southwest, police said on Friday.Pakistani police have arrested hundreds of Taliban suspects in recent months in a series of raids in Quetta and other parts of the southwestern province of Baluchistan. Many were handed over to Afghan authorities in July but they said none appeared to be Taliban. Salman Syed, a senior police official in Quetta, said over 240 suspects handed over to the Afghan authorities this week were arrested over the past two months. "They were real Taliban fighters. They could not speak Urdu and had no knowledge where they are," he said referring to the language commonly spoken across Pakistan. ... http://abcnews.go.com censor News |
Editor - 09:04:00 11-24-06 |
US hawk judges ‘war on terror’ a mistake |
Fred Iklé, a Nixon-era arms control veteran and mentor to the current generation of nuclear “hawks”, has an apocalyptic vision of the future. However, as a contrarian who confounds his neo-conservative admirers, he is also highly critical of the Bush administration’s handling of threats to the US, and calls the “global war on terror” a serious mistake. Despite his hawkish reputation, Mr Iklé is tough on the White House, calling GWOT – the “global war on terror” – a distraction and a rallying cry that unites enemies of the US, not divides them. As for Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, his speeches warning of a generational GWOT are “defeatist and anodyne”.Rejecting calls to arms by the same neo-conservatives who advocated invading Iraq, he says a pre-emptive attack on Iran “would be a catastrophic failure”.... http://www.ft.com/cms/s/42f85512-7b23-11db-bf9b-0000779e2340.html
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Editor - 09:03:00 11-24-06 |
US involved for longer time in Iraq than in World War II |
The US involvement in Iraq will pass another sad milestone on Sunday, when it overtakes the length of America's engagement in World War II. While the two wars are far apart in character -- and in their death tolls -- the Iraq campaign has become a symbol of the pitfalls of the new style of conflict. World War II ended for Americans after 1,348 days. US soldiers facing a still largely unknown enemy in Iraq do not know when their country will leave, more than three years after the US-led invasion. American politicians have not failed to note the symbolism. "I remember the (World War II) period well," Senator John Warner, Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, who served as a sailor during the war, said at a hearing last week on Iraq. "I note that on November 26, 2006 this year, but a few days away, our involvement in Iraq will surpass the length of this historic World War II period," Warner said.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061123/pl_afp/usiraqwarwwiihistory_061123172950
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Editor - 08:56:00 11-24-06 |
Some Fighters in Iraq Adopt New Tactics to Battle U.S. |
Sunni Arab militant groups suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia have established training camps east of Baghdad that are turning out well-disciplined units willing to fight American forces in set-piece battles, American military commanders said Thursday. American soldiers fought such units in a pitched battle last week in Turki, a village 25 miles south of this Iraqi Army base in volatile Diyala Province, bordering Iran. At least 72 insurgents and two American officers were killed in more than 40 hours of fighting. American commanders said they called in 12 hours of airstrikes while soldiers shot their way through a reed-strewn network of canals in extremely close combat. Officers said that in that battle, unlike the vast majority of engagements in Diyala, insurgents stood and fought, even deploying a platoon-size unit that showed remarkable discipline. One captain said the unit was in “perfect military formation.” ... http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/sf/nyt11_24_6_1.htm
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Editor - 08:51:00 11-24-06 |
France okays firing at IAF over Lebanon |
French soldiers in Lebanon who feel threatened by aggressive Israeli overflights are permitted to shoot at IAF fighter jets, a high-ranking French military officer told The Jerusalem Post. Wednesday, several days after meeting with an IDF general in Paris to discuss what he said was a "blatant violation of the cease-fire." Last weekend, Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan, head of the IDF Planning Directorate, traveled to Paris and met with military officials to explain why the IAF flies over Lebanon despite the UN-brokered cease-fire. Nehushtan, new to his post and previously deputy commander of the air force, told his French counterparts that Israel was conducting the flights to collect intelligence on Hizbullah positions in southern Lebanon. According to the French officer, Nehushtan apologized for an incident on October 31 when an IAF fighter carried out a mock bombing run over a French UNIFIL position in southern Lebanon, almost prompting troops to fire anti-aircraft missiles. ... http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1162378461109&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
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Editor - 08:44:00 11-24-06 |
Israel rejects ceasefire proposal |
Israel has dismissed an offer by Palestinian militant groups to stop firing rockets into Israel, if Israel ends attacks on Palestinians. An Israeli government spokeswoman, Miri Eisen, said the militants had offered only a partial ceasefire. She said the offer of an end to firing rockets from Gaza showed a lack of real commitment to peace. The conditional Palestinian offer was made after a meeting on Thursday of all armed factions, including Hamas. The militant group Hamas leads the Palestinian Authority. Israel has in the past consistently rejected ceasefire offers by Palestinian militants, saying it refuses to do deals of any kind with what it describes as terrorist organisations. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6179588.stm
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Editor - 08:40:00 11-24-06 |
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