The first came on February 10 in Tehran where the 30th anniversary of the fall of the pro-USraeli Shah and his hated CIA-established SAVAK secret service that carried out torture and executions. Besides the CIA whose former head, Richard Holmes, became US ambassador to Tehran, the Shah had also depended on the advice of large numbers of Israeli MOSSAD agents in liquidating the political opposition of mostly seculars and leftists. This had left the field wide open for the religious opposition, lead by Ayatollah Khomeini. It was no wonder that one of Khomeini’s first actions was to close the US embassy and to hand the Keys of the Israeli embassy to Yasser Arafat who raised the Palestinian flags on top of the building in Tehran. Thirty years have gone and the Iranians continue to chant Death to America and Death to Israel.
The second is the anniversary of February 15, 1979, when the CIA-financed and trained Afghan Mujahidyeen to toppled the secular government of Dr Najeebullah, forced the Russians to retreat and the former USSR to collapse. Following that, the CIA continued to support successive governments of religious fundamentalists; that ended with the establishment of the Taleban regime supported by Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda men.
This honeymoon with the Taleban ended on November 7, 2001 when America decided to topple the regime of Mullah Omar after failing to hand in Bin Laden following the attack of 9/11. With the help of the CIA, Bin Laden can easily claim credit for the dismantlement of the USSR and for bankrupting America.
Due to US short-sighted foreign policy, the lack of appropriate tactics and clear strategies, and the unlimited support for Israeli Nazi-style atrocities against Arabs have put the Americans in conflict with Shiat and Sunni Muslims throughout the world.
Many cruel empire had sent their soldiers to occupy our lands; including the Romans, Alexander the Great, the Moghuls, the Ottomans and the American Barbarians. Our rivers continued to flow and our date palm trees remained lush producing sweet dates. Alexander the Great died in Mesopotamia. The Moghuls became Muslims and the Americans continue to die until they call it a day. Here is somrthing for you:
In America one shouldn't ask
Who robbed the bank?
or why Linda and Jack
are dying on the Tigris bank?
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
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No secret talks with U.S.-senior Taliban commander
19 Dec 2011 15:03
Source: Reuters // Reuters
(Adds quote, details)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Dec 19 (Reuters) - A senior Afghan Taliban commander on Monday denied that the group held secret talks with U.S. officials which had reached a turning point.
"How can talks be at a critical point when they have not even started," the commander told Reuters by telephone in response to comments by U.S. officials who say talks have been taking place for 10 months and had reached a turning point.
Senior U.S. officials say they will soon know whether a breakthrough is possible, leading to peace talks whose ultimate goal is to end the Afghan war.
As part of the accelerating, high-stakes diplomacy, Reuters has learned, the United States is considering the transfer of an unspecified number of Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay military prison into Afghan government custody.
The Taliban have publicly maintained they will not enter into any negotiations while foreign troops are in Afghanistan, so even if they are participating, they might be reluctant to admit that.
Commanders might also worry about morale among fighters on the ground, if their believed their leaders were in talks.
"Our position on talks remains the same. All occupying forces have to leave Afghanistan. Then we can talk," said the commander from an undisclosed location.
There is a precedent for the Taliban to respond to events based on political motives rather than their actual role.
Recently, a spokesman for the group initially claimed and later denied responsibility for the September assassination of peace envoy and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani. (Reporting by Jibran Ahmad; Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)
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Memogate case: SC admits Husain Haqqani's plea 12:00 PM PST
Twilight of the Taliban : TTP buckles under internal fissures, external pressure
By Zia Khan
Published: December 19, 2011
With chain of commands crumbling and funds dwindling, the militia appears to be in disarray. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The twilight of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – an outlawed umbrella of militant groups – appears to have set in.
The group responsible for most violence in the country is in disarray with its ‘chain of command’ crumbling, funds dwindling and infighting intensifying, admit Taliban foot soldiers.
“It appears the TTP’s days are numbered … what was a well-coordinated militia just a year ago has fragmented now and dozens of splinters groups have emerged,” a disgruntled member of the network told The Express Tribune.
At least two associates of the group in South Waziristan, the strongest bastion of TTP where its chief Hakimullah Mehsud is hiding, also confirmed this.
They said Mehsud has further isolated himself due to threats to his life from the dreaded American drones and Pakistani spy agencies.
“He is virtually a lonely man running for his life … he is always on the move and doesn’t meet even his once most-trusted lieutenants,” said Muhammad, a nom de guerre because the militants seldom use their real names.
Muhammad, who lives in the North Waziristan tribal region, was in Islamabad for the treatment of some kidney ailment at a private clinic. Mehsud has stopped meeting members of his notorious network from Punjab, better known as Punjabi Taliban, suspecting that some of them might be spying on him for Pakistani agencies.
“This is one of the reasons for relative peace in the country … there is no coordination among various groups of the Taliban,” said an intelligence official. There has been a visible decline in the Taliban violence in the country over the past few months.
The TTP associates said that their group was crumbling due to differences on the question of pursuing peace talks with the government — an option Mehsud had rejected outright when he was first approached with the offer.
One the other hand, several key TTP leaders have responded positively to peace overtures from the Pakistani agencies. TTP’s deputy chief in South Waziristan Mufti Waliur Rehman and the group’s No 2, Maulvi Faqir Muhammad from Bajaur Agency, are reportedly in talks with the government, indirectly though. Officially, both the government and the TTP deny peace talks.
Muhammad claimed that several members of the TTP shura, or decision-making council, have also showed willingness for talks. He added that the shura, which once had around three dozen senior leaders, has now shrunk to less than 10.
“People are now deserting Mehsud and joining the group led by Waliur Rehman,” he said, adding that the latter’s group is becoming more powerful.
No more money
Apart from differences within, supply of foot soldiers to the TTP is also drying up fast, said Muhammad who himself has given up violence to start a small business in his village.
“They (foot soldiers) are deserting because it no longer earns them money,” said Raqeebullah Mehsud, a former TTP field commander.
Intelligence officials are claiming the credit for the TTP’s imminent collapse, saying it was their squeeze that had played a key role in blocking funds supply to the Taliban. But experts like Brigadier (Retd) Muhammad Saad believe that TTP’s inability to generate money might be the result of what has been happening behind closed doors in Afghanistan in the recent past.
“There have been reports that the Afghan Taliban are actively engaged in peace talks,” he added.
Saad said that the war in Afghanistan was the main source of funds for the TTP “but it may not be the case anymore”.
But Brigadier (Retd) Mehmood Shah, another security analyst based in Peshawar, said it won’t be fair to deny the Pakistani agencies credit for the isolation and subsequent rupture in the ranks of the TTP.
“Much of this happened due to their (Pakistani agencies) maneuvers,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2011.
Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of the story mentioned Baitullah Mehsud as the current TTP chief. The current chief is Hakimullah Mehsud.
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