The treasure trove of 91,000 classified AfPak documents posted by WikiLeaks suggests that our government’s been deceiving us about Pakistan’s murderous behavior.
But the situation’s even worse than that: Our government’s been lying to itself.
The documents in question aren’t superclassified. They’re largely low-level field reports at the “confidential” level, bottom-rung stuff, with some secret documents mixed in. Their value lies in their unfiltered quality. This is what the guys on the ground with the guns have been seeing, hearing and sensing.
It ain’t good. Reports covering the five years from 2004 to 2009 cite routine Pakistani support for the Afghan Taliban—as the terrorists kill our troops. Pakistan’s infamous Inter Services Intelligence, or ISI, also has been working with al Qaeda, according to the reports.
That’s no surprise to Post readers, but our government is “shocked, shocked!” by the revelations. And the excuses for Pakistan’s lethal misconduct have already started flowing.
We’re told that these reports are unverified, that some can be traced back to anti-Pakistani Afghan intelligence operatives, and that American eyewitness accounts are one-offs.
Folks, I’ve done plenty of intelligence analysis, and here’s how it works: A single report of a supposed ally’s wrongdoing gets your attention, but it’s regarded as an outlier until another source confirms it. After that, you actively search for further corroboration – before you get blindsided big time. read more
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In what has been called Nato’s crucial year in Afghanistan, the sudden, unauthorised publication of thousands of revealing military and intelligence documents is just about the last thing the alliance needs.
To those of us in the media who have been following the twists and turns of the Afghan conflict, there are few great surprises contained in the 91,000 documents.
Even some of the material classified as “Secret” (the second highest classification after “Top Secret”) is not, in reality, particularly sensitive, and of course all of it is at least seven months old.
Some of the documents, while authentic as official intelligence reports, can be dismissed as clearly wrong or unfounded.
But that is not the point. Taken together, the Wikileaks documents give the general public a remarkable insight into a war that – at least up until December 2009 – now appears to have been going worse than we were told. Read More
White House: WikiLeaks reports about Afghanistan harm national security
The White House blasted the leak.
“The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organizations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security,” National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones said in a statement. “Wikileaks made no effort to contact us about these documents – the United States government learned from news organizations that these documents would be posted.” Read the rest of the story
Pentagon review of WikiLeaks documents may take weeks
The Pentagon said on Monday that its review of the leak of secret military documents on the war in Afghanistan would take “days if not weeks” and that it was too soon to assess their damage.
“We will be looking at them to try to determine the potential damage to lives of our service members and our coalition partners, whether they reveal sources and methods and any potential damage to national security,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan said.
“It will take a matter of days if not weeks, again depending on how these documents are actually made available so that they can be reviewed.” Read the rest
A charade is defined in several ways but in this case the definition is an empty act or pretense. I have some questions for our civilian and military leadership today regarding a war that is appearing more and more like an empty act that seems to be losing its character and “raison d’etre”. First the pretense that this war must continue under the current strategy and that we are achieving results when the facts appear each day to refute that. We see more casualties each day and the leadership standbys a self-destructive and self-defeating strategy of “counter-insurgency” (COIN) doctrine and nation-building. Please define for me since January 2002 what the victories are for America in Afghanistan?
The COIN principle is not based on winning; it is based on political whims and is not a true tenet of warfare. Warfare is, and always should be, about WINNING or do not go to War. Great Generals and Admirals of battles past had enough acumen and understanding of the tides of battle to change the strategies and tactics to turn the tide on the enemy. Not today!
Winning this specific war against forces impelled by Islamic ideology calls for unconventional measures and not the conventional actions followed by lengthy occupations such as we have seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such an unconventional war doctrine heavily leverages the core capability to break enemy states, target and destroy the enemy’s capability to bring harm to America”. Why do the United States and its military/political leaders and strategists still languish in failed strategies from World War II to the present?
Fact: Jihadists with small arms and IEDS in faraway places cannot harm the United States so there is no reason to order massive armies that require large and extensive bases and massive logistical support to fight them on their home turf. But that is the essence of failed “counterinsurgency” (COIN) strategies that have bewitched US military political leaders. We all want to support our senior military leaders but at some point they have to face the realities of this enemy and protect and secure our American troops before we continue sparing the lives of the Taliban and civilians with bizarre, restrictive rules of engagement (ROE).
We have been waiting for over a month now for General Petrous to do this change but as of this writing no change and more US/NATO casualties. Bombings killed five U.S. troops in southern Afghanistan on Saturday July 24th, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force reported. The military did not say precisely where the incidents occurred, but the statement said the troops died in “improvised explosive device attacks.” Four service members died in one attack and one was killed in the other. June was the deadliest month for international troops since the war began. 60 Americans were among 102 international troops slain, according to a count of military figures. This month, more than 70 international troops have died. That total includes more than 50 U.S. service members. read more
Just a reminder. A simple look at history in the Middle East. A primer to get you thinking. Please take the time to research the aspects. Stop listening to the politicians and mavens and do some homework. History is what actually took place, revisionist history is the plague of all mankind. Pay special attention please to the “Palestinian” question.
Dr. Paul Williams is the author of ten different books most of which deals with Islam. He is considered an expert in radical Islam as well as an expert on Jihadist infiltration inside the United States. We will be asking critical questions about the security of the United States as we face a growing Islamic threat inside this country.
Williams is the author of The Day of Islam: The Annihilation of America and the Western World, The Al Qaeda Connection, and other best-selling books. He is a frequent guest on such national news networks as ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, MSNBC, and NPR. Visit his website at The Last Crusade.
Listen in and feel free to call into the show, and get your questions answered by Dr. Williams.
There is a lot taking place across the globe on these two days, and many are warning us that this may be the “night the sky lights up.” Chatter on web sites across the globe from the Middle East to the USA, to the UK, and so forth are raising alarm bells.
Here are some of the highlights of what is planned and what is being said:
Birthday of the 12th Imam
The Mahdi! July 26th
al-Mahdi is “the rightly-guided one” who, according to Islamic Hadiths (traditions), will come before the end of time to make the entire world Muslim. Over the last 1400 years numerous claimants to the mantle of the Mahdi have arisen in both Shi`i and Sunni circles. Modern belief in the coming of the Mahdi has manifested most famously in the 1979 al-`Utaybi uprising of Sa`udi Arabia, and most recently in the ongoing Mahdist movements (some violent) in Iraq, as well as in the frequently-expressed public prayers of Iranian President Ahmadinezhad bidding the Mahdi to return and, in the larger Sunni Islamic world, by claims that Usamah bin Ladin might be the Mahdi.
Mid-Sha’ban is the 15th day of the Muslim month of Sha’ban. Laylatul Bara’ah is the night preceding the 15th day of Shaban.
The month of Sha’ban is the eighth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The fifteenth night of this month is known as Laylatul Bara’ah or Laylatun Nisfe min Sha’ban in the Arab world. In India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Afghanistan, etc., it is known as Shab-e-barat.
A Lebanese and Shi’ite website have quoted an unconfirmed report that Hizbullah has deployed 5,000 terrorist fighters near Israel’s northern border. Although the original report in the American-based World Tribune was based on anonymous sources, its publication in the Arab world may further escalate the tension that has resulted in Israel, Syria and Hizbullah exchanging charges of saber rattling.
Israel – Iran
…it will not be a surprise attack. In fact, regardless of when Israel attacks Iran the element of surprise does not exist. This confrontation has been discussed for several years and everybody knows about it so there will be no surprises. Israel is ready for it. Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas are ready for it. It’s just a matter of when.
July of 2010 has plenty of merit to be the month of the event. We already know that Iran has enough uranium for two nuclear bombs, it just has to be enriched to a higher grade. That right there is enough to get things started but there are other factors involved also. From Canadafresspress.com
SEOUL, South Korea—The planned U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises in the Yellow Sea have elicited harsh criticism from Beijing, which said that China can replace the United States in the operation and “take the presence of a U.S. aircraft carrier as a ‘drill target.’”
The U.S.-South Korea exercises were announced in June as a countermeasure to North Korea’s alleged sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan that killed 46 sailors in late March. China has repeatedly expressed opposition to this joint activity.
Operation Invincible Spirit will involve 8,000 US and South Korean troops, 200 aircraft and 20 ships, including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the USS George Washington.
US Military Surge in Costa Rica May Fan Regional Tensions
In a controversial decision that is likely to fan the flames of regional tensions in Latin America, Costa Rica recently granted the US permission to move 7,000 troops and 46 warships (along with their accompanying planes and helicopters) into Costa Rican waters. Officially, the act is considered to be part of the “Drug War,” which appears to be increasingly more war-like in nature due to such actions and mounting violence in Mexico and Colombia. Costa Rica’s neighbors, however, see the massive military presence as a potential base for regional strikes.
WASHINGTON (7-19-10) – Starting Aug. 1, up to 1,200 National Guard troops will deploy to the Southwest border with Mexico, the chief of the National Guard Bureau said in a joint announcement with Obama administration officials at the Pentagon here today.
“We’re very pleased to be in support of our interagency partners,” Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley said. The 1,200 troops will support Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.
Bonnie is expected to make landfall early Sunday [July 25] near the mouth of the Mississippi River with 40 mile per hour winds and a possible four-foot storm surge. The prospect of toxic oil residue surging into low-lying communities is not sitting well with Gulf Coast residents.
Along Louisiana’s coastline, parish officials are preparing residents for possible evacuation, even though oil has stopped leaking into the Gulf and hundreds of cruising skimmers could only find 50 barrels of oil to collect on Thursday. But Bonnie could give researchers insight into the extent to which kerosene dispersants have ultimately helped or hurt the Gulf oil spill relief effort.
