MetaFilter posts tagged with taliban and war

Ending Chaos in Afghanistan and Pakistan

homunculus — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:09:19 -0800

From Great Game to Grand Bargain. "The crisis in Afghanistan and Pakistan is beyond the point where more troops will help. U.S. strategy must be to seek compromise with insurgents while addressing regional rivalries and insecurities." A new piece in Foreign Affairs by Barnett R. Rubin and Ahmed Rashid. [Via]

Afghanistan

homunculus — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:32:08 -0800

Return to the Valley of Death. In this Vanity Fair article, Sebastian Junger describes life with the men of Battle Company at their Korengal Valley outpost in Afghanistan. In Rolling Stone, Nir Rosen describes his journey into Taliban-controlled Afghanistan: How We Lost the War We Won.

Talibanistan

homunculus — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:45:22 -0800

Right at the Edge. "The Taliban and Al Qaeda have established a haven in Pakistan’s tribal areas along the Afghan border. This is where the war on terror wil be fought – and possibly lost."

Pakistan’s Phantom Border

homunculus — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:55:10 -0800

Pakistan’s Phantom Border. "Pakistan is often called the most dangerous country on earth. Increasingly, its people would agree. Despite nearly $6 billion in U.S. military aid for the border region since 9/11, the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and homegrown terrorist groups have eroded the border with Afghanistan, inflicting a steady toll of suicide bombings. Going where few Westerners dare—from Taliban strongholds to undercover-police headquarters—the author sees what’s tearing the country apart."

Afghanistan on the brink

homunculus — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:31:09 -0800

Stumbling into chaos: Afghanistan on the brink. A report from the Senlis Council think tank claims that the Taliban has a permanent presence in more than half of Afghan territory and the country is in serious danger of falling back into their hands. The Canadian and British governments disagree.

NSFNFH (not safe for NewsFilter haters)

Ignatius J. Reilly — Mon, 28 Apr 2003 18:29:06 -0800

Mike Hawash Charged with conspiracy to levy war against the United States, conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda and conspiracy to contribute services to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Heavy. 5 days ago, a now near-famous letter was removed from a website that had recently been trumpeting his cause. Today, the Feds allege terrorism. -- Of note: the frequent allusion to "secrecy" and "secret warrants". Is this ammo for the pro-PATRIOT crowd? Any changing opinions on Mefi?

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 18 Aug 2002 16:01:31 -0800

Dasht-e-Leili. Is it a remote desert site where the Taliban buried their massacre victims? Or is it where the United States' allies buried theirs? Or is no one to blame?

Gilbert — Sun, 18 Aug 2002 11:25:06 -0800

Northern Alliance commander asphyxiated "hundreds" of surrendered Taliban in shipping containers "The benefit in fighting a proxy-style war in Afghanistan was victory on the cheap—cheap, at any rate, in American blood. The cost, NEWSWEEK’s investigation has established, is that American forces were working intimately with “allies” who committed what could well qualify as war crimes." (via drudge)

crasspastor — Mon, 06 May 2002 16:21:02 -0800

Operation Snipe: To rescue 76 US hostages? "Joined by the US and Canadian troops, more than 2000 British-led Special Commando forces under "Operation Snipe" are gearing up efforts to launch a major attack to rescue around 76 soldiers who were arrested by the Taliban and Al Qaida forces during the battle in the snow covered Arma Peaks of Paktia Province in March this year, highly credible sources have confided to PNS."

Fat Buddha — Sat, 02 Mar 2002 14:25:33 -0800

They just wont let it lie. What posses these people to keep fighting against overwhelming odds.I can see what they are against but for the life of me I cannot see what they are for.Couple of points near the bottom of the piece are interesting.IHave I been asleep or has the killing of innocents on 23 January been underreported.Does the fact that small raids have led to arrest interrogation and subsequent release answer my own question? I am perplexed,are there any good guys?

manero — Fri, 25 Jan 2002 15:57:51 -0800

Captures from a video of an attack on a Taliban BMP. All I have to say is "holy crap." Graphic. Interesting. Discuss amongst yourselves.

insomnyuk — Thu, 24 Jan 2002 19:43:15 -0800

Taleban faction ditches Kandahar, reneges on surrender agreement. My only question is, why were these people not disarmed, or was this some sort of "Munich Pact" surrender agreement?

bas67 — Tue, 08 Jan 2002 20:59:17 -0800

Finally, finally, finally!! Someone in the mainstream media is finally asking some questions. Lots of people (here and abroad) have known about this book for some time. I think it deserves some checking into.

blackholebrain — Wed, 28 Nov 2001 08:55:49 -0800

Bombing the Taleban prisoners
"There are hundreds of bodies in there - bodies and bits of bodies, all over the place."

The crush of the Taleban prisoner revolt at the Qala-e-Jhangi fort has Amnesty International asking what happened there... I'd like to know, too. (More here and here and here.)

raysmj — Tue, 27 Nov 2001 23:53:04 -0800

What's up with this Iraq stuff? No more formal way of putting it, sorry. Can anyone say what the hell is going on here, exactly, when bin Laden hasn't even be found and the Taliban is still putting up a fight? Is Bush, in saying Saddam will "find out" how the U.S. will respond to its refusal to allow inspections (again), just throwing a small bone to the hard right? Is the national press on too much of an adrenaline rush, or bored with Afganistan already? Or are the Dr. Strangelove wannabes talked about here really taking over?

semmi — Fri, 23 Nov 2001 10:53:23 -0800

What's going on? "A senior Taliban official in Kunduz, whose identity was not revealed, told Northern Alliance officials here in a radio conversation that a Pakistani Air Force plane had landed in Kunduz Tuesday and ferried away several Pakistani and Arab fighters. The Taliban official said the plane was the third to land in the city in recent days." (NYT)

Davezilla — Thu, 15 Nov 2001 03:41:47 -0800

The Taliban withdrawal is a strategic move, not a sign of retreat. By strategically handing over key Afghan cities to the Northern Alliance before melting into the mountainsides, the Taliban tossed political hand grenades at the United States. On the surface, it appears the Taliban were dealt a crushing defeat. Thousands of Taliban fighters switched sides or were captured during the Northern Alliance’s advance, and the remainder melted into the hills having put up almost no fight. However, the Taliban withdrawal was far from a rout. Rather, it reflects abandonment of a strategy that could have led to their destruction, in preparation for a more traditional and effective strategy for combat in Afghanistan — guerrilla warfare.

Oxydude — Wed, 14 Nov 2001 07:35:19 -0800

Taliban Withdrawal Was Strategy, Not Rout

rabbit — Fri, 09 Nov 2001 15:37:12 -0800

Finally, good news in the war in Afghanistan. The Northern Alliance has captured the city of Mazar-e sharif. "Afghan rebel commanders proclaimed tonight they have captured the provincial capital of Mazar-e Sharif and have routed its Taliban defenders."

Northern Alliance forces entered the city quickly after winning a fierce battle at a bakery(!?) between the two airports that had served as an alliance base until the Taliban took the city three years ago.

Oxydude — Thu, 25 Oct 2001 19:01:31 -0800

Afghan People Agree With Retaliation Against Taliban "Most Afghans support the bombardment of Afghanistan by allies because they hope that it will end the Taliban regime."

eljuanbobo — Fri, 12 Oct 2001 21:07:21 -0800

bomb them with porn The search didn't turn this up, so here it goes: High brow (hack. cough.) humor at it's finest:

These 'bombs' are made up of the Western civilization's best skin and muff shots ever put into print. Imagine millions of pages of XXX porn carpeting the rugged Afghan terrain. You've seen what the women over there are forced to wear. When the Taliban forces get to see what they are missing, they will be too distracted to fight. They won't be polishing their rifles, they will be too busy polishing something else.

It's the porn bomb. Spread the love. Pass the Playboy.

donkeyschlong — Wed, 03 Oct 2001 17:49:58 -0800

Biden to propose reconstruction if Afghanistan attacked. Sounds good to me.

ryanshepard — Mon, 17 Sep 2001 17:26:37 -0800

Troops Massing on Afghanistan/Pakistan Border: 20,000+ Taliban troops and an unreported number of Pakistani reinforcements have been deployed in anticipation of a Pakistan-based U.S. strike.

MattD — Tue, 11 Sep 2001 18:49:16 -0800

Paratroopers? Or cruise missiles? What will America's military response be if the Taliban are determined to be liable? The Russians certainly didn't too well with a conventional military attack on Afghanistan.