The Taliban emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
A predominantly Pashtun movement, the Taliban came to prominence in Afghanistan in the autumn of 1994.
It is commonly believed that they first appeared in religious seminaries - mostly paid for by money from Saudi Arabia - which preached a hard line form of Sunni Islam.
The Afghan-Pakistan militant nexus
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Predominantly Pushtun? Onan knows of a poll of Taliban which reveals that they are 99% Punjabi Jat. The BBC is wrong and the Onanist polls are correct.
ReplyDeleteWell Jemmy I'm pretty sure he'll tell us.
ReplyDeleteTalib = student. Taliban = students. There were student movements in Islamic seminaries. In 1994, the ISI chose to support Mullah Omar and his group of students.
ReplyDeleteThe McChrystal report that was leak unambiguously states that parts of the Pakistani establishment continue to back the Taliban and Al Qaeda linked networks. It also states that the reason for this is regional tensions (they mean Pakistan's rivalry with India, and to a lesser extent Shiites, Iran, the Stans, and Russia.) The Taliban still pays its soldiers three times what a lion in the Afghan National Army makes. How to cut off funding for Al Qaeda linked networks and the Taliban from Saudi Arabia and UAE? Any ideas?
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style=""><span style="font-family: Calibri;">These "lions"?</span></span>
ReplyDelete<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style=""></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style=""><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Two U.S. soldiers die while on patrol in Afghanistan</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style=""><span style="font-family: Calibri;">By SABRINA TAVERNISE and RICHARD A. OPPEL JR.</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style=""><span style="font-family: Calibri;">An Afghan wearing a police uniform shot and killed two American soldiers and wounded two others during a patrol in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, Afghan officials said. The man escaped.</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style=""><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said officials were investigating whether the attacker was a police officer or a militant dressed as one.</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style=""><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the regional governor, said the soldiers had been gathered in a meeting when the shooting took place. An American military spokeswoman confirmed the American casualties.</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style=""><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The shooting occurred around midnight Friday in the district of Nerkh, a troubled area in Wardak province.</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style=""><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the account offered by Shahid, the Americans had been on a joint patrol with Afghan police in the village of Andar. They stopped in a building to discuss plans for their patrol, Shahid said. At that point, a man he identified as an Afghan police officer opened fire.</span></span>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; ">But Ezmary Bashari, the Interior Ministry spokesman, said that the identity of the man was unclear and that soldiers had been outside on patrol when the attacker struck.</span>
Qui cupit aut metuit, servus est
ReplyDeleteMILAN (Reuters) - The United States has no alternative to oil to meet its massive energy needs and should recognize its energy interdependence with the Middle East, Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki al-Faisal wrote in an article on Friday.
Mara, markets can substitute away from oil. LNG is one example. What is needed is higher market prices for oil.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite blogs:
http://i-r-squared.blogspot.com/
I comment there, like I do here.
Huge difference between ANA and ANP. Most of the ANA have recieved "NO" training and "NO" vetting. At the begining of 2008, Afghanistan only had 3,000 trained police for a country of 33 million. Cheney and Rumsfeld refused to fund or train the ANP, and placed obstacles on the path of other countries that offered to help (Iran, India and Russia.) Rumsfeld felt that the Afghans should pay for their own police. Since the Afghans had no money, the ANP got almost no funding (Germans helped a little.)
ReplyDeleteSome Taliban are untrained and unvetted police officers. It will take another two years for all existing police officers to go through a few weeks training (vetting takes place during training.)
In the specific case that Flemming mentions, my suspision is the Taliban just bought a uniform (which are widely available.)
FYI, the ANA lose more casualties than the entire international community put together. {Currently combat troops from 42 countries fight under ISAF, with many other countries contributing troops that are not under ISAF.}
ReplyDeleteANP lose three times as many dead as the ANA. The ANP are getting maulled in Wardek province. So far they haven't gotten reinforcements of any significance from the ANA or ISAF.
This is why it is unfair to blame the ANP. First pay them, buy them equipment, and <span style="text-decoration: underline;">"THEN"</span> hold them accountable.
This is why it is unfair to blame the ANP. First pay them, buy them equipment, and <span style="text-decoration: underline;">"THEN"</span> hold them accountable.
ReplyDeleteSince why is it the responsibility of the US taxpayer to fund the GD ANP? What else must we pay for? Putting their kids through school? Building their homes? Food in their mouths? ENOUGH! Afghan has had thousands of years to get its shit together - much longer than the US - and it hasnt done it. Time to cut the cord.
Why blame Afghans for foreigners (Al Qaeda linked networks) destroying their country?
ReplyDeleteAfghanistan has rarely in the last 5,000 years been independent and not part of a broader regional alliance or empire.
Afghanistan only collects $18 per person per year in tax revenue. How can they possibly run a state on that little?
America collects $15,000 per person per year in tax revenue.
It is not US taxpyer responsiblity to pay train and equip the afghans. Period.
ReplyDelete