[gollum]

http://www.longwarjournal.org

It seems that all out drone assaults are being launched against al Qaeda and Taliban command and training in the Pak tribal regions.

It could be the end game before a truce is reached or something far more ominous.

And here's another question.. is it morally acceptable to wipe out innocent villagers with robotic drones just to get the few last Taliban? What if we found some Taliban in Canada, would it be okay to strafe Ottawa with drones?

We should strafe Ottawa even if there aren't any Taliban.

But seriously, the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is virtually non-existent. The central government of Pakistan has little to no control over this border region. If the Taliban does not respect the borders, why should we?

.

We should respect the border because our fuel comes over their roads, and they have 200 nuclear weapons. We have no choice.

[Cid_Yama]

Using the excuse of paperwork tampering, Pakistan closes the other NATO supply route to Afghanistan.

This interference with supplies crossing at Chaman is significant, because it is one of the two main crossings into Afghanistan and is the only one open since Pakistan closed the northern Torkham crossing. A delay based on "paperwork" appears to be a warning that Pakistan is considering closure of Chaman. Also note from the map at the bottom of this BBC story on today’s tanker attacks that the Chaman crossing is close to Kandahar, where a major NATO offensive is underway. Should Pakistan completely close this crossing as well, NATO logistics will be affected at least for the short term.

link

Pakistan knows they have us in a testicular clamp and are applying pressure. They have demanded all violations of their border cease, as today, yet again we launched drone attacks inside Pakistan.

[efarmer]

Well since I am almost completely cured of being coy. Here is my opinion.

bin Laden was allowed to escape to justify occupation of Afghanistan, Iraq was invaded for the huge amount of oil it possesses as well as for the ability to disrupt oil flow from Saudi Arabia and our lightning rod ally Israel, but it was a double dipper, it was the opposite site of Iran from our occupied position in Afghanistan. This was done to allow invasion of Iran by the Neocons from mulitple simultaneous directions. The land locked nature of Afghanistan required the temporary use of Pakistan as a supply route to the sea, before the route through occupied Iran was available. We stalled and hunkered down in both Iraq and Afghanistan and have defaulted to depend on Pakistan.

I think history will show that the American Neocon assault stalled with troops bogged down in the occupied nation to either side of our target, Iran.

I also don't put it past the Neocon residue in the Republican party and their willing military industrial colleagues to give it one last college try.

[careinke]

Well since I am almost completely cured of being coy. Here is my opinion.

bin Laden was allowed to escape to justify occupation of Afghanistan, Iraq was invaded for the huge amount of oil it possesses as well as for the ability to disrupt oil flow from Saudi Arabia and our lightning rod ally Israel, but it was a double dipper, it was the opposite site of Iran from our occupied position in Afghanistan. This was done to allow invasion of Iran by the Neocons from mulitple simultaneous directions. The land locked nature of Afghanistan required the temporary use of Pakistan as a supply route to the sea, before the route through occupied Iran was available. We stalled and hunkered down in both Iraq and Afghanistan and have defaulted to depend on Pakistan.

I think history will show that the American Neocon assault stalled with troops bogged down in the occupied nation to either side of our target, Iran.

I also don't put it past the Neocon residue in the Republican party and their willing military industrial colleagues to give it one last college try.

And we are still there 4 years after the Dems took over the house and Senate, and two years after they got the executive branch because.....????????

[Sixstrings]

Pakistan knows they have us in a testicular clamp and are applying pressure. They have demanded all violations of their border cease, as today, yet again we launched drone attacks inside Pakistan.

So when do we get to set the drones loose on Ottawa? Those Canadians hate us because we're free, time to do something about it.

[Serial_Worrier]

Obama is a warmongering neocon.

[efarmer]

Because there aren't any American politicians brave enough leave and own "losing" a war.

[careinke]

Because there aren't any American politicians brave enough leave and own "losing" a war.

Ron Paul

[efarmer]

Ron Paul just might if in position.

[saima122]

GOd Help Us plz

Pakistan Suppliers

[americandream]

GOd Help Us plz

Pakistan Suppliers

???????

[Cid_Yama]

Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Pakistan?

Demand #1 would be a do-over of the recent parliamentary elections, which were widely (and accurately) viewed as rigged. Given that the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest political coalition in Egypt, by far, free elections would likely produce a "difficult" result for US policy-makers.

The "situations" in Yemen and Egypt are unfolding amidst wider regional turmoil. Lebanon has gone from the Cedar Revolution to the installation of a Hezbollah-backed regime; the prime minister ceding power to the organization that stands accused of murdering his father. Lebanon will now align more closely with Iran, which continues to move forward with a nuclear weapons development program that many analysts believe is the single most de-stabilizing initiative in the region.

Should Iran succeed in their development of nuclear warheads, then a number of other countries in the region will argue that they have no choice but to do the same. As the Saudis paid for the development of Pakistan's nuclear capability, they would almost certainly demand immediate repayment (in the form of a weapon) and "go nuclear" shortly after Iran does. Egypt would likely follow. Etcetera.

Which leads to the the question that keeps US policy-makers bug-eyed at two in the morning: What impact will all these televised images of mass demonstrations and overturned governments have on the people of Pakistan?

Anti-American sentiment in Pakistan is dry kindling, to say the least. Drop a match on it and it could quickly become a conflagration. Today in Lahore, a US consulate official was taken into custody for killing two Pakistanis (in self defense, he said, which is almost certainly true). But it doesn't matter what's true. The larger truth is that the same roiling political discontent that is "live" on television in Tunisia and Egypt is percolating across Pakistan. If it were to go "live" in a fit of anti-American rage and lead to the collapse of the Pakistani government, an existing and operational nuclear weapons program would be in play.

link

[scas]

I guess the silver lining here is that their missiles aren't intercontinental.

[nobodypanic]

if this thing jumps to pakistan we (the US) are in deep shit. never-mind loose nukes, the immediate problem is that our supply lines to afghanistan will be cut and our occupation will become utterly untenable. the specter of stalingrad comes to mind. i hope the pentagon has a working contingency plan in place to relieve our forces.

[bratticus]

Power pylons, gas pipeline blown up in Balochistan By Mohammad Zafar / Daily Times / February 19, 2011
... According to official sources, unidentified terrorists planted explosive materials on two power pylons near Bakhtiarabad in the Sibi district, which exploded with a huge blast. The Quetta-Sibi and Uch transmission lines were affected.

The blast caused a shortfall of 250MW and affected 15 districts, sources at the National Transmission Dispatch Company (NTDC) told Daily Times, adding that the total shortfall had reached 800MW in the province.

... Separately, unidentified terrorists blew up a gas pipeline measuring 18-inches in diameter in the Loti area of Sui in Dera Bugti. The gas supply to the Loti Gas Field was disrupted due to the blast. Terrorists have intensified their attacks on government installations in this month, and have blown up more than 12 gas pipelines and 8 power pylons of high transmission lines. ...

[bratticus]

Power shortfall further surges to 1,410MW
Daily Times / Feb 20, 2011

ISlamabad: The power shortfall Saturday further surged to 1,410MW from 1,385MW, compelling Pakistan Electric Supply Company (PEPCO) to resort to load shedding of three to four hours load shedding in various parts of the country including twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. According to the brief on daily power generation and load-management position, the electricity generation was recorded as 10,006MW against the total demand of 11,476MW during the last 24 hours. The hydel generation stood at 3,785MW, WAPDA thermal 1,526MW, IPPs 4,693MW and Renal 62MW, the report further said. As many as 670MW was supplied to Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC).

[bratticus]

"Furnace oil" is another term for "diesel" which is what backup electrical generators commonly run on.

Gilani to intervene in energy crisis
By Mobin Nasir / The Express Tribune / February 18, 2011

... Earlier on Thursday, PSO had discontinued supplies of furnace oil to the country’s largest power generation companies including the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco), the Hub Power Company (Hubco) and Kot Addu Power Company (Kapco) on grounds that these companies’ outstanding dues to PSO had reached a critical level.

By Thursday evening, however, the power ministry’s efforts resulted in a resumption of fuel supplies to Pepco, the government-owned power generation company.

PSO has been supplying about 23,000 tons of furnace oil to the power companies and an interruption would severely hamper their ability to provide electricity to the national grid. But PSO insists that the outstanding amounts have gone beyond the company’s ability to continue financing indefinitely.

“Power generation companies now owe PSO over Rs158.65 billion,” said the company spokesperson adding that the company has not received any payments from them since January 7. ...

[bratticus]

Pakistan’s LNG import project delayed further
PRLog (Press Release) – Feb 18, 2011

As a result, official estimates suggest, the country will be paying an additional amount of about $2 billion in two years for importing furnace oil to meet electricity needs.

... [A petroleum ministry official] said the government had already lost about a year and re-bidding could delay the project for another year. In that case, the country would have to continue importing furnace oil ["diesel"] to keep power plants running which would cost about $1 billion a year higher than LNG.

According to government’s estimates, gas shortfall is expected to double to over 2.5 billion cubic feet per day this winter. Officials said that it was unclear if the country would be able to secure LNG supplies from Qatar or the international market in case of re-bidding. ...

[Sixstrings]

US Drone Strike Kills 15 Militants, Says Pakistan

Pakistani intelligence officials say a U.S. missile attack close to the Afghan border has killed at least 15 people.
Friday's drone attack was the first reported strike since Monday's pre-dawn U.S. commando raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Authorities say the attack targeted a compound in North Waziristan, a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaida militants on the border with Afghanistan.

U.S. drone strikes against militants based in Pakistan's tribal belt have been a source of friction between the two countries and Friday's strike could further inflame tensions between Islamabad and Washington.

Anti-US protests

And, with anti-U.S. protests taking across the country on Friday, security has been tightened further to quell any potential violence.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/south/Pakistan-Says-US-Drone-Strike-Killed-8-Militants-121378019.html

And drones killed two terrorists in Yemen:

U.S. drone strike in Yemen is first since 2002

SANAA, Yemen — The U.S. military used a drone to strike Thursday at an al-Qaeda target in Yemen, the first such U.S. attack using unmanned aircraft in that country since 2002, according to U.S. and Yemeni officials.

Two al-Qaeda operatives were killed in the attack in the remote, mountainous Yemeni governorate of Shabwa early Thursday, a Yemeni security official said.

Drones operated by the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command were redeployed in Yemen last year as part of a secret U.S. effort to reinvigorate the hunt for al-Qaeda operatives in the country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/yemeni_official_us_drone_strike_kills_2_al_qaeda_operatives/2011/05/05/AF7HrzxF_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage

Something I wonder about.. will there ever come a day when we've killed the last terrorist, the last Taliban? I don't think so.. I'm glad they're taking these guys out but don't we also have to worry about creating a new generation of America haters? Is this war really going to go on for the rest of our lives and on into the next generation?

Militarily, this amounts to guerilla warfare.. ultimately you can't win a war this way since the enemy breeds more than you can kill. But neither can we afford / have enough troops to truly clean up places like Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan (which has a humongous population). Tough situation we're in, we have to keep up the fight but how do you ever win a war this way.

[Plantagenet]

I don't mind the drone strikes. The US is still at war with Al Qaida---a war Al Qaida declared and started. If the US knows where an al Qaida leader is then a drone strike is a cheap and effective way to take him out.

What I don't get is why we have 130,000 US troops fighting in Afghanistan and why we are simultaneously bombing Liya, and why we still have troops in Iraq---all places where there isn't much of an al Qaida presence now.