Taliban buying children to use as suicide bombers in Pakistan

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Daily News

Pakistan's top terror thug Baitullah Mehsud buys and sells children to use as suicide bombers, according to Pakistani officials.

"He has been been admitting he holds a training center for young boys, for preparing them for suicide bombing," Maj. Gen. Akhtar Abbas, spokesman for the Pakistani army, told CNN. "So he is on record saying all this, accepting these crimes."

Pakistan's military released a shocking video showing children as young as 11 training for martyrdom missions.

Mehsud is an Al Qaeda ally and is considered the mastermind of a 2007 attack that killed Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.




Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/07/07/2009-07-07_taliban_buying_children_to_use_as_suicide_bombers_in_pakistan.html

[ThirdWorldJohn]

1. Not if the USA can buy them first and train them to kill the Talibn first and stuff like that.

I dunno though. How do you counter that plan of action?

[hugo_from_TN]

2. Exactly - we're the same as the Taliban.

The US is training children for suicide bomb missions.
:eyes:

[Turbineguy]

4. Tsk, tsk....

The Taliban are heroes to some around here.

Anyway, what are you people doing not watching reruns of the MJ spectacle?

[defendandprotect]

19. Had to bail out of Olbermann's MJ marathon twice this week --!!!

[sam sarrha]

5. there is no way to counter it.. its insidiously pervasive there

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ohio2007]

11. sam . Thats the trail of tears nobody want to consider.

The Afghan situation is playing out. True, the farmers are told to grow the poppy by the taliban in order to "make a living"...or else.
The NATO "occupiers" which have seen and inventoried inside the farmers coumpound walls, the cash crop bulbs prepped and ready for Field, tell them not to plant the poppy ....but we will give you cash "not" to plant it.



And when the NATO troops leave and "crusader" cash may or may not be discovered by the returning taliban freedom fighters.
What happens to he farmer ?


?

Now the next problem is created.

when we destroy a poppy field the farmers children become sex slaves to pay off the losses.. gone forever..

Who will be left to plant and harvest poppy if the farmers are pushing up daisy's and the children are scattered like chaff in the wind ?

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cleita]

45. The Taliban are no different than our Aryan Nation church.

They are religious nuts whom extremism appeals to. Killing the men and boys after a battle has been lost and enslaving the women and children is a practice in Asia Minor that goes back to the days of the Iliad, which predates Islam or Christianity. You can't blame Islam for the origins of this practice.

[Taverner]

60. Religion is a sham, period

It can be used to build pretty buildings, slaughter entire nations, build playgrounds, commit acts of genocide, and even get everyone off (see: Bagwan Sri Rashneesh)

And it is because the premise of religion is beyond reason, that these things are so

Sure, Religion does a lot of 'good' things. So did Hitler. He created the VW and the Autobahn.

But Religion is inherently dangerous to our species. It's an Iron Age v Modern Age thing.

[InkAddict]

34. What is this "cash" you speak of?

I believe I heard something along the lines of farmers being given crocus bulbs to grow for "saffron." I guess someone wants to grow and corner a new market of flower stamens - let's hear it for "green shoots."

[ohio2007]

74. NPR radio had a story about the troops going into Hemland province

and seeing unplanted poppy inside the compound walls and farmers unsure of wht thier next move should be.

Marines Seek To Forge Bonds While Pursuing Taliban

audio and text report

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106425886






The rise and fall of the Taliban
http://www.pri.org/world/middle-east/rise-and-fall-taliban1489.html

[defendandprotect]

21. "...when we destroy a poppy field" . . . ??? Are you kidding?

The Taliban was REDUCING drug production pre our invasion . . .

Under our guidance they are reaching new peaks of production -- !!!

Did you happen to see the film here of the British Officer looking at the heroin

and commenting that . . . "Americans just love to sell drugs!"

Where do you think we're getting the money for the assassination programs in America?

[grahamhgreen]

6. Journalistic questions: From whom? (names) To whom? Where does his money come from?

And of course - why don't they take him out?

[ohio2007]

12. Keep asking questions. Maybe the NYTimes and others could fill in a few blank check answers

Its not rocket surgery. The ransom industry is big while journalists are scarce but a chosen few organizations have their connection$

[RainDog]

7. how can the world get rid of this noxious religious fundamentalism?

honestly.

they stone women in soccer stadiums as warnings to others who would teach girls to read, they send boys out as human bombs...

I cannot find their humanity.

[Cleita]

10. Instead of bombing them we need to help them build clinics and schools.

We need to help them create jobs. They will abandon these nut cases quickly enough. We need the Peace Corp there not the army.

[ohio2007]

14. You didn't learn your lesson : "No Girls Allowed In School" and the NGO built schools blow up

while clinics are not allowed to speak out about why so many girls have acid burns.

Where ya been ?

[Cleita]

22. Well, I guess your way is better. Keep bombing them. According to you

nothing is going to make a difference so let's just go along with the same old failed policies.

[ohio2007]

72. Your policy of "just close your eyes and think happy thoughts"

is a complete disconnect as to what should be done in Afghanistan.


Looks like the Taliban policy of training children to be suicide bombers is getting an "F" in what use to be a makeshift class room

Blast kills nine in Pakistan village

At least nine people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a blast at the home of a Muslim cleric in Pakistan.Dozens of houses were flattened by the blast east of the city of Multan in Punjab province.
The house was often used as a makeshift religious school and some reports said seven children were among the dead.

The blast left a crater 12 meters wide and more than 20 nearby houses collapsed.Witnesses say the ground shook like an earthquake.The cause of the explosion is unknown but police found rocket launchers at the scene and suspect there may have been an ammunition dump at the cleric's house.

Rescue teams are still digging through the rubble, searching for more victims.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/13/2624542.htm?section=justin

Impossible to assume such a connection ?
If you "think happy thoughts" will be "baby steps" in the right direction,
think again. You are dead wrong.

You should take the time to get a clue as to when the poppy harvest is due. That is if you really care to see the change.
Watch a 23 min vid ( made outside the US MSM ) and ponder on what life in Afghanistan will look like

after the harvest

Extended operation in Afghanistan?

July 2009 - almost 8 years since the war began - Taliban control around 70% of Afghanistan.

Al Jazeera's Inside Story interview (23min)

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=20a_1247600123

Not a good clear direction of what change looks like ? I think it offers a surge in the right direction because

here is a Feb 2007 video where they claimed to have 6,000 to 10,000 fighters ready for the '07 spring offensive breakout of Hemland.

Taliban Ready for Spring Offensive in Afghanistan

The Taliban movement in Afghanistan announced that it has completed preparations for what it called a spring offensive which NATO forces have warned against all along.
snip
they will attempt to seize "total control" of major cities in southern Afghanistan.

(Al-Jazeera tv, doha qatar 21 Feb. 2007)
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=29c_1172180337

Did they accomplish those goals and take 'total control' of all major cities in 2007 ?


2009;

If they are cut off from the cash crop, how many 'loyal fighters' will they have at the ready in Feb 2010 for the next spring offensive ?
Remember,
the Iranian drug routes may have been hurt with the announced hangings in that country that nobody really wants to talk about;

14 PEOPLE ARE SCHEDULED TO BE HANGED IN PUBLIC IN AN IRANIAN CITY JULY 14.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3966719

I don't think Obamas made a statement to condemn the hangings, did he ? Maybe it was a request he made to Iran in getting tough on a common enemy .

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cleita]

28. Yeah, I could, but I don't have the power to make it happen. That would

take Congress and the President of the USA. If they put together a workable program, I could do the Peace Corp thing. Why not, Jimmy Carter's mom did when she was in her seventies?

[WriteDown]

29. I think Peace Corps in Afghanistan would be a death

sentence. Especially for women. I think its hard for people to comprehend how ingrained their way of thinking is after not centuries, but millennia. Men are kings, women are property with less worth than a goat. And what's worse is both genders believe it.

[Cleita]

31. Peace Corp goes in with the mandate of the USA and the countries

involved. It will take our government and our Sec. of State, a woman, to do the ground work. Other than that, it won't be only women going in. It will be the men and women of the Peace Corp. Please don't be such a Cassandra about it. Nobody can go in on their own. It takes the nation to get behind efforts like this, but it seems to me if they can get the military in there, they can get the Peace Corp in.

[WriteDown]

33. And when things go badly?

Does the nation then start shooting people who plant roadside bombs and throw acid? Anybody group of people who go in there will need incredibly heavy security (military). Look at what's happened to some of the humanitarian workers that have already journeyed there.

[Cleita]

39. So you believe that there can be only one result and no other?

That's not saying much for the people themselves and is racist in tone IMHO. Maybe they just don't like westerners right now and particularly Americans since we have proved to be so benevolent in the past. :sarcasm: There are other organizations that can go in to make change whom we can back like the Crescent Cross that are staffed with workers from other ME nations but who are moderate, not extreme, in their views. I threw out the Peace Corp because they are from us, however, it doesn't have to be us who are the face there. We do need to stop bombing them and help bring them the basics that they need, like jobs, healthcare clinics and schools. That over time will loosen the Taliban's influence over them. It has happened in other countries successfully. It works.

[WriteDown]

42. The Taliban has never liked anybody....

This is the exact problem. People think that they can change. They are living in the 7th century and happy to do it. They don't want any outside interference, especially when it comes to their women.

What you cite has never worked in a country such as Afghanistan. Americans are ethnocentric in that they believe that everyone wants what they want.

This is how it usually goes:

Afghanistan - December 9, 2000 - Seven people working for UN mine clearance programme killed in ambush.

Kabul, Afghanistan - February 26, 2004 - Five Afghans working for the Sanayee Development Foundation were killed when their vehicle was ambushed northeast of Kabul.

Badghis province, Afghanistan - June 2, 2004 - Five staff working for Médecins Sans Frontières were killed on the road between Khairkhana and Qala i Naw, resulting in the complete withdrawal of MSF from Afghanistan. The names of the murdered staff were: Hélène de Beir, Willem Kwint, Egil Tynaes, Fasil Ahmad and Besmillah.

Logar Province, Afghanistan - August 13 - Three female International Rescue Committee (IRC) workers and their local driver were killed in an ambush as they drove back to Kabul.

[Cleita]

43. The Taliban are a very small core group of true believers. They always lose

their influence when people can turn elsewhere for their basic needs and rights. Relief workers are always aware of the fact that they are in danger when they go into areas destabilized by plagues or war. Bombing people into submission only increases the Taliban ranks.

[WriteDown]

44. If you say so...

but the Taliban came to power long before any bombing. I'm just wondering how many waves of relief workers you are willing to send in after the first couple of 1000 die. Maybe 5 or 6 thousand more? Not to mention the injuries such as the many female relief workers who will have their faces melted off.

Here's just a glimpse of the life. (They don't seem to care much about healthcare. Especially for their women)

Treatment of women
Main article: Taliban treatment of women

A member of the Taliban's religious police beating a woman in Kabul on 13 September 2001. The footage, which was filmed by RAWA, can be seen here.Women in particular were targets of the Taliban's restrictions. They were prohibited from working; from wearing clothing regarded as "stimulating and attractive," including the "Iranian chador," (viewed as insufficiently complete in its covering); from taking a taxi without a "close male relative" (mahram); washing clothes in streams; or having their measurements taken by tailors.<57>

Employment for women was restricted to the medical sector, since male medical personnel were not allowed to examine women. One result of the banning of employment of women by the Taliban was the closing down in places like Kabul of primary schools not only for girls but for boys, because almost all the teachers there were women.<58>

Women were also not permitted to attend co-educational schools; in practice, this prevented the vast majority of young women and girls in Afghanistan from receiving even a primary education.<59><60>

Women were made to wear the burqa, a traditional dress covering the entire body except for a small screen to see out of. Taliban restrictions became more severe after they took control of the capital. In February 1998, religious police forced all women off the streets of Kabul and issued new regulations ordering "householders to blacken their windows, so women would not be visible from the outside."<61> Home schools for girls, which had been allowed to continue, were forbidden.<62> In June 1998, the Taliban stopped all women from attending general hospitals,<63> leaving the use of one all-women hospital in Kabul. There were many reports of Muslim women being beaten by the Taliban for violating their version of the Sharia.

[Cleita]

47. You are mixing up the Taliban with the whole population of those places where they operate

and keep the population subjected to them. A lot of the people just submit to their rule so that they can get on with their lives. Before we invaded Afghanistan there was a documentary that showed how women had gone underground to educate the girls in homes and away from the scrutiny of the Taliban, so it seems to me that there is an underground population, maybe even a majority that doesn't agree with the Taliban but have to play nice like many Polish had to do so with the Nazis in WWII. The Burqa is a traditional dress going back probably to the bronze age that predates the Taliban, but Afghanistan women were starting to not wear it when the Taliban took over and made them wear it again. I think how they treat women in most of the ME is abusive, not just Afghanistan however until you educate their children other than at the religious madrassas, there won't be any significant change. Other Islamic countries have more enlightened views of how women should be treated, but they also are countries with secular governments. This is what our goal should be in those countries and you do it with providing them with clinics, schools and jobs.

[WriteDown]

48. Where do you get the idea that the "majority" oppose

The Taliban? And you still haven't answered how many aid workers you're willing to sacrifice since the first couple of 1000 will be killed since they'll be unarmed. The Taliban toon over in 1996 and at that point had enough followers to take the capital so we can assume they held the majority. Jews were being hidden and secretly couried around in Nazi Germany. Did the nazis just need us to show them how to build schools and clinics By the way, we are building schools, clinics, etc, right now. Their the same ones where women come to have acid thrown in their face.

Another glimpse:

Ethnic massacres and persecution
The worst attack on civilians came in summer of 1998 when the Taliban swept north from Herat to the predominantly Hazara and Uzbek city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest city in the north. Entering at 10 am on 8 August 1998, for the next two days the Taliban drove their pickup trucks "up and down the narrow streets of Mazar-i-Sharif shooting to the left and right and killing everything that moved — shop owners, cart pullers, women and children shoppers and even goats and donkeys."<69> More than 8000 noncombatants were reported killed in Mazar-i-Sharif and later in Bamiyan.<70> Contrary to the injunctions of Islam, which demands immediate burial, the Taliban forbade anyone to bury the corpses for the first six days while they rotted in the summer heat and were eaten by dogs.<71> In addition to this indiscriminate slaughter, the Taliban sought out and massacred members of the Hazara, a mostly Shia ethnic group, while in control of Mazar-i-Sharif.

While the slaughter can be attributed to several factors – ethnic difference, suspicion of Hazara loyalty to their co-religionists in Iran, fury at the loss of life suffered in an earlier unsuccessful Taliban takeover of Mazar – the belief by some Sunni Taliban that the Shia Hazaras were guilty of takfir (apostasy) may have been the principal motivation. It was expressed by Mullah Niazi, the commander of the attack and governor of Mazar after the attack, in his declaration from Mazar's central mosque:

"Last year you rebelled against us and killed us. From all your homes you shot at us. Now we are here to deal with you. The Hazaras are not Muslims and now we have to kill Hazaras. You either accept to be Muslims or leave Afghanistan. Wherever you go we will catch you. If you go up we will pull you down by your feet; if you hide below, we will pull you up by your hair."<35>

Hazara also suffered a siege by the Taliban of their Hazarajat homeland in central Afghanistan and the refusal by the Taliban to allow the UN to supply food to Hazara in the provinces of Bamiyan, Ghor, Wardak and Ghazni.<72> A month after the Mazar slaughter, Taliban broke through Hazar lines and took over Hazarajat. The number of civilians killed was not as great as in Mazar, but occurred nevertheless.<73>

During the years that followed, rapes and massacres of Hazara by Taliban forces were documented by groups such as Human Rights Watch.<74>

[Cleita]

49. I don't know what your agenda is or why you hate people who are non-Christian

but it comes through your posts very clearly. You have equated a whole demographic of enslaved people as Taliban an extremist religio/imperialist group. I'm not defending the Taliban anymore than I would our Storm Front bretheren, but I don't equate all white Protestant Americans as being like that group of White Supremacists haters of everyone not like them. They also spread their hate through churches and religion. So there seems to be no way to have a helpful and enlightening discourse with you, so I'm out of this thread. Do try to stop hating so much.

[WriteDown]

50. I think you're projecting a bit....

Its not hard to hate the Taliban. And it has nothing to do with then being Islamic. They're are about as close to evil as the nazis were though and I'm not sure how you deal with that. To portray them as a ragtag bunch when they are a significant force is dishonest as well.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

53. "but the Taliban came to power long before any bombing." You're fucking kidding right? nt

[WriteDown]

54. I wasn't aware we bombed Afghanistan in 96.

:shrug:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

55. You aren't aware of a lot of things it seems. The Taliban only came to power after

that country was decimated after years of war. There was that whole little dick waving contest between the US and USSR. Only years after the country was reduced to rubble could these assholes even get any power. Not only that, these people were not not even Afghans for the most part. Surely you are aware that with our government's and Pakistan's help Egypt along with others emptied their jails and dumped their psychos in Afghanistan to give them something to do. There is a history to this. These people did not magically take power in '96 because the population wanted them to. In fact it seems that the failed promises to rebuild the country by the US and others directly contributed to these people taking power and it wasn't without a long ass fight.

So yes when you make a simplistic statement like the one above. Don't be surprised if you get a WTF or 2. The whole point is that the Taliban thrive in war and misery. Without it they don't have much...... OK well they do have all them guns and rockets we gave 'em too I guess.

[WriteDown]

56. If you want to go into the Soviet-Afghan war than

there are a whole lot of things you need to consider. You may be able to blame the Taliban on the Soviets then. Or maybe we can even blame the Taliban on the Anglo-Afgan war. I guess you could also argue that the US is responsible for nazism due to WWI.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

57. Let me try this slower.

You sad "but the Taliban came to power long before any bombing." The only reason that these people came to power in the first place was because of a whole lot of bombing. I think by this point everyone knows that.

"You may be able to blame the Taliban on the Soviets then.". The Soviets didn't import these crazy motherfuckers into the country did they? But they have no business invading Afghanistan in the first place. So as I said US and USSR "dick waving" created the conditions for the Taliban.

"I guess you could also argue that the US is responsible for nazism due to WWI. " No that would be stupid.

I fail to see the part where you refute what I said. It's not about blame. It's called history and it does matter. At least to some of us.

[WriteDown]

58. You and I both know....

that I was speaking towards the current war.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

59. But the person you were having the exchange with was making the point that

just bombing will throw the country further into chaos. That has been the pattern. The current war would not even be happening if not for the previous one. The history is relevant. You and I both know (or I would hope) that not only did Reagan's successors completely abandon the country. Lil bush did nothing but bomb and the money for reconstruction is....... well I guess nobody knows where it is. The truth is no serious multi nation rebuilding effort has been attempted. This has to be solved in a number of fronts and going all "YEEEEHAAAA let's bomb these motherfuckers!!!" is not going to get this nation out of there.

But hey at least you didn't say Coke Zero.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

8. Can it get any worse?!?

:scared:

[ohio2007]

20. No

but the Xtian fundies will try


Dearborn Mi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPod-hxD7g&feature=player_embedded

submit, join 'the dark side' and in time, rule the world






http://www.nypost.com/seven/07052009/news/worldnews/mullah_sprung_from_gitmo_jail_now_leads__177719.htm

:sarcasm:

[Arctic Dave]

9. Breaking News: US pays teenagers to invade countries and kill their inhabitants!

Isn't sensationalism fun. You try now.

[anonymous171]

13. Teenagers? You mean legal adults? nt

[Arctic Dave]

26. Unless it's alcohol or cigerettes. I would hardly consider a teenger an adult.

[JonQ]

16. A bit of a difference between:

legal adults volunteering to serve in the military and possibly be killed

and . .

Purchasing 11 year olds for certain death.

I know you were trying to get a dig in at the US there, and it was a good attempt, really, but don't try to equate the two.

[Arctic Dave]

51. What in my statement is untrue?

You talk as if every eleven year old is being bought up by the Taliban.(I better buy one now before the prices go up)I would say very few,if any, are "bought" and it has little to do with warfare then it has to do with the social structure of the region.
As long as there has been warfare children have been involved, even for the US. Being over 18 is only a recent phenomenon.

[JonQ]

61. I would say purchasing one child

is a significant concern. How many soldiers in the US military are currently there because they were purchased, not because they volunteered? Big difference.

Also a substantial difference between 18+ and 11. 7 very important years in there.

[Arctic Dave]

63. Signing a 25,000.00 enlilistment bonus isn't purchasing?

College money isn't purchasing? Contrary to popular belief not all military people join out of the kindness of their hearts, some of them join for strickly financial purposes.

I glad to see you put "currently" in your statement. Like I said, an all volunteer military is new. The only reason we are able to do this is because of technology and large pool of population. Check our history of child soldiers, we had them in every war all the way up until after WWII.

Also, they do not just grab a kid and put him to work, they train them just like we do in our military. Why do you think we hear all these stories of the military building schools? We are building them counteract the maddrassas that train and indoctrinate the children.

[JonQ]

67. Again, you aren't getting the key facts

offering someone money in exchange for a service is not the same as buying that person from their parents (or current guardians).

Anymore than picking a job for the pay is the same as being bought as a slave.

[Arctic Dave]

68. Again, my statements were hyperbole, just like the original post.

Both are true but not really accurate of the situation.

[JonQ]

69. Noting when something occurs is not hyperbole

claiming that slavery = free choice, and 11 = 18 is hyperbole.

[ohio2007]

73. breaking news; Taliban pay parents for post birth abortions !

seven and eight year olds learning to wear "cigars" and press buttons :eyes:

thats what you call 'pro choice' ? lol

[alcibiades_mystery]

15. Takin' them right out of the Kuwait City incubators!

:eyes:

[ohio2007]

24. Ya think ?

US claims Al-Qaeda using children as Iraq suicide bombers
Sun Jan-27-08
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3158472&mesg_id=3160104

gotta be a bad photo shop job
:sarcasm:

[JonQ]

17. With any luck

this will help to alienate them from the general populace. Losing popular support would be the quickest and least costly way to get rid of these barbarians.

Silver lining and all that.

[defendandprotect]

18. This is how cheap children's lives become when the right-wing rules . . .

patriarchy/organized patriarchal religion = suicide.

[defendandprotect]

23. Did anyone ever hear Bushco or GOP talk about ending abuse of women in Afghanistan . . .?

Ending abuse of women and children . . . ???

This is patriarchy and it's underpinning . . . organized patriarchal religion.

And it's suicidal, not only for women and children but for all of us and for the planet!

[grahamhgreen]

25. Yes, and they did none of it, in fact he set up Afghanistan as an Islamic republic.

Americans are dying in order to set up an Islamic republic.

[defendandprotect]

64. Agree . . . and we gave Taliban/Al Qaeda $124 MILLION in 2001 . .

and $45 million in May alone!

US created Taliban/AlQaeda --

And drug-running is the means thru which much of the funding was accomplished --

Assassins and drug dealers are now working in conjunction with thecurrent US/CIA

military operations . . .

[Lorien]

36. I think I could have backed an invasion with that as it's goal

but no, the oil pipeline from the Caspian sea to Pakistan and India was the real prize that BushCo had it's eyes on. They've never cared about human life.

[bullwinkle428]

46. It was nothing more than "kickin' some ass in return for nahn-uh-leven"!

"And since that didn't really work out, we gotta go do the same thing to Saddam...smoke 'em out! Dead or alive!"

[western mass]

30. I hear they eat babies too!!!!

NY Daily News tol' me.

[Lorien]

37. Sorry, but the Taliban really are a despicable group

they're repugs on steroids; evidence of how extreme religious fundamentalism can make humans lose all of their humanity.

[western mass]

66. I despise the taliban too...

but I'm also willing to take "Kuwait incubator baby" stories with a grain of salt.

[pinniped]

35. Better have a US drone launch another one of those 'suspected' US missile strikes....

on some randomly chosen target in sovereign Pakistan.

See, this is where this thug, if he's real, is wrong.

He should take a lesson from the US and admit nothing. Suspected missiles fired from a drone that killed 200 civilians? Drone, I don't see any drone.


"He has been been admitting he holds a training center for young boys, for preparing them for suicide bombing," Maj. Gen. Akhtar Abbas, spokesman for the Pakistani army, told CNN. "So he is on record saying all this, accepting these crimes."


If you don't go on record saying shit, there are no admissions to be made. Perfect.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

38. i guess investing in ending poverty and increasing education is too hard

so we can bomb them some more??

[Cleita]

40. That seems to be what some here think.

Yet, some civilians have done just that in other parts of that geographic regions and have managed to diminish the influence of the Taliban and the madrassas in doing so. Imagine if there was the force of nations behind this to bring work, education and hospitals to those places.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

41. i can imagine it. that is the problem i guess. i can imagine it, but there is no political push to

do it. seems very tragic.

[JVS]

52. Here's footage of a 'recruiter' in action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvZgwtpPmLY

[BreweryYardRat]

62. I'd say go for a pincer movement.

Note: I'm a complete layman when it comes to this sort of thing. I'm just speaking from what seems to be common sense.

1: Increase the standard of living over there -- education, jobs, medical care. Stop using air-to-ground strikes, which are inaccurate and unsuitable for use against anything other than purely (purely = no civilians anywhere within a mile or two) military targets. Protect civilians from the Taliban. Doing these things ought to wreck the Taliban's efforts to recruit people outside of the core group of fanatics.

2: Ground war against that core group of fanatics. Make sure we don't inflict civilian casualties, but prosecute the assault on the fanatics as strongly as possible. Get proper intelligence, not just the word of one little tribal chieftain against another little tribal chieftain. Give captured Taliban fighters trials -- we need as much of a moral high ground as possible here.

The Bushies were concerned with making a profit, not putting down the Taliban. Which led to crap like drone strikes hitting civilians, and attacks based on faulty intelligence getting civilians killed.

We need to make it clear that the Taliban will not be allowed to continue persecuting innocent civilians, but we also need the Afghani civilians to feel that we'll protect them, not just target indiscriminately.

[BOG PERSON]

65. WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!

[Arkana]

70. This world has seen some murderous dictators and horrible regimes,

but I think the Taliban is probably worse than most if not all of them. This is horrible.

[Vidar]

71. And the Taliban does this with money from their friends, our "friends", the Saudis.