Al Qaeda Makes Afghan Comeback

[tpsbmam]

Source: Wall St. Journal

<snip>

Over the past six to eight months, al Qaeda has begun setting up training camps, hideouts and operations bases in the remote mountains along Afghanistan's northeastern border with Pakistan, some U.S., Afghan and Taliban officials say. The stepped-up infiltration followed a U.S. pullback from large swatches of the region starting 18 months ago. The areas were deemed strategically irrelevant and left to Afghanistan's uneven security forces, and in some parts, abandoned entirely.

American commanders have argued that the U.S. military presence in the remote valleys was the main reason why locals joined the Taliban. Once American soldiers left, they predicted, the Taliban would go, too. Instead, the Taliban have stayed put, a senior U.S. military officer said, and "al Qaeda is coming back."

<snip>

Interviews with several Taliban commanders bear out that assessment. The commanders say the al Qaeda facilities in northeastern Afghanistan are tightly tied to the Afghan Taliban leadership. "In these bases, fighters from around the world get training. We are training suicide bombers, experts and guerrilla fighters," said an insurgent commander in Nuristan who goes by the nom de guerre Agha Saib and who was reached by telephone.

<snip>

Apart from al Qaeda and the Taliban, two of the most potent Pakistani militant groups have a significant presence in Kunar—Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, which orchestrated the 2008 attacks in Mumbai. There's also the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, as the Pakistan Taliban are known, and the two other main Afghan insurgent factions, the Haqqani network and Hezb-e-Islami. Rounding out the scene is a smattering of militants from Central Asia, Chechnya and beyond.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704355304576215762431072584.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

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This is why we have to cut support for home heating oil....why Medicaid & Medicare are threatened...why we "need" education cuts of many varieties....why millions of Americans will suffer cutbacks of their life-sustaining services....because we need to keep pumping money into THIS!!! And people wonder why I get furious at our government corruption & cruelty.

[xchrom]

1. Ok - grain of salt - it's WSJ - but that is some

Expensive and sad irony there.

[fascisthunter]

2. so... our Occupation there has been a failure

dumb... and morons in this country will suck it all up and claim it's why we need to stay there. Too many stupid motherfuckers in this country.

[plumbob]

3. Why should they go anywhere? We trained OBL and his group to fight

the Russians and picked the Taliban as the best anti-Communist governing body.

We created them and/or enhanced them - why should they go?

[Arctic Dave]

4. What happened to we have kicked ass and took names last month?

Blah, blah, blah. Pack up and call it a day, staying longer looks like we are deranged and can't learn a lesson.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. We need a surge

Or all those soldiers died in vain. Is that what you want???!!??? You want to cause all our soldiers to die in vain???!!??

I feel it. I feel a surge. Yeah, baby, shock & awe!

From a part of the government that does not shut down during budget crises.

:hi:

[former9thward]

6. Not only do they not shut down in budget crises

They are the ones who have caused the budget crises.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. Damn..I dropped my score cards...somebody pls. help me ......

Ok...went into Iraq because Bin Laden and a bunch of Saudia Arabians had blown up the World Trade Center
and somehow that was Saddam's fault, so we took him out and took over his country. but then
we went into Afghanistan because Bush wanted Bin Laden who apparently had traipsed over there
until Bush DIDN't want Bin Laden anymore
but we stayed there to fight the Al-Kada
until we admitted Al-Kada had moved into Pakistan so we had to first bomb then invade parts of Pakistan
( the oily parts, I remember)
THEN we stayed in Afghanistan to fight the nasty Taliban
and somewhere in there we bombed Yemen because Al-Kada was there, too
and now the Taliban AND the US people are jointly pointing to Al Quada in Afghanistan again
PLUS
Al Quada is also in Libya.

Did i get that right?