Part I is here, and Part II here. We are all waiting for someone, a sensible Republican or a sensible Democrat, who recognizes that the best argument for staunching the flow in Afghanistan depends on recognizing the threat of Islam. Obama put himself into a box of his own making. When he gave his Cairo […]
One photo that sums up the whole American enterprise in Afghanistan
Afghan police trainee eats lollipop, Marines search house for explosives. (Photo thanks to Marisol.)
Fitzgerald: Obama Still Locked Into Folly In Afghanistan, Part II
Part I is here. People of sense are dismayed. It is one thing to have someone in public life, anyone at all, at least present, sensibly and soberly, the facts about the ideology of Islam, and about the major theatre of the Jihad, which is not in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Pakistan, but in the […]
Fitzgerald: Obama Still Locked Into Folly In Afghanistan, Part I
I’ve been listening to various discussions, on the radio, or rather not discussions but exchanges of firmly held non-negotiable views, about Obama and his speech on Afghanistan. No one seems fully satisfied. Those who support Obama’s decision to send 30,000 more troops mostly dislike the announced pull-out of all American troops from Afghanistan after eighteen […]
Obama may allow Americans to be tried for war crimes in The Hague
Why wouldn’t the Post-American President allow this? After all, he already plans to try the CIA members who interrogated jihadis at Gitmo, and Navy Seals who captured a top jihadist. Why should he have any problem with this? “Prosecuting American ‘War Crimes’: The International Criminal Court claims jurisdiction over U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan,” by Daniel […]
Full-throttle appeasement: US offers Taliban control of five provinces in return for halt to missile attacks
Maybe Obama is hoping that those chimerical “moderate Taliban” of whom he is so fond will end up running these provinces, and give up their desire to win the rest. “Afghan Source: The U.S. Has Offered the Taliban Control in Return for Quiet,” from MEMRI, November 22 (thanks to all who sent this in): An […]
Fitzgerald: Instead Of Sending More Troops To Afghanistan, What Should Obama Do?
Obama is on the run. He has spent the past year in many separate, long trips all over the place. In Great Britain, he gave Gordon Brown some DVDs and Michele Obama in chummy fashion — nobody here but us queens — put her arm on the Queen’s shoulder. In Russia, Obama decided to hold […]
Taliban has penetrated Afghan National Police “at every level”
Big surprise here. “Afghan National Police penetrated by Taliban at ‘every level,’” by Thomas Harding and James Kirkup from the Telegraph, November 4 (thanks to Axel): The Afghan National Police have been penetrated by the Taliban “at every level” with officers poorly trained, corrupt and some addicted to drugs, a former Army officer has said. […]
Surrender: US offers Taliban 6 provinces — Taliban says no
They rejected the offer; they’d prefer to have the whole thing, thank you. “US Offers Taliban 6 Provinces for 8 Bases,” by Aamir Latif for Islam Online, November 2 (thanks to all who sent this in): ISLAMABAD – The emboldened Taliban movement in Afghanistan turned down an American offer of power-sharing in exchange for accepting […]
Afghanistan: “Rogue policemen” murder five British soldiers
The problem here is a fact that we have pointed out many, many times at Jihad Watch: there is no reliable way to distinguish jihadists from peaceful Muslims. There is no Islamic authority (with the arguable exception of the Spanish ulama) that has declared that Muslims who hold to the theology and ideology of Osama […]
European and American jihadists training in Afghanistan, Pakistan
Then they’re going home and…waiting. “Report: Western jihadists being trained in Afghanistan, Pakistan,” from DPA, November 3 (thanks to James): Paris – More and more Europeans and Americans are travelling to Afghanistan and Pakistan to be trained to carry out jihad, or Islamic armed struggle, against the West, the online edition of the French daily […]
Islamic jihadists attack UN guesthouse in Afghanistan, six dead
But the UN spokesman says that the UN will continue its good works in Afghanistan, building things for the Taliban to destroy. “Kabul Guesthouse Attack Leaves 6 Dead, Including 5 UN Employees,” by James Rupert and Gregory Viscusi for Bloomberg, October 28: Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Six international workers were killed and nine wounded when […]
“Muslims were disrespected! The foreigners shot the Koran, and then they burned it. They should be tried for this.”
Once again we see rage and fury over a rumor. “Afghans protest rumored desecration of Koran by U.S. troops,” by Laura King in the Los Angeles Times, October 25 (thanks to Pamela): Hundreds of angry protesters in Afghanistan’s capital today burned an effigy of President Obama, acting on rumors that American troops had desecrated the […]
Afghan musician hopes the Taliban will go away so he can play again
The Taliban believe music is un-Islamic. Why? Hadith Qudsi 19:5: “The Prophet said that Allah commanded him to destroy all the musical instruments, idols, crosses and all the trappings of ignorance.” The Hadith Qudsi, or holy Hadith, are those in which Muhammad transmits the words of Allah, although those words are not in the Qur’an. […]
“This war in Kunduz belongs to the narcotics mafia, which is operating in the name of Islam”
Mohammad Razaq Yaqubi said that. He must be some kind of Islamophobe. “Taliban continue to expand their reach,” by Gull Rohm Niazmand for MCT News Service, October 20 (thanks to James): KUNDUZ, Afghanistan The insignia on the door says the vehicle belongs to the provincial police. But the man behind the wheel is clearly a […]
If defeating the Taliban is not our goal, what is?
In “What Is Victory? If defeating the Taliban is not our goal, what is?” at National Review today, Andrew C. McCarthy talks sense — where there is apparently none in the Obama Administration. Rarely has there been such a dramatic disconnect between rhetoric and reality. On Afghanistan, the national-security Right talks about “victory,” concerned Democrats […]
Canadian bomb squad called out as possible Afghans leave car, attempt to enter U.S. on foot
The Ferry Point Bridge from St. Stephen, New Brunswick to Calais, Maine, was closed. “The five people who attempted to cross into the United States are not Canadians and are possibly illegal immigrants – possibly from Afghanistan.” “Possible illegal immigrants leave car, try to enter U.S. on foot, by Derwin Gowan for the Telegraph-Journal, October […]
A “growing number” of U.S. and European jihadists attending jihad camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan
“Flow of terrorist recruits increasing: Westerners attending camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan despite successful U.S. strikes,” by Craig Whitlock for the Washington Post, October 19 (thanks to all who sent this in): BERLIN — Midway through a propaganda video released last month by a group calling itself the German Taliban, a surprise guest made an […]
Obama creates task force to combat jihad recruitment in Afghan prisons — now can we have one for the U.S.?
“Task force created to combat al Qaida in Afghan prisons,” by Mark Seibel for the McClatchy Newspapers, October 5 (thanks to Paul): WASHINGTON — The Obama administration took steps Thursday toward confronting a troubling al Qaida presence in Afghanistan’s prison system, announcing the creation of a military task force to oversee detention operations there and […]
“They use the name of Islam, but it’s fake”
The Wall Street Journal is very pleased that the U.S. military is using ex-jihadists to fight against those who are still jihadists in Afghanistan. It’s all in “U.S. Teams Up With Ex-Mujahedeen” by Yochi J. Dreazen, October 10. And in the course of the article there is the obligatory denial that those who are waging […]