Paradise lost...

After a lengthy battle, Pakistan has agreed to allow the Taliban to introduce Sharia law, a deranged way of life backward enough to inflict punishment on rape victims, as my most last post pointed out. By all means, Pakistan is surrendering to the Taliban.

If the Pakistani Army does pull out and the Taliban moves into the once-beautiful Swat Valley, that leaves us with few options, except for maybe...



Air power of course...certainly no one deserves a missile up their ass more than a bearded scumbag who storms into a girls school with an AK-47 and burns it down, blows it up, or in some cases, throws acid on the innocent students. How sad is it to think of the young girls in Pakistan who, thanks to the Pakistani government, might lose the battle for their education.

President Obama needs to put forth a troop surge strategy in Afghanistan, but it will have to be more complex than that. Recent polls are suggesting that the people of Afghanistan are losing their trust of the United States and our NATO allies. For every girls' school the Taliban burns down in the tribal areas of Pakistan, the elected-government of Afghanistan, along with its western allies, should build 50 new ones on the Afghan-side of the border. Having their leaders picked off by CIA predator drones may be damaging to the Taliban, but the only way they will ever be finished off is if both Afghans and Pakistanis succeed in building successful democracies.

I have always defended Pakistan...there is little doubt that they have suffered far more than any other country in the region from terrorism, especially India and Afghanistan. But surrendering Swat Valley could be a mistake of historical proportions.

Fedayeen Assault

I don't want to post back-to-back depressing news stories, but I thought this was very important to mention.

Afghan police in Kabul, outside the scene of the attack

The Taliban attacked government offices in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on Wednesday using coordinated "Fedayeen" assaults, the same tactic that was used during the Mumbai attacks last November, in which some 170 people were killed by a mere 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists wielding AK-47 and a small amount of explosives. Apparently, the attackers in Kabul engaged the Afghan police in a 3-hour gun battle after taking control of a government office. Its small compared to what happened in Mumbai, but its frightening nonetheless.

I find this particularly disturbing, especially considering that we have Obama in the White House now. I've been hearing from many of my friends that Obama is going to be tough on terrorism but I just can't get rid of the doubts I have.

When homicidal maniacs hijack a religion...

Well the news that has been come out of the Muslim world these last few days has been very disturbing. In December, I wrote a post about an assassination attempt on a Pakistani government minister who was attending prayers inside of a mosque. Scores of people died in that bomb attack, and these next examples are certainly no better. One happened in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan.

Yesterday in Iraq, two disabled women were strapped up with explosives and detonated by remote control in two Baghdad markets, killing almost 100 innocent people in what was perhaps the most brutal terrorist attack in over 9 months in the Iraqi capital. The obvious question we should all be asking is 'why', but we should also be wondering why the inhuman mass murderers behind the attack weren't willing to send one of their own "martyrdom seekers" into the crowd. Perhaps it is because they are simply running out of bad guys, or maybe its because they are too afraid, or it could be because they are desperate to find a way to destroy the amazing progress that has been made in Iraq in recent months. Just the same, those who continue to suggest that the Iraq conflict is nothing more than civil war are not only wrong, they are ignorant. To say that ordinary Iraqis or Muslims would committ such an evil act is insulting to the people of that country, their culture, and their religion.

In Afghanistan, an equally horrendous act was committed when a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up inside of a mosque in the southern city of Lashkar Gah on thursday, killing the deputy governor of Helmand Province and five others in what the provincial police chief described as "totally against our religion". It follows a pattern of similar attacks in the region, including the one in Pakistan that was mentioned earlier.

These barbaric attacks are only the latest in a series of events that have been happening around the world in regards to the war on terrorism. Just look at the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the Algiers bombings, and the siege of Mogadishu in Somalia in addition to the terrorist activities that continue in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some may deny it, but all of these events are connected to the broader war on terror in some way or another.

The real threat...

There's been a lot of debate going on ever since the news was disclosed that the Government has at times listened in on phone conversations to try and identify suspected terrorists. Many questions are still being asked: is it legal? Is it constitutional? Should those involved be prosecuted? Unfortunately, those who continue to prolong this controversy seem to have forgotten just who the real villains are here. No, its not George Bush. It's not the "evil" Dick Cheney, and its not Alberto Gonzalez or anyone else in the Bush Administration. The real threat is wrecking havoc on the other side of the world in a region that has been unable to remain free of terrorism over the last six years like the US has...

On Monday, Taliban terrorists launched a coordinated assault on a five-star luxury hotel frequented by foreigners in Kabul, sending four attackers strapped with explosives and armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles into the building.

This is the AP story:

KABUL, Afghanistan — Militants with suicide vests, grenades and AK-47 rifles attacked a luxury hotel on Monday, killing at least six people in a brazen attack on Western civilians in Kabul, witnesses and a Taliban spokesman said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Norwegian foreign minister, who was not hurt, was the target of the assault, which came as the Norwegian embassy was holding a meeting at the Serena Hotel. Two State Department officials said at least one American was among the dead. A Norwegian journalist also died.

It was the deadliest assault on a hotel in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. The assailants appeared to concentrate on the hotel's gym and spa, where foreigners relax and work out.

My Opinion:

If the government has intelligence suggesting that people like this are plotting attacks in the United States or western targets abroad, I don't care if they open up an email or tap into a phone conversation to try and get more information. People have a right to privacy, but when homicidal maniacs strapped up in belts of explosives and armed with machine guns get involved, that stuff just goes out the window. Some people, primarily those on the far-left, believe that Bush is having the FBI listen in on conversations solely for the purpose of just being a jackass. That appears to be the perception among the fringe elements on the antiwar, anti-Bush movement, as ignorant and stupid as it sounds. Remember, these are people who deny that terrorism is a legitimate threat and are trying to ensure failure in Iraq for the sake of making Bush look bad.

Disturbing new tactic?

Last month, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a shooting/bomb attack in Pakistan. The killer, a gunman strapped with explosives, attacked in a manner similar to today's assault in Kabul. In 2004, terrorists in Russia used the same tactic when they stormed a school in the city of Beslan, killing nearly 400 people in one of the most horrific terror attacks since 9/11.

While the west splits itself apart over issues of less importance, like wiretapping, the real bad guys are becoming even deadlier and even more eager to bring about death, destruction, and chaos.

Taliban murders schoolchildren, assasinates members of Afghanistan's parliament

Afghanistan lost six members of its parliament today after the Taliban sent another suicide attacker into a crowd of children waiting to greet the officials at a sugar factory in the country's north. The blast caused a significant loss of life, and police are saying that some fifty people were killed, many of whom were innocent children. Because the attack was so devastating, NATO and Afghan officials say the toll could be much higher. This is just another example of how terrible these people are. How can someone actually bring themself to blow up children? The Taliban is denying responsibility for this, and its probably because they know the Afghan people will turn against them for slaughtering innocent children. It seems the homicidal maniac who strapped a bomb to himself was so determined to reach the delegation of parliamentarians that he was willing to set off his explosives in a crowd of kids to do it. This is some sick stuff and these people are pure evil. The US and our allies need to send more soldiers to Afghanistan and the government needs to recruit more soldiers to wipe these fantical terrorists out once and for all. We owe it to the people of Afghanistan so they can rebuild their country without having to worry about their kids being killed.

Vacationing in Afghanistan

This is pretty cool what these guys did. I hope I can do something like this in the future.

More bombings rock Kabul, NW Pakistan...Britney loses kids

While we argue about Iraq here at home, another bombing tore through a bus in Kabul, Afghanistan, repeating a devastating attack earlier this week, this time against police officers. Up to 13 people were reported killed. Meanwhile, a suicide bomber disguised in a woman's burqa blew himself up in NW Pakistan and killed 16. Unfortunately, these horrorific events will probably go unreported for the most part, because by far the biggest event of today was the Fact that Britney Spears lost custody of her kids.

Why?

This is what's left of a bus after a Taliban suicide bomber walked onboard early Saturday morning in Kabul, Afghanistan and blew himself up. Over 30 people, mostly soldiers wanting nothing more than to serve their country were killed in this attack. Why anyone would ever want to do this is beyond me. This certainly highlights the reality of the threat we are facing from Islamic terrorists. Not only are they looking to kill Americans, Christians, and Jews, but are willing to slaughter dozens of fellow Muslims just to grab the headlines and to spread fear throughout the region. Unfortunately, this type of violence doesn't seem to be slowing down. Everyday, bombings and killings just like this are happening in Iraq, Pakistan, Algeria, and Israel. It's time we realize that when things like this happen, it affects all of us. Even though this particular attack occurred in the streets of Kabul, that doesn't mean it couldn't happen in a western city. Just look at what happened in London back in 2005, when suicide bombers killed over fifty people in the transit systems. The world should condemn this attack and all others like it, and stand behind the developing democracy in Afghanistan, because the best way to get rid of terrorism is to put an end to it where it originates, before it has the chance to spread.