USA's New Afghan Strategy

Masadi sahib,

by your standards the US and the Nazis were sharing one bed.

Wrong on two counts.

1. USA and Germany didnt participate in carving out sovereign nations nor did they sign a non-aggression pact.
2. USA was providing financial (and possibly military) aid to UK long before it actually entered the war against Germany.

Regards

Some Interesting Numbers(With help)
After reading these article, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/26/AR2009032602135. html and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/01/AR2009040102652. html
I thought I should find out how many troops US, NATO, and Afghan have on the ground in Afghanistan. Here are the numbers:
NATO - ISAF: 51,350[2]
* Flag of the United States US: 19,950
* Flag of the United Kingdom UK: 8,745
* Flag of Germany Germany: 3,600
* Flag of France France: 3,300[3]
* Flag of Canada Canada: 2,830
* other countries: 20,120
(Dec. 1, 2008)
Flag of Afghanistan Afghan National Army: 50,000[4]
Flag of the United States US non-ISAF troops: 28,300[5][6] (Dec. 1, 2008)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Afghanistan_(2001%E2%80%93present)
W ith 21000 more the Strength of the US army would go to 60K. So we are talking abt 150K US, NATO and Afghan forces and how many Taliban and their supporters are there:

Taliban: 7,000-10,000[7]
al-Qaeda: 1,200-2,500
Haqqani militia: 1,000[8]
Hezbi Islami: 1,000[8]
IMU: 5,000-10,000[9]
Mehsud militia: 30,000[10] Mainly in FATA
Casualties
21,218–21,628 killed per these reports
1,000+ captured[20]
So: NATO+US+Afghan etc. have around 130,000(plus the new 21k committed by Obama) troops including 50,000 from the Afghanistan Army.

The resistance has around 40,000 troops.
The resistance has so far lost around 22,000 troops.
So the 150K plus army hasn’t got the strength to beat the 18K odd in the last Eight yrs? True, the guerrilla wars need more regular army but the Taliban are not your regular guerrillas like the Vietnamese were. The Taliban are still a ragtag bunch with no central command.

Now the question is: would the western armies that are unable to defeat 18k ragtag fighters face another 30K Mehsud fighters in FATA.?

Sound like Obama is playing a different game.

Re: # 224
Madani Sahib,
Over 75% of Afghan territory is controlled by the Taliban and they are tightening their noose on Kabul, according to media reports in major US publications. Given this situation, I have serious doubts about the validity of any polls in Afghanistan. It is inconceivable that the poll takers would risk their life and limb to go poll the vast majority of Afghans who do not live Kabul, where there is relative safety due to heavy presence of security forces.
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Re: # 223 Arjun that type of poll has no meaning for me.
If you ask prejudiced person and he gives opinion an uninformed opinion is worthless. The western mind is contaminated with contempt.
Opinion of 1000 stupid people is more correct than wiseman ?
This is reason most do not give damn to democracy of stupid people like India.
Arjun why you call as poll which is really BRAINWASHED PREJUDICED POLL.
good day

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Re: # 219
ahmed...
so, you want UN security council members will outsource the job of punishing muslas into the hand of musla armies...Isn't Paki example bad enough (billions of US$s paid to Paki army to be siphoned off to the ISI and militants).....

Re: # 214
Riaz...
Oh realy!!! that too we have to learn this from a Paki beduinoid/musla!!!! Phooooooos...........stretching tooooooo far....

One may like or not like Professors Riaz Haq but his blog is worth visiting. There is lots of heavily compressed information. Information is not wisdom or knowledge true but still Information is information to learn.
Good job done by Professor Riaz Haq.
Good day.

Re: # 218 If strong muslim force under Muslim Commander from Arab cuntry who is noninvolved in Pakistan/Afghan affairs will bring peace. African , Bengaladisi, north African is made then it will much cheaper to usa and war will start winding up. Tribal area leaders probably will cooperate with such neutral muslinm force who have come to help in spirit of Muslim Ummah devoid of western soldiers and commanders will add to stability. Terror groups will last support whic they have now. If America wants they can give salaries of Muslim soldiers. Some thing needs to be done or like Cancer this too extreme type people spread all over country.This internal muslim problem incresed due to direct american soldiers landing in Muslin countries. This muslim problem will be solved only by muslims and they will do that if left to themselves.
Good day.

reality...female of the canine species...

Obama plan seen as disastrous for Pakistan

Friday, April 03, 2009

By Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD: Top experts on Afghanistan and Pakistan’s troubled tribal areas agree that President Barack Obama’s new strategy for the region is a recipe for disaster from Islamabad’s point of view. They lament that short-sighted people at the helm of affairs are jubilant over the $1.5 billion yearly reward for implementation of the plan.

“Pakistan would be reduced to a battlefield if our leadership accedes to Obama’s strategy,� commented Rustam Shah Mohmand, former interior secretary, former ambassador to Afghanistan and a top security expert.

Former Fata secretary Brig (retd) Mehmud Shah is of the view these are testing times for political as well as military leaders, who are expected to defend Pakistan against the sinister Zionist conspiracy to destabilise and denuclearise Pakistan.

Yet another renowned expert on Afghanistan and tribal areas and a respected journalist, Rahimullah Yousafzai, warned the Obama strategy would lead to instability in Pakistan. “There would be an open war in the fields and streets of every city and town of Pakistan,� he feared, believing the armed forces might not be in a position to support the new approach.

According to experts, the US, which has completely failed to bring peace to Afghanistan or vanquish the Taliban movement, is hell-bent on pushing its war inside Pakistan and wants to expand it beyond the tribal region.

Rustam Shah Mohmand told this correspondent that peace in Afghanistan could not be ensured without withdrawal of occupational US and Nato forces and their replacement by peace-keeping troops. He felt after failing to bring peace to Afghanistan, Washington was exerting pressure on Pakistan and wanted to use it for the attainment of its own objectives.

He said instead of understanding the sensitivities attached with the Obama strategy for Pakistan’s future, the country’s leadership was happy to receive American dollars at the expense of stability. “I have information our rulers are thinking on these lines,� he claimed, warning Pakistan was being pushed towards destabilisation.

Rustam Shah pointed out the US was also involving Iran, India, China and Russia in pressurising Pakistan to fall in line. He argued the US war on terror was never Pakistan’s war “but now we have been pushed into a situation where terrorism and extremism has become a key challenge for us�. He said post-9/11 policies had fuelled the insurgency in the tribal belt, which remained calm and peaceful throughout the Pak-US war against the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

Referring to Turkey’s refusal to accept $12 billion US package in return for supporting Washington’s Iraq war, he insisted the government must reject the $1.5 billion offer; otherwise, Pakistan would become a battlefield.

Rahimullah Yousafzai told The News those allured by the $1.5 billion per annum aid package should remember what had not been achieved with $60 billion in Afghanistan was impossible to realise with this aid. It was sad to see the Pakistani rulers welcoming the Obama strategy without giving it a serious thought or getting inputs from the relevant institutions, he maintained.

“Instead of welcoming it, we should lodge a serious protest with Washington,� he said, adding Pakistan would be the sole loser in case this strategy was implemented. Rahimullah suggested the Obama administration should be asked why Islamabad — a close ally of Washington — was not consulted on formulation of the strategy.

In Rahimullahís view, the armed forces may not be willing to accept this controversial plan which, he thought, could be a major factor behind instability in the country. He also cautioned that even if Pakistan agreed to the strategy for the sake of $1.5 billion annual aid, it would be impossible for it to meet the conditionalities attached to it.

Admitting the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has badly damaged Pakistan, he said what was proposed by Washington would lead to an open war in streets and fields of cities and towns.

Brig (retd) Mehmud Shah cautioned Pakistan was heading towards the most difficult times in its recent history, both owing to Washington and because of the incompetence of its own rulers. He acknowledged extremists were badly hurting Pakistan as well as Islam. But he agreed US drone attacks and Washington’s policies were also fuelling extremism and terrorism.

He was surprised to see that President Zardari did not utter a word on the highly emotive issue in his recent address to the joint sitting of parliament. The former Fata secretary saw America’s public misgivings about the ISI a clear indication of its bad intentions about Pakistan and its strategic institutions.

Although, Obama sounds realistic as compared to his predecessor, he insisted the US administration was controlled by the Jewish lobby and the Neocons, who are not ready to tolerate any Muslim country to be a nuclear power. No US president, in Mehmud Shah’s view, could defy the limits set by the Jewish lobby for world politics.

capt clueless is delusional..but, for pakis, that's par for the course..

riaz haq here is delusional and dense...

#214, RiazHaq, I know you burn up whenever I comment but just because your ramblings offer no solutions and I succintly state them for the benefit of Pakistan, that is no reason for you to feel all neglected and run to your mama crying, seeking refuge in "manners". When your country people are being butchered through starvation, is that not worse "rudeness" than my calling you a bloody damn fool?


TNITC masadi

Haq sahab,

I have been coming to Chowk on & off for about 10 yrs. Please think of this place like a real Chowk on the subcontinent.

Back home, if you walk on a Chowk, its a pleasant experience...but don't walk barefeet, hahn?! you'll be bound to step in someone's s*it, piss & thoonk. It is what it is.

Multiple attempts to "reform" Chowk & ban people are havent been successful. Our mashoor arjun is on his 88th avatar.

If you have a thin skin, go back & give your enlightened opinions on your own web page (that you are trying to advertise here)....& to Obama himself!

BTW, you are just as bigoted and narrow minded as us. So, get a thick skin & get off your high horse. If you cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. At least the rotten tomatoes that are thrown around don't physically hurt us. They may bruise your ego once in a while, so deal with it.

There are some commentators on this forum who are not only rude, but they lack the very basic social and reasoning skills necessary for a democratic, pluralistic society to function. While they spout their views about democracy, they resort to offering manufactured facts and gratuitous name calling. What they really need is an "education" based on reasoning rather than reckless abuse and insults they routinely throw at their fellow commentators. Their behavior belies any talk of democracy they offer on this forum.
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Riaz Haq, I suggest you quit wasting your time day and night here and get a life and an education. You are a dimwit. Democracy has a greater chance of working in a society like Afghanistan than it does in the USA where ownership/information are totally controlled by the very very few who then determine relationships and culture based on such domination. No such dominating control exists in Afghanistan and like I said the US should learn something about democracy from Pakistan. Democracy is not a slogan only as tahmed is using it, nor is it voting only on predetermined wealth circumscribed candidates like in the USA. There is still time for you and tahmed (and that moron Anil) to get some education, don't waste your time here you're only making a damn fool of yourself.

TNITC masadi

Re: # 209
tahmed: "Since when is pointing to the obvious absurdity behind your view that Afghanistan cannot have democracy mere "political correctness" and "conventional wisdom"?"

You are either missing my nuanced comments or deliberately distorting to make your point.

To set the record straight, I repeat what I said earlier, "As I suggested in my earlier comment, what can and should be tried in Afganistan is a gradual evolution of the jirga system toward a more inclusive participatory process that eventually leads to something close to what is considered democracy."
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide