Afghan @ MindSay

Israel has far fewer restrictions

Over the last week, many are asking why India does not "do a Gaza" on Pakistan, referring, of course, to an emulation of Israel's use of force against Terrorists Hamas-run Palestine, a territory from which rockets rain down on Israeli soil with reliable frequency (if not reliable destructiveness ...).

The answer for this question comes always with a painful grip on reality, is simple: India does not because it cannot.

Here are five reasons why:

1. India is not a military goliath in relation to Pakistan in the way Israel is to the Palestinian territories. India does not have the immunity, the confidence and the military free hand that result from an overwhelming military superiority over an opponent. Israel's foe is a non-sovereign entity that enjoys the most precarious form of self-governance. Pakistan, for all its dysfunction, is a proper country with a proper army, superior by far to the tin-pot Arab forces that Israel has had to combat over time. Pakistan has nukes, to boot. Any assault on Pakistani territory carries with it an apocalyptic risk for India. This is, in fact, Pakistan's trump card. (This explains, also, why Israel is determined to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran.)

2. Even if India could attack Pakistan without fear of nuclear retaliation, the rationale for "doing a Gaza" is, arguably, not fully present: Israel had been attacked consistently by the very force--Hamas--that was in political control of the territory from which the attacks occurred. By contrast, terrorist attacks on India, while originating in Pakistan, are not authored by the Pakistani government. India can-- and does--contend that Pakistan's government should shut down the terrorist training camps on Pakistani soil. (In this insistence, India has unequivocal support from Washington.) Yet only a consistent and demonstrable pattern of dereliction by Pakistani authorities-- which would need to be dereliction verging on complicity with the terrorists--would furnish India with sufficient grounds to hold the Pakistani state culpable.

3. Israel enjoys impressive support from many countries especially from the Americans, in contrast to the Palestinians. No other state--apart, perhaps, from Britain--evokes as much favor in American public opinion as does Israel. This is not merely the result of the much-vaunted "Israel lobby" (to use a label deployed by its detractors), but also because of the very real depth of cultural interpenetration between American and Israeli society. This fraternal feeling buys Israel an enviable immunity in the conduct of its strategic defense. India, by contrast--while considerably more admired and favored in American public opinion than Pakistan--enjoys scarcely a fraction of Israel's "pull" in Washington when it comes to questions of the use of force beyond its borders. 

4. Pakistan is strategically significant to the United States; the Palestinians are not. This gives Washington scant incentive to rein in the Israelis, but a major incentive to rein in any Indian impulse to strike at Pakistan. However justified the Indian anger against Pakistan over the recent invasion of Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists, the last thing that the U.S. wants right now is an attack--no matter how surgical--by India against Pakistan-based terror camps. This would almost certainly result in a wholesale shift of Pakistani troops away from their western, Afghan front toward the eastern boundary with India--and would leave the American Afghan campaign in some considerable disarray, at least in the short term. So Washington has asked for, and received, the gift of Indian patience. And although India recognizes that it is not wholly without options to mobilize quickly for punitive, surgical strikes in a "strategic space," it would--right now--settle for a trial of the accused terrorist leaders in U.S. courts. (Seven U.S Citizens were killed in Mumbai: Under U.S. law, those responsible--and this should include Pakistani intelligence masterminds--have to be brought to justice.)

5. Israel has the privilege of an international pariah to ignore international public opinion in its use of force against the Palestinians. A state with which few others have diplomatic relations can turn the tables on those that would anathematize it by saying, Hang diplomacy. India, by contrast, has no such luxury. It is a prisoner of its own global aspirations--and pretensions.

American Forces Press Service

 

Nov. 9, 2007 - Afghan national security forces and coalition forces engaged and killed several Taliban fighters near the Nahr Surkh district of Afghanistan's Helmand province yesterday.  The combined force was conducting a reconnaissance patrol near the district when a significant number of insurgents engaged friendly elements with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. The combined force immediately engaged the Taliban fighters with small-arms fire and close-air support, killing many of the insurgents.

 

"The Taliban is desperate for a success, but at every turn (Afghan national security forces) and coalition forces have successfully stopped them," said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman.

 

In other news, Afghan and coalition forces have refuted Taliban claims of control of the Tarin Kowt-Kandahar road, a major road used for transporting commerce between Kandahar and Oruzgan provinces.

 

The Taliban claimed Nov. 6 that they had taken control of the road. In response, Afghan and coalition forces quickly launched a mission to secure the road. Once the combined force arrived, they discovered traffic was flowing and that the Taliban's claims were false. Afghan forces are providing security for the route and remain in control of this ground line of communication.

 

"In the absence of any military success, the Taliban routinely rely on false reports in a vain attempt to deceive the Afghan people," Belcher said.

 

(Compiled from Combined Joint Task Force 82 news releases.)

 

By Staff Sgt. Julie Weckerlein, USAF

Special to American Forces Press Service

 

Sept. 12, 2007 - Several influential Afghan women from Laghman province met earlier this month with U.S. Army and Air Force women to discuss their role in the future of their province.  "(Afghan women) talk to each other, to their children and their husbands, and that is a very powerful way to get information spread throughout the province," said Air Force Capt. Heather Kekic, Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team public affairs and information officer.

 

The Afghan women work for the Laghman provincial governor either as program directors or teachers. Sept. 5 marked the second time they met with the American women, and they talked with the aid of an interpreter. This meeting provided a chance for the Americans to educate the Afghan women about the various humanitarian and security programs available to them and their communities, she said.

 

The Afghan women always look forward to meeting with their American sisters, said Sharin Taj, Laghman province's director of women's affairs.

 

"We get attached to the women here," Taj said through an interpreter. "We get together and get to know each other, and that friendship is very important."

 

So are the discussions. Among topics discussed were future reconstruction and humanitarian aid projects, the possibility of women's meetings in local villages, and personal safety and security.

 

"They are very concerned about the security within the province," Kekic said. "They are just like us in that they want their roads to be free of bombs. They do not want their families hurt or killed by the violence."

 

A few women said they have received threats because of their jobs for the governor. One woman reported that her son had seen strange men with rockets walk along the river bank, while another woman spoke of her fear every day to walk along roads in her village.

 

The Americans shared phone numbers for the provincial coordination center (similar to 911 service in the United States) and provided information about quick response teams. They also implored the Afghan women to call if they or family members see anything suspicious.

 

"We have suffered a lot, but we all want the same things," Taj said. "We want freedom, just like the rest of the people in Afghanistan, and we want education, good families and good jobs. All of these things are very important."

 

She added that sacrifices made by the American women are not lost on any of the Afghan women.

 

"You can ask any female in the village," Taj said. "We know that (the Americans) have left their families, their children and husbands to come here and help the people of Afghanistan. This is a very honorable thing, and we really appreciate that."

 

(Air Force Staff Sgt. Julie Weckerlein is assigned to U.S. Central Command Air Forces Public Affairs.)

American Forces Press Service

 

Sept. 5, 2007 - Afghan and coalition forces killed dozens of enemy fighters today in Afghanistan's Helmand, Kandahar and Ghazni provinces.  One civilian was injured in the Helmand engagement, shot in the leg while attempting to flee his village. He was taken to a coalition medical facility for treatment. No other injuries from today's engagements to Afghan police, military personnel or civilians or to coalition forces were reported.

 

In the Helmand province engagement, Afghan National Auxiliary Police officers, advised by coalition forces, defeated an attempted Taliban ambush west of the Musa Qalah wadi. The combined force was conducting a combat patrol near Anjir Shali Village, about 10 and a half miles northwest of Sangin District Center, when it came under attack from a squad-size element of extremist Taliban.

 

The insurgents attacked the patrol with small arms, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades from several buildings within the village limits. The patrol noted many of the village's residents had fled prior to the attempted ambush. The ANAP-led force immediately returned fire with accurate small-arms fire and crew-served weapons.

 

The enemy force reinforced their positions with additional fighters and also started firing from an extensive trench line located throughout the village. As they continued attacking the combined force from the buildings with machine-gun fire, the ground force commander called in coalition close-air support. Coalition aircraft conducted strikes on the positively identified enemy positions using precision-guided munitions. More than two dozen Taliban insurgents were killed in the fighting.

 

"The citizens in Helmand province witness firsthand the atrocities that are caused by the extremist Taliban who live among them," said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Foirce 82 spokesman. "The only way to end the senseless killing of non-combatants by the insurgent is for the Afghan people to work with the government forces and turn in all members of the insurgency."

 

In Kandahar province, a combined force of Afghan National Civil Order Police and coalition forces was on a combat patrol near Alekowzi Village in the Sha Wali Kot district when they began taking small-arms and machine-gun fire from about 10 enemy fighters. Within 20 minutes of the battle starting, the combined force was further engaged by an estimated 20 rocket-propelled grenades fired from the nearby Hutak Village.

 

The extremist fighters were seen firing on the patrol from compounds located within the villages. Throughout the engagement, insurgents reinforced their positions with an estimated 150 additional fighters.

 

The ANCOP-led force repelled the attack using small arms and crew-served weapons, and later called in Coalition close air support. Coalition aircraft destroyed the positively identified enemy firing positions with precision-guided munitions.

 

More than 40 insurgents were killed in the engagement.

 

"Today's successful effort by the Afghan National Civil Order Police is another example of the growing capability of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's security forces," Belcher said. "The ANCOP is following in the footsteps of the other Afghan elite security forces as they begin to chart their own course in defeating the insurgency. The enemies of peace and stability will not be left unchecked in Kandahar province or any other province within the territorial borders of this country."

 

In the Ghazni province engagement, militants fired upon a combined Afghan and coalition force using small arms, grenades and rocket-propelled grenades. The combined force returned fire and employed precision munitions, resulting in the deaths of several militants and significant damage to the compound. A militant wearing an ammunition vest and carrying a weapon fled the area; coalition forces pursued and killed him.

 

In operations yesterday, two attempted insurgent ambushes failed as Afghan national security forces advised by coalition forces repelled and killed nearly two dozen enemy fighters in separate battles in northern Kandahar province.

 

These attacks came on the heels of a failed attack the night before that saw more than a dozen insurgents killed in the same district of Afghanistan. Yesterday's failed ambushes occurred a little more than 30 kilometers apart.

 

In the first engagement, a combined force of Afghan and coalition forces was on a combat patrol in the Sha Wali Kot district when they spotted 20 to 25 insurgents in fighting positions and an unknown number of fighters taking up positions in a compound. The insurgents attacked the patrol with small arms and machine guns and continued to reinforce their positions throughout the daylong battle.

 

The Afghan-led force repelled the attack using small arms, crew-served weapons and coalition close-air support.

 

More than a dozen insurgents were killed in this engagement, and one Afghan soldier was wounded. No other Afghan or coalition troops or non-combatants were reported injured or killed.

 

In the second engagement, a combined force of Afghan and coalition forces were conducting a separate combat patrol in the same district when they came under small-arms fire from more than a dozen insurgents. The insurgents attacked from compounds located within the village.

 

The Afghan patrol returned fire with small arms and crew-served weapons and called for coalition close-air support. Prior to engaging the insurgents with aircraft, the combined force utilized their loudspeaker system and notified the villagers to leave the area because an attack was imminent.

 

Afghan police officers spoke with the village elders as they left and confirmed that all of the non-combatants had evacuated. Coalition aircraft then engaged and destroyed the two buildings that the insurgents were using as fighting positions.

 

Six insurgents were killed, and two were wounded in this engagement. In addition, one coalition servicemember was wounded during the battle. No other Afghan or coalition troops or non-combatants were reported wounded or killed in the fighting.

 

"The Afghan National Army is proving day after day that they are highly capable of finding and destroying the enemies of Afghanistan," Belcher said. "Even when the insurgents have had time to fortify their positions, the ANA are determined to overcome the enemy obstacles. Let there be no doubt, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, along with coalition forces, will continue to hunt, fight and defeat the enemies of peace and stability."

 

(Compiled from Combined Joint Task Force 82 news releases.)

American Forces Press Service

 

July 29, 2007 - Afghan National Security Forces, supported by coalition partners, successfully conducted an operation against Taliban fighters in Helmand province this week, military officials reported.  Several Taliban fighters were killed during a precise operation July 27, according to reports, and there were no reported civilian casualties or damage.

 

"This operation follows a series of ... blows against the Taliban command over the last few weeks," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Claudia Foss, International Security Assistance Force spokesman. "They are aimed at impacting the ability of the Taliban to plan and coordinate its attacks."

 

In other operations this week, Afghan National Police thwarted the attempts of insurgents trying to hijack a United Nations food shipment in Farah province July 27. The shipment, part of the World Food Program, was headed to Herat where more than 100,000 Afghans rely upon it for survival.

 

The failed attack resulted in one Afghan National Police officer killed and six wounded.

Attacks by the Taliban earlier in the summer along the road linking Kandahar to Herat caused the suspension of the food shipments until July 11. An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 tons of food was shipped weekly during normal operations.

 

"Once again, the Taliban have proven that their propaganda about caring about the lives of innocent Afghans is a lie," said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman. "Their actions speak louder than their words as they strike at the food deliveries bound for the poorest of this country."

 

On July 26, Afghan National Police detained three suspects in connection with bombings in Nangahar province. The police initially responded to a call over a land dispute when they were tipped off to the suspicious activities of an individual. Afghan forces discovered 25 bags of explosives, 20 rolls of fusing and more than 11,000 blasting caps while searching the suspect's house.

 

Afghan forces took three individuals into custody and asked for coalition force assistance in the questioning process. While being questioned, one suspect admitted to illegally purchasing and smuggling all the items from a major supplier in Pakistan to sell within Afghanistan.

 

"By discovering this bomb-making material, the (Afghan National Police) has made the streets of Nangahar safer for everyone," Belcher said. "The material found could have been used to make up to 11,000 (improvised explosive devices)."

 

(Compiled from International Security Assistance Force and Combined Joint Task Force 82 news releases.)