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Log in9/11 seven years later: U.S. 'safe,' South Asia in turmoil
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9/11 seven years later: U.S. 'safe,' South Asia in turmoil
by Outspoken on Wed Sep 10, 2008 5:55 pm
9/11 seven years later: U.S. 'safe,' South Asia in turmoil
By Jonathan S. Landay and Saeed Shah
McClatchy Newspapers
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Seven years after 9/11, al Qaida and its allies are gaining ground across the region where the plot was hatched, staging their most lethal attacks yet against NATO forces and posing a growing threat to the U.S.-backed governments in Afghanistan and nuclear-armed Pakistan .
While there have been no new strikes on the U.S. homeland, the Islamic insurrection inspired by Osama bin Laden has claimed thousands of casualties and displaced tens of thousands of people and shows no sign of slackening in the face of history's most powerful military alliance.
The insurgency now stretches from Afghanistan's border with Iran through the southern half of the country. The Taliban are now able to interdict three of the four major highways that connect Kabul , the capital, to the rest of the country.
"I am not convinced we are winning it in Afghanistan ," Adm. Michael Mullen , the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded before a congressional committee on Tuesday.
Experts inside and outside the U.S. government agreed that a key reason for the resurgence is a growing popular sympathy for the militants because an over-reliance on the use of force, especially airpower, by NATO has killed hundreds of civilians.
On Wednesday, Pakistan's military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani , warned that cross-border U.S. missile strikes and commando raids will no longer be tolerated. "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country will be defended at all cost," he said.
Mullen said he is examining "a new, more comprehensive strategy for the region," an acknowledgement that the current approach lacks coordinated reconstruction and humanitarian programs.
"We cannot kill our way to victory," said Mullen, who warned that the United States and its allies "are running out of time."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that efforts to capture or kill bin Laden haven't been without "ups and downs." But, she added, the failure to find him says "a lot about the geography ...where al Qaida decides to hide. And as the president says, Osama bin Laden is not out there leading any parades."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080910/wl_mcclatchy/3041862;_ylt=Am.cwww1TRnwwN05ItN87yOs0NUE
By Jonathan S. Landay and Saeed Shah
McClatchy Newspapers
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Seven years after 9/11, al Qaida and its allies are gaining ground across the region where the plot was hatched, staging their most lethal attacks yet against NATO forces and posing a growing threat to the U.S.-backed governments in Afghanistan and nuclear-armed Pakistan .
While there have been no new strikes on the U.S. homeland, the Islamic insurrection inspired by Osama bin Laden has claimed thousands of casualties and displaced tens of thousands of people and shows no sign of slackening in the face of history's most powerful military alliance.
The insurgency now stretches from Afghanistan's border with Iran through the southern half of the country. The Taliban are now able to interdict three of the four major highways that connect Kabul , the capital, to the rest of the country.
"I am not convinced we are winning it in Afghanistan ," Adm. Michael Mullen , the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, conceded before a congressional committee on Tuesday.
Experts inside and outside the U.S. government agreed that a key reason for the resurgence is a growing popular sympathy for the militants because an over-reliance on the use of force, especially airpower, by NATO has killed hundreds of civilians.
On Wednesday, Pakistan's military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani , warned that cross-border U.S. missile strikes and commando raids will no longer be tolerated. "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country will be defended at all cost," he said.
Mullen said he is examining "a new, more comprehensive strategy for the region," an acknowledgement that the current approach lacks coordinated reconstruction and humanitarian programs.
"We cannot kill our way to victory," said Mullen, who warned that the United States and its allies "are running out of time."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that efforts to capture or kill bin Laden haven't been without "ups and downs." But, she added, the failure to find him says "a lot about the geography ...where al Qaida decides to hide. And as the president says, Osama bin Laden is not out there leading any parades."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080910/wl_mcclatchy/3041862;_ylt=Am.cwww1TRnwwN05ItN87yOs0NUE
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
