Top Taliban Commander Captured in Secret Raid
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Fox
Feb. 14: A U.S. soldier returns fire as others run for cover during a firefight with insurgents in Marjah, Afghanistan.
The Taliban's top military commander has been captured in Pakistan in a joint operation by Pakistani and U.S. intelligence forces, sources confirmed to Fox News late Monday.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, described as the No. 2 behind Taliban founder and Usama bin Laden associate Mullah Muhammad Omar, has been in Pakistani custody for several days.
Baradar was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in a raid by Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, with CIA operatives accompanying the Pakistanis, the New York Times first reported Monday. Pakistan has been leading the interrogation of Baradar, but Americans are also involved, officials said.
Baradar heads the Taliban's military council and was elevated in the body after the 2006 death of military chief Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Usmani. Baradar is known to coordinate the movement's military operations throughout the south and southwest of Afghanistan. His area of direct responsibility stretches over Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.
If confirmed, Baradar's arrest would be a major setback for the Taliban.
He may also have information on the whereabouts of Omar and bin Laden.
Continue
I just hope he's given all his rights.
ReplyDeleteTextbook Takeover
ReplyDeleteThe Marjah operation's a prototype -- the first big test of Gen. Stan McChrystal's refurbished approach that emphasizes cutting back combat actions focused on killing Taliban fighters in favor of securing population centers and bidding for popular support.
The unanswered question is whether you can win a war of any kind without killing your enemies in large numbers. Can this population really be won over? Can the Karzai government gain and sustain the people's loyalty? Or do the Taliban merely rally elsewhere, denying us decisive results? Stay tuned.
We haven't seen all-out, level-the-houses combat in the streets of Marjah because our commanders purposely warned the Taliban we were coming, and the Taliban leadership knows its fighters can't stand up to our troops. So the bad guys moved out, as McChrystal hoped, leaving behind a network of bombs and a rearguard hoping to inflict some casualties on us before dying.
Well, our casualties have been blessedly light thus far -- thanks to the experience and professionalism in our ranks. Beyond this admirable tactical success, though, two tests loom that will determine the ultimate value of "Operation Together."
First, are we just "squeezing the balloon?" Will the Taliban fighters nudged out of Marjah make new inroads elsewhere? That is, has this operation been a significant defeat for the enemy, or just an inconvenience?
Second, will the government summon the will to reduce the local opium-poppy harvest? Can it do so without alienating the people? Or will we merely see a transfer of drug receipts from the Taliban to the "friends of Karzai?"
Everything we're trying to do, from the bomb-ridden alleys of Marjah to the contractor-ridden streets of Kabul, depends on the Afghan government gaining a sense of legitimacy among its citizens.
Meanwhile, Post readers can be proud of the superb performance of the Sixth Marines and all of our other troops involved. From the generals down to the newbie privates, their quality and courage are evident in every detail of this effort.
Now will Johnny Afghan do his part?
Comment by KZ
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the neighborhood, Doc! I rent a house 1 block over from the blue area for $2000/month, a small 1000sq ft 2/1.
This is a lower-middle-class section of Burbank–very modest homes on tiny lots.
The 2006 median of $720,000 is mind-boggling. Burbank has good schools and an effective police force, but for that kind of money you could send your kids to Crossroads and hire Blackwater to patrol the block.
Looking forward to an interesting 2010.
Slumburbia
ReplyDeleteIn places like Lathrop, Manteca and Tracy, population nearly doubled in 10 years, and home prices tripled. After inhaling all this real estate helium, some developers and their apologists in urban planning circles hailed the boom as the new America at the far exurban fringe. Every citizen a homeowner! Half-acre lots for all! No credit, no problem!
Now median home prices have fallen from $500,000 to $150,000 — among the most precipitous drops in the nation — and still the houses sit empty, spooky and see-through, waiting on demography and psychology to catch up.
Looter....that was given to me by the very nice man in charge.
ReplyDeleteI don't steal, I don't lie and I don't cheat. I'm a perfect angel.
From Doug's post:
ReplyDeleteSecond, look at the cities with stable and recovering home markets. On this coast, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and San Diego come to mind. All of these cities have fairly strict development codes, trying to hem in their excess sprawl. Developers, many of them, hate these restrictions. They said the coastal cities would eventually price the middle class out, and start to empty.
It hasn’t happened. Just the opposite. The developers’ favorite role models, the laissez faire free-for-alls — Las Vegas, the Phoenix metro area, South Florida, this valley — are the most troubled, the suburban slums.
Simon Properties just offered $10 Billion - $9 Billion Cash for General Growth Properties.
Of course, Houston, Tx is the poster child for laissez-faire, hands-off growth, and they've done just fine. So there.
ReplyDeleteGet him a lawyer now...
ReplyDeleteMeLoDy said...
ReplyDeleteLooter....that was given to me by the very nice man in charge.
There are looters and there are producers...
being proud about the welfare check that others pay for so you can have a new car is the behavior of a looter...
Read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand...
As for Afpakistan, if the generals haven't made their rank by now, time's almost out. We're not at the door, yet, but the observant ones are looking around for their coats.
ReplyDeleteGood number from the Empire State Manufacturing Index 24.91 vs Jan's 15.92
ReplyDeleteAs to his "rights", doug-o ...
ReplyDeleteHe is in Pakistan, was arrested by Pakistani and is being questioned by the Pakistani.
He has what ever "rights" that the Pakistani provide to their prisoners.
If he was held by US, in a US installation, by US Federals, our Constitution and Laws would apply.
Even in Cuba.
As to the success of our air assault upon Majah, let us see what is what in five years. If the US presence makes a difference, over the long haul.
We could not stay the course in Iraq, doubt if we can in Afpakistan.
Resolve is lacking.
I haven't received any welfare check. I pay my way just like, well...most people.
ReplyDeleteI leave that up to my daughter who is heading to graduate school for a physician assistants program. (:
I also have a son who is mentally disabled and has a severe learning disability. Right now he is unemployed and uninsured. I could very well march him right to the SS office and let him collect a welfare check that everyone pays for but that's not me. So, right now we're working with an agency that will work with him and find a suitable job so that he can make his way through life on his own.
So don't judge me when you don't know a damn thing about my life.
Just like I didn't know anything about you, until you told me your story.
You're not any better than anyone else here and you may think, as well as many others, that what I have to say is nonsense and worthless but I bet there are few here that think you're compulsive behavior is the same but they wouldn't admit it.
MeLoDy said...
ReplyDeleteI haven't received any welfare check. I pay my way just like, well...most people.
Most Americans dont pay their own way... MOST Americans now dont pay taxes...
MeLoDy said...I leave that up to my daughter who is heading to graduate school for a physician assistants program. (:
So you will let your offspring carry your load... ok, sounds kinda odd...
MeLoDy said...I also have a son who is mentally disabled and has a severe learning disability. Right now he is unemployed and uninsured.
Many have told me that I am mentally disabled and have severe learning disorders.. That didnt stop Obama from becoming president, I am sure your son will find his way...
MeLoDy said...I could very well march him right to the SS office and let him collect a welfare check that everyone pays for but that's not me.
Actually if your child is disabled as you state, there are funds and support available that are not welfare.
MeLoDy said...So, right now we're working with an agency that will work with him and find a suitable job so that he can make his way through life on his own.
excellent...
MeLoDy said...So don't judge me when you don't know a damn thing about my life.
aint judging you, judging your happiness of cash for clunkers...
all the looters love em...
MeLoDy said...Just like I didn't know anything about you, until you told me your story.
My story? lol
I all started in a small house about 50 years ago... My father, drunk on scotch got my mamma drunk and they did it...
MeLoDy said...You're not any better than anyone else here and you may think, as well as many others, that what I have to say is nonsense and worthless
Much of what you say here is worthless? so what? much of what the president says is worthless, you are in good company...
MeLoDy said...but I bet there are few here that think you're compulsive behavior is the same but they wouldn't admit it.
I am compulsive...
I just dont write cyber love letters to a construct, i prefer my obsessions to be inflatable....
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletedesert rat said...
ReplyDeleteAs to his "rights", doug-o ...
He is in Pakistan, was arrested by Pakistani and is being questioned by the Pakistani.
According to the newss...
BHO, commander in chief's personal spy agency, the CIA went into another nation and kidnapped him...
for shame...
America is no better than the isrealis...
lol
hope you choke on your vomit...
So you will let your offspring carry your load... ok, sounds kinda odd...
ReplyDeleteNot only are you an arrogant ass but you don't have any humor, either.
I don't steal, I don't lie and I don't cheat. I'm a perfect angel.
ReplyDeleteTue Feb 16, 08:04:00 AM EST
I agree with that.
MeLoDy said...So don't judge me when you don't know a damn thing about my life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that too.
But I gotta take a shower and go to Moscow.
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you who the biggest welfare mooch is --still is, that I've personally known--and never did a thing for anyone else in her worthless life--my cousin Sally, multimillionaire, and farmer.
Farm programs for her father back in the 1930's may have made some sense.....
In my email this AM from the Patriot Post
ReplyDeleteHEAVIEST ELEMENT DISCOVERED
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has now identified with certainty the heaviest element known to science.
The new element, Pelosium (PL), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.
Pelosium is inert, and has no charge and no magnetism. Nevertheless, it can be detected because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Pelosium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.
Pelosium has a normal half-life of 2 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a biennial reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.
Pelosium mass will increase over time, since each reorganization will promote many morons to become isodopes.
This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Pelosium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.
When catalyzed with money, Pelosium becomes Senatorium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Pelosium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.
:) Pelosium.
ReplyDelete----
Drying off with a cold wind coming through the window is a bitch, don't try it if you have no Swedish blood.
The arrest of this fellow in Afpakistan, by the Pakistani could be a tide turner, or just another Islamic lamb led to sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteTeam Obama seems to have gotten the ISI to turn on this Taliban Commander, something the Bush Administration could not get done.
Perhaps those Six Stars are lighting up the darkness, over there. Or perhaps the ISI just gave up this fellow, knowing his true worth to their organization.
MeLoDy said...
ReplyDeleteNot only are you an arrogant ass but you don't have any humor, either.
and your point?
Hayworth challenges McCain
ReplyDeleteYourWestValley.com
Local and county leaders, including Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, showed their support Monday at a rally in Sun City for former congressman JD Hayworth, who officially announced he will challenge John McCain for the Republican nomination for the ...
Underdog Hayworth says he'll rap McCain on illegal immigration
Christian Science Monitor
Gotta go with JD on this one.
Sorry to all you's that supported "Maverick" for President, but he is not qualified for any public office, 'ceptin' he has his wife's money backing his political play, always has.
That's been his chief qualification, for high public office.
Unlimited personal resources.
JD, he don't have that "advantage".
rat states: Gotta go with JD on this one.
ReplyDeleteSorry to all you's that supported "Maverick" for President, but he is not qualified for any public office, 'ceptin' he has his wife's money backing his political play, always has.
That's been his chief qualification, for high public office.
Unlimited personal resources.
Nothing to be sorry about, All POTUS races are a choice of the lesser of 2 evils...
Obama, to me was a worse evil than McCain.
My guy lost the election and America got it's 1st illegal alien marxist, west hating, spending freak as a POTUS...
America is getting what they voted for...
To bad for them....
Baradar Captured
ReplyDelete"The New York Times learned of the operation on Thursday, but delayed reporting it at the request of White House officials, who contended that making it public would end a hugely successful intelligence-gathering effort...
"The Times is publishing the news now because White House officials acknowledged that the capture of Mullah Baradar was becoming widely known in the region...
"Several American government officials gave details about the raid on the condition that they not be named, because the operation was classified.
I would have to think this was an intentional leak by the White House, the purpose of which, I assume, is to get the good news out while trying to avoid criticism on tactics from the GOP.
If not, the "govenment officials" involved should be tracked down, fired, and prosecuted for passing on classified information.
.