Buck Naked Politics

SoS Hillary Accuses Pakistani Gov't of Abdicating to Taliban; Taliban Forces Prepare to Retreat

by Damozel | Hillary told a the House Foreign Affairs Committee panel that the creeping advance of the Taliban across Pakistan presents a "mortal threat" to the world security, with extremists being permitted to control territories in northwest Pakistan.  (BBC News) She's not wrong about that or about the weakness of the Pakistani government, which -- as she said -- has been ceding more and more territory to the Taliban.  BBC News reports:

Al Qaeda Boss Still Hates Obama, Pleads with Other Followers to Hate Him Too

by Teh Nutroots |  Unsurprisingly, Ayman Zawahri -- who referred to Obama some time back as a "house negro" -- claims he doesn't much care for the bombings in Pakistan or the increased presence in Afghanistan.  Being who he is, he prefers threats to go medieaval on our collective arse to reasoned discourse or debate. 

CBS has the scary quotes:

A Courageous & Dangerous Act of Protest: Afghan Women Take a Stand

by Damozel | Three hundred amazingly courageous Afghan women marched through "an angry throng three times larger than their own" to the Parliament "to demand that Parliament repeal a new law that introduces a range of Taliban-like restrictions on women, and permits, among other things, marital rape."  (NYT) 

Get out of here, you whores!” the men shouted. “Get out!”

The women scattered as the men moved in.

“We want our rights!” one of the women shouted, turning to face them. “We want equality!”

The women ran to the bus and dove inside as it rumbled away, with the men smashing the taillights and banging on the sides.

“Whores!”

As Taylor Marsh says, "This is as in your face as you can get in Afghanistan."

Habeas Schmabeas: Obama Continues Bush's Policies; Again Lets Down Progressives With Resounding Thud

 by Damozel | Not that this comes as a surprise to anyone who was paying attention back in February, which is when we learned that Obama's administration was indeed taking the position that US due process rights were inapplicable to detainees at Bagram AFB in Afghanistan.  It certainly won't come as a shock to those who already had to digest his administration's claim the other day of a  broad state secrets privilege.  Yes, and there was this report from TPM of an interview with David Cynamon, lawyer for four Gitmo detainees, who accuses this administration of "stonewalling" and offers very specific details of exactly how it's going about it.  TPM reports: 

"The Department of Justice has been doing everything in its power to delay and obstruct these cases," said Cynamon, whose clients were picked up in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region in the period after the 2001 U.S invasion of Afghanistan. "They're not doing anything to move the case along, and doing everything to avoid it."...  Asked whether he had observed a shift of any kind in the government's approach since the Obama administration came into office, Cynamon flatly replied: "None whatsoever."

Oh, Barry.  How could you play us like that?

Vietnamese Gunman Kills 13 in New York, Taliban Claims Credit

 by Deb Cupples |  A gunman, reportedly an immigrant from Vietnam, took hostages and opened fire in a U.S. immigration center in New York. Thirteen people were killed. The man later, apparently, killed himself. (BBC)

After the incident, a Taliban leader in Pakistan claimed credit for the attack.  Reuters (via Memeorandum) reports:

"Pakistani Taliban militant leader Baituallah Mehsud claimed on Saturday responsibility for an attack on a U.S. immigration center in New York state in which 13 people were killed.

"'I accept responsibility. They were my men. I gave them orders in reaction to U.S. drone attacks,' Mehsud told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

According to Fox, a Pakistani security analyst "dismissed the claim as a publicity stunt."  Who knows?

Obama Warns of Pending Attacks by al Qaeda from Pakistan Safe Haven, Explains Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan (News & Commentary Round-Up)

by Damozel | Just what we need to get our minds off the economy.

In strikingly ominous tones, Mr. Obama warned — just as President George W. Bush did repeatedly over the years — of intelligence estimates that al Qaeda “is actively planning attacks on the U.S. homeland from its safe haven in Pakistan.”

“The situation is increasingly perilous,” he told government officials, top military officers and diplomats in remarks at the White House...“We have a clear and focused goal to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future.”. (New York Times)

US Missile Strikes in Pakistan "Take Heavy toll on Al-Qaeda" (Also Civilians); Meanwhile, a New Strategy Emerging in Afghanistan?

According to Greg Miller (in The L.A. Times) the six-month program of Predator strikes in Pakistan, started by Bush in August and continued apace by Obama,  is causing severe disruption of al-Qaeda's organization.

[M]ilitants have begun turning violently on one another out of confusion and distrust, U.S. intelligence and counter-terrorism officials say.

The pace of the Predator attacks has accelerated dramatically since August, when the Bush administration made a previously undisclosed decision to abandon the practice of obtaining permission from the Pakistani government before launching missiles from the unmanned aircraft.

Seymour Hersh: Cheney's "Executive Assassination Ring"

by Damozel | I'd love to feel skepticism, but after some of the recent revelations, I feel none at all.  As Bob Fertik remarks, Hersh is "the legendary investigative reporter who exposed My Lai and Abu Ghraib."  And of course, "As the Bush administration was winding down, insiders like Hersh and others said that what we knew in 2008 about the horrors of the Bush administration was only the tip of the iceberg, that much more would come out after 1/20/09." (Attytood)

Is this a preview of coming attractions?  The Raw Story reports:

Hersh dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when he told an audience at the University of Minnesota that the military was running an "executive assassination ring" throughout the Bush years which reported directly to former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Obama Admin Says US Due Process Rights Inapplicable to Detainees at Bagram AFB; Pentagon Defends Guantanamo

by Damozel | So.  It's another letdown for human rights advocates -- especially the lawyers defending detainees at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.  One told BBC News that "the new White House was endorsing the view of the old one, that prisons could be created and run outside the law." In other words, Bagram detainees can be held without due process for as long as the military thinks they might be a threat to security --- in a prison that "has been since the very beginning one of the main models for the extralegal detention of prisoners and the torture techniques used elsewhere." (Newhoggers)

Obama's DoJ is saying that Bagram is different from Guantanamo "because it is in an overseas war zone and prisoners there are being held as part of ongoing military action." (BBC News) 

Oh, that's all right then.

Obama Extends Bush's "Covert" War Within Pakistan (Commentary Round-Up)

by Damozel | As I've pointed out before, people who know about these things call Pakistan the most dangerous place on the planet.  Currently, Obama is trying to take out the man who orchestrated the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and thus to take down a group of terrorists who are now trying to bring down the nuclear-weapon-having Pakistani government, to which we are friendly (or "friendly"). (NYT) 

The military and intelligence arms of that  particular "friendly" government, by the way, are well and truly controlled by military and intelligence officials who are friendly to the Taliban.

Another "Suspected" U.S. Missile Strike in Pakistan Kills 26

by Deb Cupples |  About three weeks ago, the Washington Post reported that "suspected U.S. missile strikes" in Pakistan killed 20 people near the Afghanistan border. 

Yesterday, Reuters reported that "a suspected missile strike" killed 26 people in Pakistan, "many of them Taliban militants." 

Having no "facts" other than what various government officials report to the media, I have no basis for comment.

Hearing Today about Military Contracting, Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

by Deb Cupples |  At 9:30 this morning, C-SPAN will begin video coverage of a hearing of the Commission on Wartime Contracting.  Stuart Bowen, special inspector for Iraq reconstruction, is among those who will testify.

Apparently, the focus of the hearing will be on reconstruction contracts, which are far smaller than other Iraq- and Afghanistan-related contracts.  USA Today reports:

Bombs in Baghdad Kill 10

by Deb Cupples |   For quite some time now, President Bush has been emphatically telling us that we're winning the so-called "War on Terrorism." 

Yesterday, Agence France Presse reported on yet another two in a long string of bombings in Iraq:

Update/News Round-Up: Rising Death Toll in India; Commentators Questioning Links to Al Qaeda & Allegations that Attacks Were Aimed at Foreigners

by Damozel | Further update:  Death toll is now at 119.  A BBC update indicates that the death toll has risen from 80 to 101.  Gunmen are holding people captive in an office block.  (BBC News 11-27)    Meanwhile, the Indian Prime Minister suggests that the attackers are "from outside India." (CNN)  In the same article, CNN reported that six of the dead are foreigners.  Among 314 wounded, seven are Britons and two Australian citizens.  The same reported estimated that there were 26 gunmen.   According to a CNN report from Indian media, NDTV reported at 9 pm ET that 5 have been killed, 9 arrested, and 3 have been escaped.

The New York Times has published an update.  At present the alleged Al-Qaeda link is being questioned, as are allegations/implications that the attack was primarily aimed at Westerners. (NYT)  Was it or was it not linked to Al Qaeda?  Experts most definitely disagree.

Federal Judge Orders Release of Five Guantanamo Detainees

by Damozel |  In a habeas corpus case which looked at the administration's evidence for the detention of five Algerians, Judge Richard J. Leon of the Federal District Court in DC---a Bush appointee--- administered what The New York Times calls "a sharp setback" to the Bush administration by ruling they were held unlawfully.

Setback?  Setback?  That's a strange phrase to use now that the Bush administration is on the way out and these Algerians have been imprisoned now for how long?  "Seven years."  That's seven--count 'em---seven years of being unlawfully detained by our government.  

Bad Moon Rising? "Huge" Threat from Al-Qaeda; Financial Downturn Increases Security Risks

by Damozel | With the economy not yet in free fall but on the brink, you might think things can't get worse for the incoming administration.  They can, though perhaps not as bad as they would have been if McCain (and Palin) had prevailed. 

First, here is the Times of London [via memeorandum] with a warning to President-Elect Obama to brace himself.   CAVEAT:  As The Impolitic points out, this story is a tale of "generalized foreboding" rather than an account of specific threats, though the presentation would tend to conceal this from the sort of reader who stops after a couple of paragraphs.  But make no mistake:  whether general or specific, the threat is there, and we are clearly more vulnerable than we've ever been. 

Airstrike Kills Women & Children at Wedding in Afghanistan

by Deb Cupples |  Yes, President-Elect Obama will have his hands full -- on both the domestic and international fronts.  The New York Times reports:

"An airstrike by United States-led forces killed 40 civilians and wounded 28 others at a wedding party in Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan, Afghan officials said Wednesday. The casualties included women and children, the officials said."

If it was a big wedding, I suspect that a lot of women and children were hit.  The Times continues:

US Helicopters Attack Syrian Village, 8 Alleged Dead

by Damozel | So says the Syrian News.  From HuffPost:

The Syrian report comes just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq told reporters that American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he said was an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.

A government statement carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency said Sunday's attack was on the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction, firing on the workers inside, shortly before sundown, the statement said.

The U.S. military in Baghdad did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The area is near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which had been a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money coming into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency.

Meanwhile, Bush Administration Commits to Firmer Deadlines for Withdrawal from Iraq; Also: A Note on Afghanistan

by Damozel | Did you know that George W. Bush is still president?  It's true.  And while you were arguing about the next election, he's been a busy president!  That agreement with Iraq?  The negotiators have completed their work, though there is still "the ponderous process" of Iraqi ratification to get through.

The Administration has made some concessions to "the sensitivities of the Iraqi government" that The New York Times notes would have been "unimaginable" a few months back.  First, there's the matter of withdrawal dates.  Is the Bush Administration waving what Governor Palin called "a white flag of surrender"?  You be the judge!  The New York Times reports:

Civilian Deaths in Afghanistan & Palin's Misstatements

by Damozel | The New York Times says:

An investigation by the military has concluded that American airstrikes on Aug. 22 in a village in western Afghanistan killed far more civilians than American commanders there have acknowledged, according to two American military officials....