‘Robin Hood’ dishes out Nato booty: Timesonline

November 16, 2008

A Taliban “Robin Hood”, who distributes cut-price food from Nato convoys to the poor, is disrupting supply lines to British and US troops in Afghanistan.

In an audacious raid in Pakistan’s border region last week, two American Humvee armoured personnel carriers and 10 lorries laden with food were seized by Taliban fighters.

In the past year the Taliban have increased attacks on convoys carrying hardware, food and oil as they make their way from Karachi to Peshawar and through the Khyber Pass.

Lorry-loads of hijacked grain have been sold off cheaply in local markets and the Humvees paraded as war “booty”, giving the rebels a propaganda boost. More than 30 tankers with fuel bound for allied forces have been destroyed in bomb attacks on the road this year.

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Pakistan army chief to raise US missile strikes with NATO: AFP

6 hours ago
ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan's army chief will visit Brussels next week for talks with senior NATO officials about US missile strikes on Pakistani soil near the Afghanistan border, the military said.
The missile attacks by US drones in Pakistan's northwest tribal areas, which US and NATO officials describe as a safe haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda, have sharply raised tensions between Washington and nuclear-armed Pakistan.
"Army chief Ashfaq Kayani will discuss the complexities of security issues and the need for a comprehensive approach, while fully addressing Pakistan's interest," the military said in a statement.
Kayani will undertake the three-day visit from Tuesday after receiving a special invitation from chief of the NATO military committee admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, it said.
The military committee is the highest forum of NATO, which meets regularly to discuss various strategic issues concerning the organization.

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US releases $523m in aid: Dawn

By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, June 24: The United States has released and approved more than $523 million to Pakistan over the past two days, doing away with the impression that Washington may bring financial restrictions on Islamabad to spur it to do more in the war against terror.

The US House of Representatives approved $150 million of economic assistance to Pakistan on Tuesday, which is additional to the aid Pakistan gets under a $3 billion package signed during President Pervez Musharraf's visit to Camp David in 2003.On Monday, the United States transferred $373.841 million to Pakistan from the coalition support fund. The fund is used for reimbursing Pakistan for the expenses it incurs during anti-terrorism operations along the Afghan border.

"We are still looking forward to a long-term commitment from the United States, manifested in a democracy dividend of at least $1.5 billion a year as proposed by two of the wisest senators of the US, Biden and Lugar," said Ambassador Husain Haqqani while commenting on the release of US funds to Pakistan.

"All disagreements between Pakistan and the US will be resolved. And we will not let anything come between our visions of a strategic partnership between the two democracies," he said.

The release of $373 million from the coalition support fund clears dues up to November 2007. Pakistan is still to be reimbursed for November 2007 to March 2008 while Islamabad has not yet submitted bills for the March-May period.

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Is NATO Lying To Provoke A Pakistan War?: Radio Utopie

There is absolutely no proof of claims by US-led NATO (ISAF) military in Afghanistan

News agency "AFP" cites a "deputy provincial police chief" named "Mohammad Yaqoub Mandozai" who said: "Several rockets were fired on two NATO bases. One rocket landed on a civilian home which killed a woman and a child..The rockets were fired from the Pakistan side of the border."

NATO officials said that "the military responded by firing artillery rounds at the site from where the rockets were launched late Saturday".

This is no proof. This is war talk. Not enough to start any invasion.
At least not this time.

Everybody keep cool, everybody calm down. The NATO institutions are professional liars, like every other military is. Better winning by talk than winning by killing.
But in this case actually it´s about starting producing new casualties by a new war. That´s what the atlantic military pact is after.

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Nato's lost cause: Guardian

The west's 'good war' in Afghanistan has turned bad. A local solution, rather than a neocolonial one, is what's needed

In the latest clashes on the Pakistan-Afghan border, Nato troops have killed 11 Pakistani soldiers and injured many more, creating a serious crisis in the country and angering the Pakistan military high command, already split on the question.

US failure in Afghanistan is now evident and Nato desperation only too visible. Spreading the war to Pakistan would be a disaster for all sides. The Bush-Cheney era is drawing to a close, but it is unlikely that their replacements, despite the debacle in Iraq, will settle the American giant back to a digestive sleep.

The temporary cleavage that opened up between some EU states and Washington on Iraq was resolved after the occupation. They could all unite in Afghanistan and fight the good fight. This view has been strongly supported by every US presidential candidate in the run up to the 2008 elections, with Senator Barack Obama pressuring the White House to violate Pakistani sovereignty whenever necessary. He must be pleased.

That the "good war" has now turned bad is no longer disputed by a number of serious analysts in the US, even though there is no agreed prescription for dealing with the problems. Not least of which for some is the future of Nato, stranded far away from the Atlantic in a mountainous country, the majority of whose people, after offering a small window of opportunity to the occupiers, realised it was a mistake and became increasingly hostile.

For more on this article, please click on the following link: Nato's lost cause: Guardian