Taleban tell British to expect a river of blood-- Times/UK

[TexasLawyer]

The Times May 05, 2006

Taleban tell British to expect a river of blood
From Tim Albone in Kandahar

Extremists have issued threats as Britain takes over the Nato command in a violent Afghan region

BRITISH forces were placed on notice by the Taleban yesterday that their mission to impose security over southern Afghanistan would end in failure. On the day that Britain took command of the Nato forces that are being deployed in their thousands across the most volatile provinces of the country, the Taleban leadership sent them a chilling message. “Our activity will increase day by day. We now have the confidence to fight face-to-face and we have all the ammunition we need,” said Mohammad Hanif Sherzad, the spokesman for Mullah Omar, the reclusive, one-eyed Taleban leader, who has a $10 million (£5.4 million) bounty on his head.

“We will turn Afghanistan into a river of blood for the British,” he told The Times on a satellite telephone from an undisclosed location. “We have beaten them before and we will beat them again.”
That threat could once have been dismissed as the rantings of a dying movement that was driven from power by the US-led invasion of 2001. But today the warning will be taken seriously.

The Taleban have rearmed, recruited new followers and are planning a hot reception for the 8,000-strong Nato force from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands, which hopes to impose order on an area the size of Britain. The deployment is intended to allow America to scale back its combat troops and help the Afghan Government to extend its writ beyond Kabul, the capital.

<snip>

A Harrier then fired a rocket into the group of insurgents. This, too, failed to subdue a stubborn and apparently well-trained enemy. A Harrier then dropped a 540lb (245kg) airburst bomb, which can destroy an area the size of a football pitch. “It’s not going to be pleasant after one of those has been dropped.” the pilot said. “Things went pretty quite.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2165731,00.html

[Oversea Visitor]

1. Just look at history

Dont know why all still want to be there
In 100 years time problems still be there if troops stay
There is no way to move forward as long as guns use to enforce control.
They fight you
They not fighting for money

[megatherium]

8. Perhaps they are fighting for money.

Actually, the Islamists are fighting for power, they want what we want, control over middle eastern energy, incaculable weath and power. But you're right, the war is unwinnable; if the US spent $1 trillion to develop domestic energy, the US might be able to sit out Armaggeddon. But only if the US moves quickly.

In Afghanistan, we should have followed Michael Scheuer's advice: we should have attacked quickly (September 12), to get al Qaeda and their Taliban hosts before they vanished. Then we should have left.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. That nutty, naughty Taleban

What a crazy and creative way to use the $40mil+ that Cheney gave to them back in April 2001! Gosh...think they want more money? :sarcasm:

[OneBlueSky]

3. the only solution -- here and in Iraq -- is for the West to get . . .

the hell out . . . as long as we occupy other countries, the violence will never stop, and will surely escalate -- especially under Bush . . .

we need to decide to not engage other nations in war, and re-learn how to deal with them diplomatically . . .

and accept that (despite BushCo's views to the contrary) their interests are just as legitimate as ours . . .

[hughee99]

4. Blood supplied unfortunately by those caught in the middle. n/t.

[jukes]

5. we learned NOTHING in hanoi

you *cannot* bomb an insurgency into submission.

[ekelmore]

6. Crusades?

Our little war on terror is similar to the crusades. No matter how strong the opposing force is, no matter how many times they "drive the enemy back", unless that force is willing to occupy that land in its entirety for eternity, the natives will always reclaim and reestablish what was lost and reformed. I definately feel that Saddam needed to be taken out of power. Coming from a military family, I've dealt with his tyranny first hand. I'm glad he's gone, but there's nothing else we can do over there. We need to strenghten our troops and security to prevent attacks on our country- but we will never be able to steady theirs. In four years I'll be an officer in the most lethal force in the world, and I sure for shit don't want Bush or any other idiot as my commander in chief. Lack of foresight AND hindsight. Ugh.

[legin]

7. the bullshit propaganda is starting to make me sick

e.g.
"...that Britain took command of the Nato forces that are being deployed in their thousands across the most volatile provinces of the country..."

They got about a tenth of the troops they need but no-one calls it how it is, not even the BBC.

It's 20 security per thousand population, not 2 per thousand.