Authorities Say 20 Oil Tankers En Route to NATO Troops in Afghanistan Attacked in Pakistan

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

Authorities say 20 oil tankers en route to NATO troops in Afghanistan attacked in Pakistan
Oct. 3, 2010, 4:23 p.m. EDT
Associated Press
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Authorities say 20 oil tankers en route to NATO troops in Afghanistan attacked in Pakistan.

Read more: http://www.silive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/authorities-say-20-oil-tankers-en-route/7e848c4edec74360ab9dff5314cc2f96

[msongs]

1. does our military allow this intentionally to drive up costs or are they just slow learners? nt

[truedelphi]

2. The Powers that Be are needing a Bay of Tonkin style event

As the war in Afghanistan is not a popular one. Millions of us who are unemployed know far too well that a bankrupt nation should not be expanding a war into a neighboring nation.

But now they have the excuse to officially swing into Pakistan.

[GrantDem]

3. Oil tankers are pretty big...

To attack 20 of them would be a large scale operation wouldn't it???

Just saying...

[Swede]

11. Set up a roadblock in some isolated valley and open fire.

Unless they were attacked in a parkade,either way,a small team could do it.

[Turborama]

4. Meanwhile, the blockade on the border to Afghanistan continues with no end in sight.

It's been going on for several days, there must be quite a big queue that's developed by now: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4558989&mesg_id=4562502

[mikehiggins]

5. before we start talking crazy talk remember that the soldiers

who will be left without fuel, ammo, food, etc are OUR soldiers.

If some sort of compromise (as in, we don't send drone bombs into Pakistan) is reached, our guys will end up like the Russians, and the Brits before them. War in Afghanistan is the worst possible idea in the worst possible place, something history has tried to make plain to invaders time and time again. Nobody seems to want to take the hint.

If we can't get supplies in to our troops, then we have to get our troops out as soon as possible.

The alternative, as history has shown in the past, will be a bloodbath.

[WhiteTara]

6. is this "Pearl Harbor" for Pakistan?

war can be declared because they struck out at us first?

[Turborama]

7. More like their "Pearl Harbor". We killed 3 of their soldiers inside Pakistan the other day

Details here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4558967

This was quickly followed up by a blockade being put up on the Afghanistan border by Pakistan: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4558989

[truth2power]

8. I think this was asked before, but could someone explain, one more time..

what are NATO troops doing in Afghanistan & Pakistan? I mean, what is the official spin?

Thanks.

[Roland99]

9. Anyone see 60 Minutes tonight?

Why not redirect all those headed into Iran down that way. ;)

[Turborama]

10. Al Jazeera English with more details: Nato tankers set ablaze in Pakistan (3 killed)

Armed men have killed at least three people and set fire to 20 oil tankers in Pakistan that were en route to Nato and US troops in Afghanistan, according to police.

The attack early on Monday close to the capital Islamabad was the third such strike on supply lorries since Friday.

One of the main routes used by Afghanistan-bound trucks has been closed for days after three Pakistani troops were killed in a helicopter strike by the military alliance in a border area.

Police said the attackers opened fire on trucks that were parked at a poorly-guarded terminal before setting them on fire.

Umer Hayat, a police officer, said three people were killed and blamed Monday's attack on "terrorists". Eight other people were wounded in the incident near the Pakistani capital.

More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/10/2010103204818634449.html

[Turborama]

12. The BBC say it was 27 tankers and 6 people were killed (plus they provide a raw video)

Militants attack Nato tanker convoy in Pakistan

The attackers stormed a depot where the tankers were being prepared for a Nato convoy.

Suspected militants have attacked a depot where dozens of tankers were being filled with fuel for Nato troops in Afghanistan.

They say 27 tankers were set on fire in the attack close to the capital Islamabad.

Six people were killed in the attack early on Monday morning.

More (including raw video of the tankers in flames): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11463490

[G_j]

13. Key NATO Supply Route Hit Again in Pakistan

Source: AP

Key NATO Supply Route Hit Again in Pakistan
Police say oil tankers en route to NATO in Afghanistan attacked again in Pakistan
The Associated Press

By ZARAR KHAN Associated Press Writer

Police say suspected militants have attacked and set on fire at least 20 oil tankers in Pakistan that were en route to NATO and US troops in Afghanistan

The attack early Monday close to the capital Islamabad was the third since Friday.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=11786334

---

~~~
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/03/pakistan-oil-tankers-nato-afghanistan

Oil tankers destroyed in attack on Nato supply route in Pakistan

Three people dead after 'terrorists' set fire to 20 tankers bound for troops in Afghanistan, say Pakistani officials

Suspected militants attacked and set fire to at least 20 oil tankers in Pakistan en route to Nato forces in Afghanistan, police said tonight.

Three people were killed in the attack, which occurred close to Islamabad, the capital, according to senior police official Umar Hayat.

It was the third time since Friday that Nato convoys travelling by land through Pakistan to Afghanistan have been targeted.

"Gunmen opened fire and then set on fire tankers parked on the roadside. It's a big fire. We're trying to control it," Hayat said.

..more..

[bemildred]

14. Kick. nt

[Prometheus Bound]

15. This a positive development.

Clearly, the enemy, whoever that is, in its last throes. These constant attacks, though highly effective at disrupting our supply lines, are clearly an act of desperation.

We are definitely winning the war. I doubt if they can hold out more than another 50 or 100 years.

[bemildred]

16. Where the hell is Cheney anyway? He's been awful quiet.

Who is going to defend the wars now?

[Prometheus Bound]

17. He says he was mistranslated with THAT "last throes".

He says what he really meant was it was the US economy, not the Iraqi insurgency, that was in its last throes, and therefore that he deserves credit for his prescience. :)

Actually I had forgotten that it was Cheney who coined that term in this context. I was thinking more recently of the top Canadian general in Afghanistan who said the Taliban was in its last throes.

[Turborama]

18. I'm surprised no-one has suggested the CIA were behind this yet

I just had a thought, what a perfect way to get out of Afghanistan.

How come it took 9 years for the Pakistan Taliban to finally realize that to make the war machine in Afghanistan grind to a halt all they needed to do was cut its main artery?

[Nihil]

19. "How come it took 9 years ..."

> How come it took 9 years for the Pakistan Taliban to finally realize
> that to make the war machine in Afghanistan grind to a halt all they
> needed to do was cut its main artery?

Maybe this was an "unofficial" action?

If so, maybe an investigation into the families of the three Pakistani
soldiers who were killed the other day might produce a person who would
not only have the incentive for revenge (hell, enough people have already
got that) but also the means to carry it out and, thanks to the official
blockade, the opportunity?

In the situation that's been going on over there recently (e.g., increasing
numbers of drone attacks by the US against targets in Pakistan), it wouldn't
be that surprising that one of the "collateral" victims had a relative who
would be in a position to extract vengeance.