Terror pipeline flows to Pakistan

[chat_noir]

A small group of American "jihadists" uses paintball guns to conduct weapons training in the woods of northern Virginia. A 23-year-old Lodi, Calif., man is convicted of providing material support to terrorists. Extremists are arrested in raids across Australia before they can allegedly stage attacks in Sydney and Melbourne, the nation's two largest cities.

Increasingly, such seemingly disparate cases involving "homegrown" terror groups, share connections to one place: Pakistan.

The alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound, trans-Atlantic jetliners foiled by British officials adds another, and potentially more significant entry to the growing list. It could also add a dimension not seen since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in terms of scale, sophistication and leadership being provided from abroad for a seemingly local group of terrorist "self-starters," according to senior U.S. intelligence officials.

Until recently, many counterterrorism officials believed that extremist enclaves in Pakistan largely offered inspiration, ideological inculcation or even limited training for a new generation of militants living in the West who became radicalized or inspired by al-Qaida propaganda.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/15260838.htm


A bit of history....


US 'let Taleban men escape'

FROM JAMES BONE IN NEW YORK

Times of London
MONDAY JANUARY 21 2002

THE United States secretly approved rescue flights by Pakistan into Kunduz that let Taleban leaders and al-Qaeda fighters escape from the besieged northern Afghan city before its fall last year, New Yorker magazine reports today.
US intelligence officials and military officers said that the Bush Administration approved the flights and ordered US Central Command to set up a special air corridor to ensure their safety to allow evacuation of Pakistani soldiers and intelligence men stranded by Northern Alliance victories.

“What was supposed to be a limited evacuation apparently slipped out of control and, as an unintended consequence, an unknown number of Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters managed to join in the exodus,” the magazine reports.

One senior US defence adviser said: “Everyone brought their friends with them. You’re not going to leave them behind to get their throats cut.”

Mysterious flights into Kunduz were reported by Northern Alliance officials in mid-November, but US and Pakistani officials denied an evacuation was under way.



New Yorker Mag - Did Bush Let Taliban & Al-Qaeda Escape?
The Getaway - Questions Surround Secret Pakistan Airlift

By Seymour M. Hersh
The New Yorker Issue
1-28-02

In Afghanistan last November, the Northern Alliance, supported by American Special Forces troops and emboldened by the highly accurate American bombing, forced thousands of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters to retreat inside the northern hill town of Kunduz. Trapped with them were Pakistani Army officers, intelligence advisers, and volunteers who were fighting alongside the Taliban. (Pakistan had been the Taliban's staunchest military and economic supporter in its long-running war against the Northern Alliance.) Many of the fighters had fled earlier defeats at Mazar-i-Sharif, to the west; Taloqan, to the east; and Pul-i-Khumri, to the south. The road to Kabul, a potential point of retreat, was blocked and was targeted by American bombers. Kunduz offered safety from the bombs and a chance to negotiate painless surrender terms, as Afghan tribes often do.

Surrender negotiations began immediately, but the Bush Administration heatedly - and successfully - opposed them. On November 25th, the Northern Alliance took Kunduz, capturing some four thousand of the Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The next day, President Bush said, "We're smoking them out. They're running, and now we're going to bring them to justice."

Even before the siege ended, however, a puzzling series of reports appeared in the Times and in other publications, quoting Northern Alliance officials who claimed that Pakistani airplanes had flown into Kunduz to evacuate the Pakistanis there. American and Pakistani officials refused to confirm the reports. On November 16th, when journalists asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about the reports of rescue aircraft, he was dismissive. "Well, if we see them, we shoot them down," he said. Five days later, Rumsfeld declared, "Any idea that those people should be let loose on any basis at all to leave that country and to go bring terror to other countries and destabilize other countries is unacceptable." At a Pentagon news conference on Monday, November 26th, the day after Kunduz fell, General Richard B. Myers, of the Air Force, who is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked about the reports. The General did not directly answer the question but stated, "The runway there is not usable. I mean, there are segments of it that are usable. They're too short for your standard transport aircraft. So we're not sure where the reports are coming from."


Hope the Dems are doing their homework.

[ashling]

1. Terror pipeline flows to Pakistan and Our Not So Smart Pig

President Bush said, "We're smoking them out. They're running, and now we're going to bring them to justice."
:puke:

[rurallib]

2. Gee, guess which one of our 'allies' is building a new reactor?

to create weapons grade plutonium?