Pakistan again

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) today launched a suicide attack against a police station in Kohat today killing 16 including 6 women and four children. Oh the lions of Islam must be proud after this attack. So later in the day they issue a press release admiting to the bombing all well and good this time they even acknowledged they killed civilians which is rare for them. This press release then goes on to say that the group will continue to attack police and military targets and if civilians do not want to be harmed to stay away from them. I just finished "The Most Dangerous Place" by Imtiaz Gul this book covers the Tribal Area of Pakistan a lot more clearly than what you get from Western press. The author goes into detail about the drone attacks and how they are generally accepted by Pakistanis now who have seen they have done some good ie Betulla Meshud.

However this tactic of seperating the populace from the police and military by promising more civilian deaths is very alarming. What governance there is in the FATA and the NWFP could dissipate if people are afraid to interact with security agencies.

Hike

Had a good gear check this weekend.
Packs held up well
Tent was easy to put up the waterproofing I did on the bottow did a fantastic job. I went ahead and did the hole tent including the rain guard.
Cooker was good a little tricky but got it figured out. Mess gear cheap but adequate. The Queen's boots did well.
Sleeping bags were good but we need lighter ones and better sleeping pads.

We think we are going to do another trial run then hit either DD or White Rock.

accessories

Ok I have almost my ideal rifle it is an M16A2 with a scope however I would prefer an A3 or A4 model with a flattop but that is another $350-500 to spend that is a future purpose because then it would mean a different scope as well. What I can do in the mean time is get the accessories I need.
Cleaning kit check
I need a good assault vest I saw some today used for $10.00 with the MOLLE mag pouches for $2.00 a piece.
I need about 15 more magazines not that I can carry 16 but would like to be able to load out at least 8 at a whack.
Also there is the option of a chest rig not the kind I can put a trauma plate in but there are some nice ones out there.
I got good knives, there is however a field M16/A15 repair tool that would be nice to have.

No I am not looking at an M4 because the shorter barrel length degrades the performance of the already whimpy 5.56 round.

Am I missing anything?

Sometimes I see hope

My four readers know that I tend to concentrate on Pakistan in most of my writings in doing this I tend to read a lot of South West Asian news. Doing so often times leads me to articles and editorials that give me hope that there maybe a way to turn around the terrorism that is the primary product of these areas.

Today an editorial appears in Dawn.com a Pakistani news site. In it the author calls for the Pakistani government and with it the ISI to get its act together in regards to domestic terrorism. It also calls on the government to stop playing regional power broker when the fabric of Pakistani society is being destroyed from within.

Then again I read something like this which is a propaganda attempt by the
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or in the states (TeT). That says the group will give $20 million in aid to the Pakistani flood victims but it has to be distributed by the group and not through the gov't of Pakistan oh and the jihad against the United States will continue. Let us not forget that 10 in foreign aid workers were just killed in Afghanistan by the HIG which is a "good" Taliban group. The aid workers belong to an organization that has been helping the Afghan people since the 1960s.

After awhile depression sets in. This is from the Asia Times. Part of counter insurgency is to get those that will lay down their weapons to do so and frankly to kill the rest. In this case however Taliban had laid down their arms and were going to try and become peaceful citizens. This goes with the poor governance coming from Kabul as these guys should have been held up as shining examples of what happens when you lay down your guns. Now they are back to fighting against the government. Admittedly though they probably made more money helping to run opium and heroin and being bandits than they could as private citizens. Here is the money quote Siawash, a political analyst in Herat province, said he "believed that most of those who joined the peace process were simply armed criminals, rather than part of the opposition. Once they realized they were no longer able to make a living out of crime, he said, they came to the government and claimed to be militants willing to surrender. Then they would turn back to crime again." What most people realize is that a good portion of the "Taliban" are nothing but criminals and drug smugglers albeit heavily armed ones hiding behind religion.

I think I need to go read something on Onion as I am disgusted.

Ambush

You probably have not heard much about the Lebanese Army attacking an Israeli unit this week. What you have heard from the media is probably wrong leave it to UN to actually defend Israel for once. UNIFIL the unit that is sort of overseeing the cease fire between the IDF and Hezbollah acknowledged that the Israelis were on their side of the border. Also a sniper shot that takes out the CO then followed by a volley of RPG fire. This was a perfect set up. There are lots of links to the incident I suggest that you follow them.

Brennen

Mr. Brennen is the administrations top anti-terrorism guy however smart he thinks he is about jihad he is just not getting it. I have mentioned in the past that yes I do understand that trying to seperate mainstream Muslims from the terrorists view of Islam is a good thing. However with the revival of Islam there seems to be disagrement in the Muslim world of the role of jihad. What CAIR and other Muslim groups want us to believe is that jihad is just an internal struggle however there is too much other information out there saying that jihad is to expand Islam. The latest from MEMRI says something very different. Hafiz Saeed, a scholar of Islam, has said that the purpose of Jihad is to carry out a sustained struggle for the dominance of Islam in the entire world and to eliminate the evil forces and the ignorant. He considers India, Israel and US to be his prime enemies and has threatened to launch Fidayeen (suicide squad) attacks on American interests too. More on Saeed who is the leader of the LeT his favorite verse of the Koran is
Wajahidu Fee Sabilallah: Wage a holy war in the name of God Almighty. His worldview is straight and simple: ’God has ordained every Muslim to fight until His rule is established.

Itjihad - which is a reinterpretation of the Koran has not been done in hundreds of years unlike Christian faith. For those that do not know the violent verses of the Koran abrogate the earlier more tolerant ones.

Conflicting Stories Coming from Afghanistan

Say it is not so.

Also a tale of two articles on from the Asia Times concerning civilian fears in Marjah which to some extent can be attributed to Taliban propaganda and some to legitimate security concerns. Please note the quote from the Taliban spokesman as it says that the locals are helping them. This ties in very well to a report from the Long War Journal about the closing of a local bazaar in the same area in Now Zad. Bazaars in Afghanistan while used to sell goods and services are also a large revenue source for the government as they are taxed. It also seems that the Taliban get their "help from the barrel of the AKs" I would not exactly call this winning the hearts and minds but when it is either your whole family being killed or giving up food and a son what choice do these people really have. It seems the Taliban were also running a bazaar to generate income and to move their opium. It would not be a far stretch to say that the same group of Taliban are stirring up trouble in both areas.