Afghanistan War News Updates --, November 1, 2009

Aides to Abdullah, pictured, say he knows there is no point in taking part in an election 'where the odds are illegally stacked against him'. Photograph: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

Afghanistan Poll Chaos As Abdullah Quits Run-Off -- Times Online

President Karzai’s opponent in next Saturday’s presidential election run-off pulled out of the race today in protest over the government’s refusal to meet his demands to tackle the massive fraud that tainted the first round in August.

But Dr Abdullah Abdullah stopped short of calling for his supporters to boycott the vote and urged them not to take to the streets in protest, leaving a window open for a power-sharing deal to be brokered by the international community.

Read more ....

More News On Afghanistan

Afghan challenger drops out of runoff election -- Yahoo News/AP
Karzai rival Abdullah quits Afghan run-off -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Afghan Challenger Drops Out of Runoff -- L.A. Times
Afghan Presidential Challenger Withdraws -- Voice of America
Abdullah Withdraws From Afghan Presidential Run-Off -- Bloomberg
Afghanistan election challenger Abdullah Abdullah pulls out of runoff -- The Guardian
Karzai challenger quits Afghan runoff -- CNN
Karzai: Afghan president on brink of second term -- AFP
Karzai faces legitimacy crisis after Abdullah pullout -- AFP
Karzai vows to go ahead with Afghan vote -- Euronews
Afghan run-off to be held as scheduled: Election Commission -- China View
TIMELINE - Abdullah pulls out of Afghan election run-off -- Reuters

Abdullah Quits Afghan Runoff, Withdrawal Complicates Obama's Decision On Troops -- NPR
Obama's Afghan decision not likely before November 11 -- Yahoo News/Reuters
FACTBOX: How Obama's Afghan strategy is shaping up -- Reuters

Afghanistan Announces Arrests in UN Guesthouse Attack -- Voice of America
Qaeda Had Role in Attack on UN Staff, Official Says -- New York Times
As Kabul Awaits Runoff, 'Everything Has Stopped' -- Washington Post
Bush says Afghan war must be won to stop 'tyranny' -- Yahoo News/AFP
As US looks for exit in Afghanistan, China digs in -- AP
Frustrated in Iraq, U.S. troops eye Afghan action -- Washington Post/AP

British fight Taliban six times a day -- Sydney Morning Herald
UK soldier dies in Afghan blast -- BBC
US: 2 members of NATO-led force killed in attacks -- AP
More Than 1,000 U.S. Soldiers Wounded in Afghanistan in Last 3 Months -- AllGov.com
US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 831 -- Washington Post/AP

Commentaries And Analysis

The Real Afghan Strategy -- David Ignatius, Washington Post opinon
Tough Decision on Afghanistan -- Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, Korea Times
The new Afghan election, just like the old Afghan election -- Peter Galbraith, L.A. Times
McChrystal Lite -- Donnelly & Sullivan, Weekly Standard

World News Briefs -- November 1, 2009

Karzai Rival Says He Is Withdrawing From Afghan Runoff -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — Abdullah Abdullah, the chief rival to President Hamid Karzai, announced on Sunday that he would withdraw from the Nov. 7 Afghan runoff election, effectively handing a new term to Mr. Karzai but potentially damaging the government’s credibility.

Speaking at a news conference, Mr. Abdullah said that the Afghan people should not accept the results of an election run by the country’s Independent Electoral Commission, which has been accused of favoring Mr. Karzai.

Read more ....

MIDDLE EAST

Violence threatens Iraq's fragile peace. Police: Bicycle bomb kills 5 in southern Iraq.

Palestinians accuse U.S. of killing peace prospects.

Ahmadinejad: Iran's enemies a 'mosquito'. Iran students plan return to street protests.

No signs Israel planning immediate war: Lebanon FM

ASIA

Pakistan's hidden war.

At least 7 militants killed in fighting with Pakistan security forces, officials say.

As US looks for exit in Afghanistan, China digs in.

At least 14 dead after Typhoon Mirinae lashes Philippines.

AFRICA

Clinton in Morocco to meet with Arab leaders.

Somali pirates move British couple inland. Government rules out ransom deal.

China to map out Africa strategy at forum in Egypt.

Africa backs Darfur crimes court.

EUROPE

Bush, Gorbachev, Kohl mark Berlin Wall's fall.

Why France is pushing its students to master English.

Medvedev dashes hopes for more democracy in Russia.

Chirac faces charges. French shrug.

AMERICAS

Honduran Congress to review crisis accord Tuesday.

Castro: more US visitors mean more Cuban swine flu.

Threat of blackout darkens Venezuela energy talks.

Amazon Indians find plane crash survivors.

TERRORISM/THE LONG WAR

Nato 'making UK attack by Al Qaeda more likely'.

Six Guantanamo Uighurs arrive in Palau: official.

Pakistanis to Clinton: War on terror is not our war.

ECONOMY/FINANCE/BUSINESS

U.S. Federal regulators close 9 banks.

Geithner: economic recovery won't come quick.

How Goldman secretly bet on the U.S. housing crash.

Why Has President Obama Waited Almost 9 Months To Meet With His Joint Chiefs To Discuss Afghan War Strategy?

President Barack Obama meets on Afghanistan with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the White House Situation Room on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009. (Pete Souza / White House Photo)

Obama Seeking Options On Forces -- Washington Post

President looks to send fewer additional troops.

President Obama has asked the Pentagon's top generals to provide him with more options for troop levels in Afghanistan, two U.S. officials said late Friday, with one adding that some of the alternatives would allow Obama to send fewer new troops than the roughly 40,000 requested by his top commander.

Obama met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the White House on Friday, holding a 90-minute discussion that centered on the strain on the force after eight years of war in two countries. The meeting -- the first of its kind with the chiefs of the Navy, Army, Marine Corps and Air Force, who were not part of the president's war council meetings on Afghanistan in recent weeks -- prompted Obama to request another such meeting before he announces a decision on sending additional troops, the officials said.

Read more ....

My Comment: Wars in two countries, and it is only NOW that he is meeting all of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in one room. What is worse, is that upon realizing that he may not have all the information necessary to make a final decision on Afghanistan .... he decides to make a future arrangement at some undetermined time for another meeting.

Our European allies are right .... he is not focused on this conflict. Take away the rhetoric, there is nothing there.

More Schools, Not Troops -- A Commentary

From The New York Times:

Dispatching more troops to Afghanistan would be a monumental bet and probably a bad one, most likely a waste of lives and resources that might simply empower the Taliban. In particular, one of the most compelling arguments against more troops rests on this stunning trade-off: For the cost of a single additional soldier stationed in Afghanistan for one year, we could build roughly 20 schools there.

It’s hard to do the calculation precisely, but for the cost of 40,000 troops over a few years — well, we could just about turn every Afghan into a Ph.D.

Read more ....

My Comment: I completely agree. Long time readers of this blog know that I have always been an advocate for providing education to the young in war zones. This is one of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal .... but it has unfortunately not been well utilized. I should know, I have been actively involved in this since 2001.

I am the co-founder of Bookyards, one of the webs oldest online libraries. I started this project to promote free ebooks to third world countries that have an internet access. Since our launch in 2001, we have had 12 million visitors and over two million ebooks downloaded from our library database, with countries like India and Pakistan being two of the main users of this resource. The soldiers are fighting the war their way .... I am fighting this war my way.

We are presently modifying the site to become an easier to use resource for education and ebooks. By January of 2010 we will be launching a new version of our library site that will be easier to use and filled with tens of thousands of useful links to ebooks and resource sites.

While I spend a considerable amount of time keeping War News Updates current, my online library project takes most of my time. When our new online library version is ready to be lauched, we will be announcing this news via through all the blogs that we maintain ... this blog included. At that time, I will be asking everyone's support in promoting and/or at least publicizing the site. Every new visitor counts.

Taliban, al-Qaeda Sling US, German Guns: Report

Photo: H&K MP-5

From Press TV:

Pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants have reportedly been outfitted with state-of-the-art American arms and other weaponry made in the US-allied states, including Israel, Germany and India.

The pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan were equipped with expensive and expertly-crafted firearms made by the German arms manufacturer Blazer, Deutsche Welle reported on Wednesday.

Read more ....

My Comment: If they have weapons like this, it will only be a matter of time before the Taliban start to get their hands on anti-aircraft missiles. If this becomes the case .... this will change the dynamics of the Afghan war appreciably.

Wasn't The Lockerbie Bomber Suppose To Be Dead By Now?

Revealed: Lockerbie Bomber Defies Doctors' Prediction Of Death -- The Telegraph

The health of the Lockerbie bomber has "not deteriorated" since his release from prison three months ago – despite doctors' assessments that he would have died by now, a senior source has told The Sunday Telegraph.

The disclosure will reignite the row over the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds despite his conviction for the murder of 270 people when Pan Am flight 103 exploded in mid-air over Lockerbie in 1988.

Megrahi, who is suffering terminal prostate cancer, was sent home to Libya to die after medical experts concluded in a report on July 30 he had just three months left to live. The time span was crucial because only prisoners with three months or less to survive are eligible for release on compassionate grounds.

Read more ....

My Comment: The Ministers who released him assured us that he did not have long to live. Well .... it appears that they were terribly wrong. My prediction, these same officials will now (of course) start listing all the excuses that absolves them from the decision that they themselves made when they released him. In short .... with each passing month that he is alive, expect everyone to start following the golden rule of CYA.

The Growth Of A Sunni Rebellion In Shiite Iran

Iranian medical personnel bring an injured person to a medical facility in the Pishin district in Iran in this image taken from TV Sunday Oct. 18, 2009. A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard and at least 26 others Sunday near the Pakistani border in the heartland of a potentially escalating Sunni insurgency. The attack which also left dozens wounded was the most high-profile strike against security forces in an outlaw region of armed tribal groups, drug smugglers and Sunni rebels known as Jundallah, or Soldiers of God. Photo from Suomen Kuvalehti

Iran’s Sunni Militants Carve Secretive Path -- Dawn

ISLAMABAD: Seven years ago, a little-known group called Jundallah emerged in Iran with claims to fight for the rights of minority Sunnis in the unruly tribal areas near the border with Pakistan, AP reports.

But just last week, Iranian leaders say, this shadowy group with reported connections to countries as diverse as the US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia delivered a devastating attack on Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard. The Oct. 18 suicide bombing in an Iranian border village killed at least 42 people, including top Revolutionary Guard commanders.

Read more ....

My Comment: For the moment this is Iran's problem. But (unfortunately) Islamic resistance movements ultimately become our problem and curse.