U.S. pays new attention to Pakistan border

U.S. military commanders say Pakistan's tribal areas are at the center of the fight against Islamic extremism; more so than Iraq, or even Afghanistan. These areas border on eastern Afghanistan and provide haven for al-Qaida and Taliban fighters to regroup, rearm and reorganize.
No shit? I think that's what we've been trying to say all along. It was more important to justify being in Iraq and making the bloddy mess out of it that we did rather than to be actually going after Bin Laden and his henchman. However, Offer of troops turned down by Musharraf, who advises Afghan focus.
Wonder what he's trying to hide...hmmmmm?
More^

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BinLaden t o Europe: Get Out of Afghanistan

Maddy Sauer and Rehab El-Buri Report:

Osama bin Laden is calling on European nations to end their support of "America's oppression" in Afghanistan in an audiotape message just released.

Video: Listen to an excerpt of Bin Laden's Message to Europe

Bin Laden says he was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and that the people and government of Afghanistan are innocent victims of America's war there.

Bin Laden said the U.S. pursued a war in Afghanistan despite the fact they had no evidence of a connection to the attacks. He said he attacked America on 9/11 because of the government's involvement in Palestine and Lebanon.

"The American tide is retreating," said bin Laden. He warned that the U.S. will soon go back home to their side of the Atlantic Ocean and added that the war in Afghanistan unfairly targets the women and children there.

The audio message was accompanied by an old still photo of bin Laden, but no new video of the terror leader was released today. In September, bin Laden appeared in a video message which was the first time he was seen on video in three years.

The latest audio message from the al Qaeda leader, who is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, aired this afternoon on al Jazeera TV and is expected to be widely distributed online in extreme Islamist forums. The media wing of al Qaeda, as Sahab, began advertising today's message online a few days ago.

Thanks to Saboma for the heads up

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Afghanistan tries to shame Taliban kidnappers

A purported Taliban spokesman shrugged off the demands and instead set a new deadline for the hostages’ lives, saying the hardline militants could kill one or all of the 22 captives if the government didn’t release 23 militant prisoners by 3:30 a.m. ET Monday. Several other deadlines have passed without killings.

Read More...Afghanistan tries to shame Taliban kidnappers

Watch Video

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I Think Bush Has Lost It or Is He Crazy Like a Fox?

The white House is hiring for the Position of War 'Czar' according to the Washington post.

The White House has not publicly disclosed its interest in creating the position, hoping to find someone President Bush can anoint and announce for the post all at once. Officials said they are still considering options for how to reorganize the White House's management of the two conflicts. If they cannot find a person suited for the sort of specially empowered office they envision, they said, they may have to retain the current structure.

The administration's interest in the idea stems from long-standing concern over the coordination of civilian and military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan by different parts of the U.S. government. The Defense and State departments have long struggled over their roles and responsibilities in Iraq, with the White House often forced to referee.
Three Generals have spurned the offer!

All three generals who declined the job have been to varying degrees administration insiders.

Keane, a former Army vice chief of staff, was one of the primary proponents of sending more troops to Iraq and presented Bush with his plan for a major force increase during an Oval Office meeting in December. The president adopted the concept in January, although he did not dispatch as many troops as Keane proposed.

Ralston, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was named by Rice last August to serve as her special envoy for countering the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a group designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

Sheehan, a 35-year Marine, served on the Defense Policy Board advising the Pentagon early in the Bush administration and at one point was reportedly considered by then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He now works as an executive at Bechtel Corp. developing oil projects in the Middle East.

CZAR
Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus
Main Entry:
autocratic
Part of Speech:
adjective
Definition:
dictatorial
Synonyms:
absolute, all-powerful, arbitrary, bossy, czar, despotic, dictatorial, domineering, driving, imperious, monocratic, pushing, tyrannical, tyrannous
Antonyms:
democratic, lenient, tolerant
Source:
Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.3.1)Copyright © 2007 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

It could be me but the last time I checked this was the United States of America - not Russia! Bush just keeps getting stranger and stranger all the time. I think he has convinced himself that he is a King rather than a President.

Addendum:
I have had two of my readers point out to me how really smart this is in reality as it gives Bush a way to protect himself and they are right. I hadn't thought of it this way.
Thanks Kellypea and Jeff for pointing this out to me!

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