Cheney makes unannounced visit to Pakistan

[maddezmom]

ISLAMABAD, Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced visit to Pakistan on Monday to press for President Pervez Musharraf's help in combating a new Taliban offensive in Afghanistan and a resurgent al Qaeda.

Cheney was meeting with Musharraf at the presidential palace in Islamabad, an official told reporters traveling with the vice president.

http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N26256080.htm

Cheney Stops in Pakistan Seeking More Action to Halt Taliban


Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced stop in Islamabad to press Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to step up enforcement along the porous border with Afghanistan and prevent a resurgence of the Taliban and al- Qaeda training camps.

Cheney spent about four hours in the Pakistani capital for talks with Musharraf following a weeklong trip to Japan and Australia and a stop in Oman last night. For security reasons, reporters traveling with him were barred from disclosing the visit in advance.

The Bush administration is trying to blunt a fresh challenge from the Taliban, a fundamentalist Muslim group that governed Afghanistan under a harsh code of Islamic law until the U.S. drove it from power after the Sept. 11 attacks. Cheney's visit underscores American concern about countering a Taliban offensive launched from the remote mountainous region along Pakistan's 1,510-mile-long (2,430 kilometer) border with Afghanistan. The area is largely controlled by tribal leaders and not the central government.

``The terrorists have concluded that we are decadent in spirit, weak in character and conquerable,'' Cheney said in a speech in Sydney on Feb. 23. ``The notion that free countries can turn our backs on what happens in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, or any other possible safe haven for terrorists is an option that we simply cannot indulge.''

more:http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0rijuEC9ibM

[LaPera]

1. Cheney, Rice, Bush always make unannounced secret visits, they are terrified of getting their asses

blown up if they gave advanced notice...the rats sneak in and sneak out.

[Erika]

2. Yeah, even in this country

Unless it's blocked off to make sure Americans can't be heard. W and Cheney are totally disliked in this country. Can you imagine how the ME feels about them?

[otohara]

3. Apologies to the People of Pakistan

at least he didn't stay long.

[Fridays Child]

4. The notion that Halliburton can turn its back on sweetheart government contracts...

...is the only option that Dick "simply cannot indulge."

[Contrary1]

5. Gee, I wonder if they even bothered notifying Musharraf

that they were dropping by.

Surprise!!! Darth Chaney has honored you with a visit..

Roll out the red carpet, as this administration deserves such respect. :sarcasm:

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. The Asia Times reports that the administration is working with Pakistan and the Taliban...

... in creating terror incursions into southeast Iran.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/IB24Ak01.html

In a rare public criticism of Pakistan, the Tehran Times commented last week that an exclusive Islamabad-Washington nexus is at work manipulating the Afghan situation. The daily, which reflects official Iranian thinking, spelled out something that others perhaps knew already but were afraid to talk about publicly.

<snip>

The commentary pointed a finger at Pakistan's training the Taliban and providing them with "logistical and political support". It highlighted that US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who visited Islamabad recently, chose to sidestep the issue and instead bonded with President General Pervez Musharraf. This is because Washington's priority - that the "new cold war" objective of NATO is to establish a long-term presence in the region - can be realized only with Musharraf's cooperation.

The Iranian outburst was, conceivably, prompted by the spurt of trans-border terrorism inside Iran's Sistan-Balochistan province, which borders Pakistan. Ten days ago, a militant group called Jundallah killed 11 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in an attack in the city center of Zahedan. Iranian state media reported that the attack was part of US plans to provoke ethnic and religious violence in Iran. Balochs are Sunnis numbering about 1.5 million out of Iran's 70 million predominantly Shi'ite population.

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi alleged that in the recent past, US intelligence operatives in Afghanistan had been meeting and coordinating with Iranian militants, apart from encouraging the smuggling of drugs into Iran from Afghanistan. He said the US operatives were working to create Shi'ite-Sunni strife within Iran.

American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has copiously written about recent US covert operations inside Iran. With reference to the incidents in Zahedan, Stratfor, a think-tank with close connections to the US military and security establishment, commented that the Jundallah militants are receiving a "boost" from Western intelligence agencies. Stratfor said, "The US-Iranian standoff has reached a high level of intensity ... a covert war being played out ... the United States has likely ramped up support for Iran's oppressed minorities in an attempt to push the Iranian regime toward a negotiated settlement over Iraq."

Just checkin' on his taliban troops.

[JohnnyRingo]

7. At least they stopped referring to these top secret appearances as "surprise visits"

Whether it was Rice showing up at the Baghdad Airport in full body armor, or Buxh carving up a fake turkey as disarmed troops stand by the media always mentioned it was a "surprise visit"...as if they happily jumped out from behind a curtain and cheered "SURPRISE!!!" "I just thought I'd drop by!!!", like some goddam birthday party.

Now they admit that everyone in the current admin are so universally loathed they can't travel anywhere without the security of secrecy for fear of their lives.

I don't recall the previous administration having such a problem.

[salitine]

8. Ah. I see.

The vice president wanted to find out what they wanted to do about the Opium trade. They told him they'd sacrifice a couple of farms to the good appearance of "The War on Drugs.".

[medeak]

9. the timing is unbelievable.......

same day as Frank Rich's editorial re Bush asleep at the wheel re Pakistan. How do they do it?

[HuffleClaw]

10. last minute preparations for the WAR

[Algorem]

11. must be smuggling season