'US can't stay for long in Afghanistan'

[Judi Lynn]

'US can't stay for long in Afghanistan'

February 22 2007 at 08:00PM

By Sayed Salahuddin

Kabul - An Afghan warlord on a US wanted list has said the United States does not have the capacity to stay for long in Afghanistan and he predicts it will pull out at the same time as it withdraws from Iraq.

Denouncing the United States as "the mother of problems", Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister whose forces operate in southeastern areas near Pakistan, said Afghanistan's turmoil would not end until US forces left the region.

"As long as America remains in Afghanistan and in the region, war and problems will continue," he said in a copy of a video tape obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

"I can say with full assurance and confidence that America does not have the ability to stay for a long period in Afghanistan...," he said.
(snip/...)

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20070222191913663C872775

[rodeodance]

1. He may be right. We had our chance in 2002 but got sidetracked.

[Karenina]

2. IIRC W-A-A-A-Y back in the wayback

There was -ONE- British survivor from a misguided foray into that country. ONE. Those who forget history...

[maddezmom]

3. another link to new videos

You can't stop us, Qaeda brags in vids(7 videos showing attacks on US troops)
Edited on Thu Feb-22-07 04:02 AM by maddezmom
WASHINGTON - Osama Bin Laden's henchmen are advertising their new offensive in Afghanistan by releasing an unprecedented seven videos showing them attacking U.S. troops.

The videos, released by Bin Laden's propaganda arm As Sahab, are seen as a warning that Al Qaeda isn't waiting for the snow to melt before launching its annual spring offensive.

The startling videos obtained by the SITE Institute show the ambush of a convoy of Humvees near Khowst, a dozen miles from Pakistan, the rare suicide bombing of a convoy in Orgun-E and three rocket attacks.

Other videos show training camps operating with impunity.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2740743&mesg_id=2740743

[Ghost Dog]

4. Propaganda.

But Gulbuddin Hekmatyar appears to be, in the ancient sense of the concept (and in-context), a 'respectable', an 'honest' man.

More than your average warlord.

Add: In memorium Ahmad Shah Masoud (Peace also be upon him.)

PANJSHIR VALLEY, Northern Afghanistan - It's a simple round white chapel with a green dome. A sign beside the rocky trail points to "The Chief of the Martyr's Hill". The monument, located in one of the definitive Shangri La-like corners of the Panjshir, in a lush green valley bisected by the Panjshir River, is dwarfed by imposing naked mountains.

Earlier this week, scores of men worked around the clock in scorching sun and pitch darkness, wind and dust to add the finishing touches to the chapel. Students took a whole day to bicycle from the capital Kabul to pay their respects, dodging bombed bridges and wrecks of tanks, carrying bouquets of flowers and green banners with the inscription, "We follow the way of Masoud". Afghan President Hamid Karzai paid his visit on Saturday - but not on the highly significant September 9, a date that for a great deal of fractured Afghanistan carries infinitely more meaning than September 11 does for many people in the West.

For September 9 was the day a year ago that Ahmad Shah Masoud, 48, mujahideen hero, the Lion of the Panjshir, former vice-president of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, resistance leader for the Northern Alliance against the Taliban and the closest to a nationalist leader and hero Afghanistan has had in a long time, was assassinated, and he now lies buried in "The Chief of the Martyr's Hill". It's an unpretentious black marble grave, in the middle of the chapel, marked with a green Islamic flag.