"Armed and dangerous: Taliban gear up" (scary new intelligence)

[TexasLawyer]

New intelligence shows that the Taliban in Afghanistan are working with the Tamil Tigers-- using Tamil expertise and smuggling channels to greatly improve the Taliban arsenal. Paid for, of course, with money gained from opium sales.

:scared::scared::scared::scared::scared:

Asia Times
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GL22Df01.html
South Asia
Dec 22, 2005

Armed and dangerous: Taliban gear up
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI -

<snip>

The resistance has steadily taken steps, though, to beef up its arsenal to include modern automatic weapons and ground-to-air missiles. This it has done in part by forging closer links with the resistance in Iraq, as well as with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil, Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka.

<snip>

Pakistani intelligence sources say that al-Qaeda now works with the LTTE to get weapons, including automatic arms and ground-to-air missiles. The weapons are paid for in cash, as well as in drugs originating from Afghanistan, according to the sources. The drugs primarily are sent to Scandinavian countries and Thailand, the latter being a traditional base from which the LTTE has smuggled weapons.

"This is a perfect arrangement as resources are complemented - the Tigers get ideological support, while regular arms supplies on the other hand go to al-Qaeda, which ultimately feeds its fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan," said the source.

"The smuggling channels are the same that the Tamil Tigers have adopted for years . The latest weapons originate through arm dealers, as well as those stolen from arms depots and shipped from South America and Lebanon. They are transferred from ship to ship and sometimes offloaded at small ports, and from there, using various channels, they reach the final destination," the source said.

<much more>

[bemildred]

1. Well, if they are working with LTTE, that is worrisome.

The war in Sri Lanka looks like it's going to heat up again, too.

[amandabeech]

2. Since the Shrub doesn't think about Osama anymore,

nothing will be done here.

It is very unfortunate, because combating this kind of drugs for arms trade deeply affects many, many countries with corruption and degradation. And the upshot is that the multinational force in Afghanistan will feel the brunt.

Even if we were to pull out a substantial part of our forces in Iraq, I doubt if the current administration has the interest or the political will to go into Afghanistan. They'd rather rattle sabers at Syria and Iran to satisfy the PNACers agenda, rather than go after clear threats to the security of the U.S. and many other countries.

I'm not sure if I, a late boomer, will live to see the U.S. overcome the blunders of the Shrubites on this an all other fronts, if it is even possible.

On edit: I guess the Shrubites don't care about that gas pipeline through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Pakistani port on the Arabian Gulf. Perhaps they are about to give up on getting that central Asian gas with Russia and China asserting themselves in the 'Stans. They'll have enough difficulty keeping oil running through the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline. What a bunch of amateurs.

[tatertop]

4. What an ugly development.

Looks like we will be hearing more about the Taliban
in the not too distant future. Too bad we broke the UN and
soured the EU. This is a situation that cries for
an international solution - and fast.

[tonkatoy57]

3. Hmm, Curious

"Pakistani intelligence sources say that al-Qaeda now works with the LTTE..."

Why would al-Qaeda work with Letters to the Editor? I thought they preferred more violent means. What papers are the using? What is the paper of record for al-Qaeda? I think they are probably Washington Times fans myself.

[bemildred]

5. "LTTE" == "Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam"

One of the foremost, if not The Foremost, practitioners of suicide bombing and "terrorism" as a tactic for national liberation.

http://www.eelam.com/

[tonkatoy57]

7. I know.

Just a lame attempt at humor.

On a related note, I've always thought Tamil Tigers was a great name for a sports franchise.

On a more serious note, this administration sure has dropped the ball in Afghanistan ever since they got a gigantic, tumescent hardon for Iraq. They couldn't be bigger fuck ups if they tried.

[bemildred]

10. Yeah, thought you might ...

The Bushites are batting 100% as far as I can tell, everything they touch becomes merde.

[ima_sinnic]

6. but, but, but -- Furious George sez "the world is safer now"

His Imperial Chimperor also told us the Taliban had been fatally weakened or some such bullshit.
As usual, Bushitter, your talk means nothing and the sickening results of your incompetence are plainly visible to the entire world.

[warrens]

8. Afghanistan is a HUGE SUCCESS STORY

Never mind that Karzai is president of about 12 city blocks. They got them a democracy!!!! And a few warlords and druglords and religious crazies ruling about 85 percent of the country in no way detracts from this wild success.

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. IIRC, the soviets didn't really lose control in Afghanistan until

the insurgents got ahold of (US supplied) surface to air missiles which wound up denying the soviets effective air cover for their ground troops.

With these new, more modern missiles in the hands of the Taliban, what will happen when we start losing a helicopter or two every week?

I don't think I am mis-remembering that the war went pretty well for the Soviets for the first couple years. Their hundred-thousand man army covered the country in days, they propped up their puppet, and the big worry was that they were so successful that they might move on to take the oil fields in Iran.

I don't think we're finished in Afghanistan, by a long shot.

[madmark]

11. if true; bad fucking news. Yet Another reason we need the "A" team

to deal with these issues, not the current group of degenerate incompetents.

[nosmokes]

12. but afghanistan is a success - din't ya get the memo?

besides, why would you wanna go after the actual folks that attacked you on 9/11, or that are responsible for killing sailors on the uss cole, or marines in the barracks in lebanon in a *war on terror*? not when you can end up sitting on top of one the world's largest oil reserves for just a couple thousand dead GIs and a few billion dollars. hell, exxon will make that up in less than a year.