This very informative article does a nice job of connecting the dots.

WASHINGTON - Despite evidence implicating current Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani in a major military assistance program for Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan over the past few years, senior officials of the Barack Obama administration persuaded the US Congress to extend military assistance to Pakistan for five years without any assurance that the Pakistani assistance to the Taliban had ended.

Follow the easy flow chart:

I was in a tiny minority back in 2001, believing as I did then that a bombing and strafing campaign that sent Talib leaders running for the safety of the hills of Warzistan was not the right response to 9/11. And even if it was, there's this thing called "follow through." Something most Repubicans no nothing about. More proof that we really need some adults in charge soon, because the dead of 9/11 must be wondering when, if ever, they will be avenged:

MONTREAL, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - Reporters Without Borders is very worried about the pressure being placed on the authorities by conservative religious leaders in the case of Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, a young journalist in the northern province of Balkh who has been detained since late October on charges of blasphemy and defaming Islam. The Council of Mullahs says he should be
sentenced to death.

"The calls for the death penalty for Kambakhsh highlight the growing influence of fundamentalist groups on intellectual debate," the organisation
said. "The blasphemy charges are an ill-disguised attempt to hide the desire of the local authorities to restrict press freedom."

A reporter for the newspaper Jahan-e Naw ("The New World") and ajournalism student at Balkh university, Kambakhsh, 23, was arrested on
27 October. Articles on the role of women in Muslim society were found at his
home. articles about women and Islam!!! the horror!

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Remember when the Taliban blew up those giant Buddhas in Afghanistan (only because the Neocons hadn't thought of it first)? Those 1,700 year-old sandstone statues were in league with Danish cartoonists (just a theory, okay?) and were just asking to be obliterated so an all-powerful God would know He was really, really worshipped to the max by the faithful...no karma, no foul, right?

So I was surfing around, and I came across this:

McCaffrey is calling for a $500 billion investment over the next 10 years to build the Afghan army and police force into “capable, dominant” institutions:

The Afghan economy is booming at 12% growth rate a year. $14 billion has been spent on aid since 2001. Six TV channels and a hundred free/uncensored publications are available to the people. Literacy is increasing rapidly. The ring road is now 2/3 complete. The 40,000 soldiers of the ANA are growing rapidly in numbers and capability. There are 45,000 NATO and US troops in-country. There is a functioning democracy with an elected Parliament ---and a serious, dedicated Afghan President in office.

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Corrente reports, because somebody has to:

Informer Killings Show Growing Taleban Control
Islamic insurgents hold court and execute alleged informers as they extend their hold over parts of the southern province of Helmand.

By IWPR trainees in Lashkar Gah (ARR No. 243, 26-Feb-07)

The past two weeks have seen an unprecedented rash of killings in Helmand as the Taleban claim to be settling scores with informers who have helped foreign troops based in the province. Afghan government sources say that those executed were innocent civilians, but the insurgents insist they held trials according to the laws of Sharia or Islamic law.

In all, eight people have been killed in three separate districts of Helmand province within the last 15 days. Four were hanged and the rest beheaded.

Taleban commanders maintain that those “executed” had betrayed them by tipping off the whereabouts of insurgents to the International Security and Assistance Force, the foreign troops charged with establishing peace and security in Helmand.

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The absurdity never ends.

KARACHI - The Pakistani establishment has made a deal with the Taliban through a leading Taliban commander that will extend Islamabad's influence into southwestern Afghanistan and significantly strengthen the resistance in its push to capture Kabul.

One-legged Mullah Dadullah will be Pakistan's strongman in a corridor running from the Afghan provinces of Zabul, Urzgan, Kandahar and Helmand across the border into Pakistan's

Balochistan province, according to both Taliban and al-Qaeda contacts Asia Times Online spoke to. Using Pakistani territory and with Islamabad's support, the Taliban will be able safely to move men, weapons and supplies into southwestern Afghanistan.

More rapid fire posting and then I'm really outta here. But you've got to read this interview with a very savvy and organized seeming member of the Taliban. Registan has some good stuff too. Also, did you notice? US and Iran are going to talk about Iraq. You can hear the wingnut heads exploding a hundred miles away. Note too Baker is back in the mix, and working hard to clean up Junior's little mess. How he must hate that.

But the Opium production is up. Run tell that.

BBC: Pam O’Toole
An international women's rights group says guarantees given to Afghan women after the fall of the Taliban in 2001 have not translated into real change. Womankind Worldwide says millions of Afghan women and girls continue to face systematic discrimination and violence in their households and communities. The report admits that there have been some legal, civil and constitutional gains for Afghan women. But serious challenges remain and need to be addressed urgently, it states. These include challenges to women's safety, realization of civil and political rights and status. Womankind Worldwide sent a film crew to Afghanistan to investigate the situation of women there. They found a young Afghan woman crying in hospital who said she wanted to die. She was recovering after setting fire to herself. Womankind Worldwide says there has been a dramatic rise in cases of self-immolation by Afghan women since 2003.

Ha ha. Quiddy:

Really pissed off conservatives:

In the wake of Frist's remarks about making a deal to get the Taliban as part of the Afghan government (later retracted/corrected somewhat) some conservative bloggers have gone ballistic. Here is a sampling:

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Lifted from TLC's soccerdad

Pakistan has reportedly released over 2500 foreigners many of who are member of Taliban or al-Qaeda.

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