Tag Archives: taliban

Pop Star M.I.A.’s Suicide Bomber Song: ‘I Really Love Allah’

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

A controversial new pop song might have young music fans unwittingly singing about burkas, the Taliban and, especially, loving Allah. Pop singer phenomenon Maya Arulpragasam, also known as M.I.A., has released a new song called “Lovalot” that has raised eyebrows among music reviewers, some of whom say the lyrics show M.IA.’s sympathy for radical Muslim suicide bombers. The British-born singer, who has openly supported the terrorist organization Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, based her catchy new song “Lovalot” on the 17-year-old Russian “black-widow” Moscow subway bomber Dzhennet Abdurakhmanova, according to newspapers like The Guardian . “In the deadpan electro-rap of ‘Lovalot,’ inspired by a well-publicized incident involving a slain Islamic terrorist and his vengeful suicide-bombing Russian wife, M.I.A. commiserates,” wrote Brad Wheeler in the Globe and Mail on July 13. The song is featured on M.I.A.’s new CD, // / Y /, which was released in July through the singer’s own label N.E.E.T., as well as XL Recordings and Interscope Records. Lovalot’s references to terrorism are hard to ignore, and at points the singer even compares herself to a Taliban fighter and a bomber. “Like a Taliban trucker eatin’ boiled-up yucca, got my eyes done like I’m in a black burka,” sings M.I.A. early in the song. Later she continues, “Like a hand-me-down sucker throwin’ bombs at a Mecca. Call it good will, get money to get better. Keep your head down like a UNICEF worker, if you get hit you can’t question the f**ka’.” Probably one of the most controversial parts of the song is the chorus, where M.I.A. repeats the phrase “I really love a lot” in such a way that it sounds like “I really love Allah.” “Through the mischievous dropping of a ‘t,’ the line ‘I really love a lot’ sounds an awful lot like ‘I really love Allah,'” wrote Wheeler. In the past, M.I.A. has played up her family’s connection to radical Sri Lankan terror groups, and she also shows an affinity for violence in the song, repeating “I fight the ones who fight me” in the chorus. M.I.A., who was included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential people in 2009 and sang on the soundtrack for the movie “Slumdog Millionaire,” is well-known for her radical political views. She has previously compared herself to the PLO, and in a controversial interview with New York Times writer Lynn Hirschberg, M.I.A. defended her lyrics, saying “I don’t want to make the same music, sing about the same stuff, talk about the same things. If that makes me a terrorist, then I’m a terrorist.” M.I.A.’s New York Times interview with Hirschberg resulted in a feud between the singer and the journalist, with M.I.A. publishing Hirschberg’s phone number on Twitter. The musician claimed that she wasn’t portrayed accurately in the article. Another recent song of M.I.A.’s that has drawn criticism is “Born Free.” The ultra-graphic and violent music video for the song features American immigration authorities rounding up red-headed people and busing them to the desert, where the redheads are chased down, shot, and blown apart with bombs. Lyrics of “Lovalot”: They told me this is a free country, But now it feels like a chicken factory. I feel cooped up, I wanna bust free, Got nothin’ to lose if you get me. Like a Taliban trucker eatin’ boiled-up yucca, Get my eyes done like I’m in a black burka, Been through shit, yeah it’s a fucka’, But now I make tunes, say shuck-a-lucka-lucka. Shuck-a-lucka-la, Shuck-a-lucka-lee, Shuck-a-lucka-lucka-lucka-lucky, lucky me. If you check me, I check you. If they kick you, then I’ll back you. Say something new, say something cool, Give you my time, but I ain’t no fool. I could I could I, break-a-break-a jaw, Every-every time someone steps on my toe. I fight the ones that fight me. I really love a lah, I really love a lah. I really love a lah, I really love a lah. But, I fight the ones that fight me. But, I fight the ones that fight me. I fight the ones that fight me. But, I fight– But, I fight– But, I fight– But, I fight the ones that fight me. Who’s in town? Them no like me, me no like them. Like Hu Jintao Instead of them I got a new-found gem. Someone I can love up like men. Like a bomber needs to love up Chen. Like a hand-me-down sucker throwin’ bombs at a Mecca, Call the good will, get money to get better. Keep your head down like a Unicef worker, If you get hit you can’t question the fucka’. I can’t come out Yeah but yeah but why If I B the F to the F to the I. If you met me, then you’d get me, But for you to get me, will you get a fee. Shoots men to be free, where’s Bob Marley? ‘Cause I won’t turn my cheek like I’m Gandhi. I fight the ones that fight me. I fight the ones that fight me. I really love a lah, I really love a lah. I really love a lah, I really love a lah. But, I fight the ones that fight me. But, I fight the ones that fight me. I fight the ones that fight me. But, I fight– But, I fight– But, I fight– But, I fight the ones that fight me. M.I.A. will be performing a concert in Los Angeles on July 17, and another one in New York City on July 24.

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Pop Star M.I.A.’s Suicide Bomber Song: ‘I Really Love Allah’

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Karzai’s Push for Talks with Taliban Renews the Risk to Afghanistan’s Women

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Karzai Push for Talks With Taliban Renews Risk to Afghan Women, Group Says By James Rupert – Jul 13, 2010 U.S.-backed efforts by President Hamid Karzai to reconcile with the Taliban and other Islamic militants threaten to reverse improvements in the lives and rights of Afghanistan’s women, Human Rights Watch said. The revival of Taliban control in southern and eastern Afghanistan has forced women to abandon jobs and social work, the New York-based advocacy organization said in a report today. Guerrillas have destroyed at least 456 girls schools, the Afghan human rights commission said in March. Interviews with Afghan women in Taliban-controlled regions show that “as the prospect of negotiations with the Taliban draws closer, many women fear that they may also pay a heavy price for peace,” Human Rights Watch said in its report. The Taliban’s renewed campaign against any public role for Afghan women has focused on Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second- largest city, which served as the Taliban’s headquarters during their rule in the 1990s. The Taliban last year claimed responsibility for shooting dead Sitara Achakzai, a women’s activist who served on the provincial legislative council. On April 13, a gunman in Kandahar ambushed and shot dead a 22-year-old woman named Hossai who worked as an aid worker with Development Alternatives Inc., a consulting firm based in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland. The following night, another woman aid worker in the south received an anonymous letter warning that she, too, would be killed if she did not stop working for her employer, an international organization, Human Rights Watch said. Sanctions Since January, Karzai has pushed for the lifting of UN sanctions on some Taliban leaders, curbs which freeze their assets abroad and prevent them from traveling, in a bid to pull them into peace negotiations. The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, has supported a revision of the list of 137 Taliban leaders subjected to the sanctions. In March, Karzai’s administration held several days of direct talks with another militant insurgent group, the Hezb-i- Islami (Islamic Party) led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, which Human Rights Watch said “is also known for its repressive attitudes towards women.” Any insurgents who rejoin Afghanistan’s society and politics “must respect women’s rights,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said May 13 at a conference with Karzai in Washington. Afghan groups have criticized Karzai for surrendering women’s rights to win political support. In March 2009, he signed into law a bill that required women of the Muslim Shiite sect to submit to their husbands’ demands for sex and to restrictions on their movement outside the home. ‘Active Role’ Karzai’s efforts to reconcile with Taliban leaders “should not be seen as a zero sum process and women are fundamental to the future development of Afghanistan,” State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said in response to a reporter’s question yesterday. While Karzai included women as 20 percent of delegates at a national conference last month to plan a peace process, women have had little presence in the government bodies preparing peace feelers, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said in March. Women “must not only be consulted” in preparing peace talks, “but must play an active role at the negotiating table,” the commission said. http://www.thedailygetup.com/wp-content/uploads/ai_images/44785AfghanWomen01.jpg added by: EthicalVegan

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10 Reasons To End The Wars Now

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been back in the news recently, and we just had the bizarre spectacle of the Republican National Committee Chairman saying he didn't like Obama's war in Afghanistan, while the DNC chastised him for failing to support the troops. Here are ten reasons to end the wars now. I hope you'll take a look at some of the links. 1. American military and contractor casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. 2. Iraqi and Afghanistan civilian and military casualties. 3. These wars are a tremendous waste of taxpayer money in a time of extreme deficits, high unemployment and a falling stock market. 4. Invading and occupying Afghanistan and Iraq feeds terrorism. 5. Osama Bin Laden and his co-conspirators who attacked the World Trade Center were Saudi Arabian. 6. As Congressman Ron Paul recently said: “In Afghanistan, we are fighting the Taliban, those dangerous people with guns defending their homeland. Once they were called the Mujahideen, our old allies, along with bin Laden, in the fight to ou http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/lp-monday-message-10-reasons-to-end-the-wars-now added by: shanklinmike

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Petraeus Uses a Word the President Won’t Use to Describe Goal in Afghanistan

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The first six words (bolded by me) of Deb Riechmann’s report from Kabul, Afghanistan for the Associated Press are refreshing: “We are in this to win,” Gen. David Petraeus said as he took the reins of an Afghan war effort troubled by waning support, an emboldened enemy, government corruption and a looming commitment to withdraw troops – even with no sign of violence easing. It would have been even more refreshing if Riechmann, who obviously felt compelled to tick off as many of the reasons Petraeus and the troops he leads may not meet the goal as quickly as possible, would have reminded readers that Petraeus’s boss, President Barack Obama, has been decidedly allergic to using the words “win” and “victory” in Afghanistan since his inauguration. One of her later paragraphs presented a perfect opportunity to remind readers of the president’s aversion. She passed; she shouldn’t have. Petraeus, thankfully, feels no need to hold back, as noted later in Reichmann’s report (bolds are mine): … “We are engaged in a contest of wills,” Petraeus said Sunday as he accepted the command of U.S. and NATO forces before several hundred U.S., coalition and Afghan officials who gathered on a grassy area outside NATO headquarters in Kabul. … “In answer, we must demonstrate to the people and to the Taliban that Afghan and international forces are here to safeguard the Afghan people, and that we are in this to win,” Petraeus said on the Fourth of July, U.S. Independence Day. Continual discussion about President Barack Obama’s desire to start withdrawing U.S. forces in July 2011 has blurred the definition of what would constitute victory. That coupled with the abrupt firing of Petraeus’ predecessor, a move that laid bare a rift between civilian and military efforts in the country, has created at least the perception that the NATO mission needs to be righted. … June was the deadliest month for the allied force since the war began, with 102 U.S. and international troops killed. … “After years of war, we have arrived at a critical moment,” Petraeus said. “We must demonstrate to the Afghan people – and to the world – that al-Qaida and its network of extremist allies will not be allowed to once again establish sanctuaries in Afghanistan from which they can launch attacks on the Afghan people and on freedom-loving nations around the world.” Petraeus suggested he would refine – or at least review – the implementation of rules under which NATO soldiers fight, including curbs on the use of airpower and heavy weapons if civilians are at risk, “to determine where refinements might be needed.” In a March 27, 2009 address at the Council on Foreign Relations, President Obama outlined a “Strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.” The words “win” and “victory” or synonyms of those words do not appear. The closest he got was a promise “to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future.” Later, he said “to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same: we will defeat you.” Maybe that suffices for some, but then there was this incident, four months later, as reported by the Associated Press : President Barack Obama says he’s uncomfortable using the word “victory” to describe the United States’ goal in Afghanistan. He says the U.S. fight there is against broader terrorism and not a nation. … When Obama delivered a speech in March about his strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, he did not use the word “victory.” Obama spoke with ABC’s “Nightline” while traveling to Ohio and Illinois. A lengthier report at Fox News included this nugget:  “We’re not dealing with nation states at this point. We’re concerned with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, Al Qaeda’s allies,” he (Obama) said. “So when you have a non-state actor, a shadowy operation like Al Qaeda, our goal is to make sure they can’t attack the United States.” The only sure way to “to make sure they can’t attack the United States” is to kill or capture as many of their members as possible until the rest surrender or disband and permanently give up their terrorist ways — in other words, to win (i.e., achieve v-v-v-v … victory in) the unconventional war we are fighting against them. Rhetorical reluctance aside, one can only hope that President Obama will let General Petraeus do what must be done to win, even if he (Obama) will probably never acknowledge it when it occurs — just as he has never acknowledged the victory in Iraq (Petraeus, as shown here , more than likely has). Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

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Open Thread: Corruption in Afghanistan Complicates US Mission

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

“Above a certain level, people are being very well protected,” one “senior U.S. official” told the Washington Post . Corruption and bad governance pose two of the largest problems for the American presence there. According to the Post, Top officials in President Hamid Karzai’s government have repeatedly derailed corruption investigations of politically connected Afghans, according to U.S. officials who have provided Afghanistan’s authorities with wiretapping technology and other assistance in efforts to crack down on endemic graft. In recent months, the U.S. officials said, Afghan prosecutors and investigators have been ordered to cross names off case files, prevent senior officials from being placed under arrest and disregard evidence against executives of a major financial firm suspected of helping the nation’s elite move millions of dollars overseas… For the Obama administration, the ability of Afghan investigators to crack down on corruption is crucial. If American voters see Karzai’s government as hopelessly corrupt, public support for the war could plunge. Corruption also fuels the Taliban insurgency and complicates efforts to persuade ordinary Afghans to side with leaders in Kabul.  What affect will or should this corruption have on the domestic policy debate over the Afghan war? Does it bolster arguments that the US needs to maintain a strong presence there, or those that contend the US cannot take the lead in securing the nation?

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We Spend $1 Billion/year Fighting each Al Qaeda Member in Afghanistan

Posted on June 27, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Think Progress does the math on Panetta’s admission that there are just 100 al Qaeda members in Afghanistan, and discovers we’ve got 1,000 American troops in Afghanistan for each al Qaeda member. The U.S. has committed nearly 100,000 troops to the mission in Afghanistan. ABC This Week host Jake Tapper asked CIA Director Leon Panetta how big is the al Qaeda threat that the soldiers are combating: The 100,000 U.S. forces that have been tasked to dismantle the 100 or so al Qaeda members — a ratio of 1000:1 — is complicated by the fact that we are also engaged in operations going after the Taliban leadership. Now let me add to their math. Even Afghan war fans admit that it costs $1 million a year–on top of things like salary–to support a US service member in Afghanistan. Michael O’Hanlon, a defense analyst at the Brookings Institution, says one useful way to break down these huge numbers is to look at how much it costs to send just one soldier to war. “We are at a point where it’s unbelievably costing us close to a million dollars, in additional costs — above and beyond salaries and the equipment that’s already in the inventory — per soldier or Marine per year,” he says. Fighting in Afghanistan means fighting in one of the most remote regions on Earth, and that plays a large role in the seemingly astronomical figure. Dov Zakheim, a former chief financial officer for the Defense Department, says the $1 million price tag includes getting the soldier to Afghanistan, getting his equipment to Afghanistan, and moving the soldier around once in the country. So 1,000 US troops per al Qaeda member, at a cost of $1 million each. That’s $1 billion a year we spend for each al Qaeda member to fight our war in Afghanistan. This sort of adds a new twist to that old Einstein quip about the definition of insanity being doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Because we’re doing the same thing over and over again–at a cost of $1 billion a year per nominal opponent–and expecting anything other than bankruptcy. http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/06/27/we-spend-1-billionyear-on-each-al-q… added by: Stoneyroad

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Pakistan: Anti-terror court convicts 5 Americans

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Five American men were convicted Thursday on terror charges by a Pakistani court and sentenced to 10 years in prison in a case that has heightened concerns about Westerners traveling to Pakistan to contact al-Qaida and other Islamist extremist groups. The trial of the young Muslim men from the Washington, D.C., area was sensitive for the U.S., which has a duty to ensure justice for its citizens abroad but also has pushed Pakistan to crack down on militancy. Prosecutors said e-mail records and witness statements proved the men used the Internet to plot terror attacks in Pakistan and nations allied with it. The father of one of the men said they were in Pakistan to attend his son's wedding, but had intended to cross into Afghanistan for humanitarian work. The verdict comes the same week Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad pleaded guilty to trying to bomb New York's Times Square in May after getting training by the Taliban in Pakistan's tribal areas. The judge on Thursday handed down two prison terms for each man, one for 10 years on a criminal conspiracy charge, and the other for five years on the charge of funding banned organizations for terrorism. A copy of the decision seen by The Associated Press said the terms were to be served concurrently. The men, all in their 20s, had faced up to life in prison. They were acquitted of three charges, including planning to wage war against the U.S. and Afghanistan – allies of Pakistan. The men said nothing when the verdict was read out, Deputy Prosecutor Rana Bakhtiar said. Previously, the men claimed they were tortured by Pakistani police and FBI agents, charges denied by authorities here and the U.S. Their lawyers said they would appeal the case. The trial moved with unusual speed in a country where cases often drag out for years and where terror convictions are rare and often overturned on appeal. The trial was closed to journalists and observers and was heard by a single judge in a special anti-terrorism court. The men have been identified as Ramy Zamzam of Egyptian descent, Waqar Khan and Umar Farooq of Pakistani descent, and Aman Hassan Yemer and Ahmed Minni of Ethiopian descent. They were reported missing by their families in November after one left behind a farewell video showing scenes of war and casualties and saying Muslims must be defended. story continues http://www.optimum.net/News/AP/Article?fmId=5417804 More New York Times Coverage http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/world/asia/25pstan.html?hp added by: Stoneyroad

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Pakistan and The Taliban, Sitting In A Tree

Posted on June 13, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

A new report issued by the London School of Economics has claimed that Pakistan’s intelligence agency is not only funding and training Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, but also that it also holds sway in the insurgency’s leadership council. The assertion that Pakistan’s “Inter-Services Intelligence” has ties to the Taliban is not new, but the scope of the relationship, the report’s author claims, could be damaging as the U.S. continues to court Pakitsan’s support. —JCL The LA Times: Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency not only funds and trains Taliban insurgents fighting U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, but also maintains its own representation on the insurgency’s leadership council, claims a new report issued by the London School of Economics. Assertions that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, continues to nurture links with the Afghan Taliban are not new. But the scope of that relationship claimed by the report’s author, Matt Waldman, is startling and could prove damaging to the fragile alliance Washington is trying to foster with Pakistan, its military establishment, and its weak civilian government led by President Asif Ali Zardari. Waldman, a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, based his assertions on interviews with nine Afghan Taliban commanders as well as with Afghan and Western security officials. The report claims that it is official Pakistan governmental policy to support the Taliban’s insurgency in Afghanistan, and that the ISI has a strong voice on the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban’s leadership council, named after the southern Pakistani city believed to serve as the council’s haven. Read more Related Entries June 13, 2010 Obama Will Demand a BP Escrow Fund for Victims June 12, 2010 Turning the Crisis Corner

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Pakistan and The Taliban, Sitting In A Tree

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Is Karzai Losing The Faith?

Posted on June 12, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Rumors are swirling in Afghanistan that the country’s president, Hamid Karzai, is losing faith in the capacity for the West to defeat the Taliban, and some are even accusing Karzai of trying to strike his own deal with the Taliban and arch-rival Pakistan. The rumors follow a dramatic meeting between Karzai and the just-resigned intelligence chief and interior secretary, both of whom defected from the administration after claims that Karzai was unwilling to show interest in evidence proving the Talbian’s culpability in a rocket attack earlier this month. —JCL The New York Times: Two senior Afghan officials were showing President Hamid Karzai the evidence of the spectacular rocket attack on a nationwide peace conference earlier this month when Mr. Karzai told them that he believed the Taliban were not responsible. “The president did not show any interest in the evidence — none — he treated it like a piece of dirt,” said Amrullah Saleh, then the director of the Afghan intelligence service. Mr. Saleh declined to discuss Mr. Karzai’s reasoning in more detail. But a prominent Afghan with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Mr. Karzai suggested in the meeting that it might have been the Americans who carried it out. Minutes after the exchange, Mr. Saleh and the interior minister, Hanif Atmar, resigned — the most dramatic defection from Mr. Karzai’s government since he came to power nine years ago. Mr. Saleh and Mr. Atmar said they quit because Mr. Karzai made clear that he no longer considered them loyal. Read more Related Entries June 11, 2010 British PM: 2010 ‘Vital’ for Afghanistan June 9, 2010 Kandahar Test [A Cartoon From UAE]

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Is Karzai Losing The Faith?

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British PM: 2010 ‘Vital’ For Afghanistan

Posted on June 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Britain’s Prime Minister popped over to Afghanistan on Thursday to reaffirm that 2010 would be the “vital year” for his country’s military campaign against the Taliban, a claim made in the face of one of the toughest weeks against coalition forces in the past few years. —JCL The New York Times: . Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain flew to Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, saying this would be the “vital year” for the campaign against the Taliban. “This is the year when we have to make progress — progress for the sake of the Afghan people, but progress also on behalf of people back at home who want this to work,” Mr. Cameron said. He said an increase in the number of British troops in Afghanistan, now about 10,000, was “not remotely on the U.K. agenda.” He made clear that Britain’s goal was to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces as soon as possible. At a news conference with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, Mr. Cameron said, “No one wants British troops to stay in Afghanistan for a day longer than is necessary.” Read more Related Entries June 9, 2010 Kandahar Test [A Cartoon From UAE] June 8, 2010 Newest National Security Strategy Is an Elaboration of the Old

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