New calculations from WND columnist Diana West suggest the most dangerous murder rate in the world exists not in war-torn Africa or drug-ravaged Columbia, but among U.S.-allied troops being killed by Afghan “friendly” forces.
More than 60 cases of Afghan “allies” murdering members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, were reported in 2012, a rise from 35 so-called “green-on-blue” killings in 2011.
Thus far, the White House has dismissed the killings as few and unrelated, despite rising numbers and repeated claims from the Taliban that the murders are part of an organized campaign to infiltrate the Afghan-Western alliance.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Pfc. Markie T. Sims, 20, of Citra, Fla., died Dec. 29 in Panjwal, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 38th Engineer Company, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, under control of the 7th Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
Pakistan Frees Former Taliban Officials to Promote Afghan Peace -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Pakistan released eight more members of Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, including former regional governors and ministers, as it bids to help create conditions for substantial negotiations with insurgents.
Those freed from detention included Abdul Bari, former governor of southern Helmand province, ex-justice minister Nooruddin Turabi, and Mullah Daud Jan, former governor of Kabul, the foreign office said in a statement last night. U.S. forces ousted the Taliban government led by Mullah Mohammad Omar in 2001. Omar is believed is based in Pakistan. Former deputy leader and top military commander Abdul Ghani Baradar, detained in 2010 in Karachi, was not among those released.
Syria Starts 2013 With Aerial Strikes And Clashes -- Reuters
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrians woke on New Year's Day to countrywide aerial bombardment, while President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels fighting to topple him clashed on the outskirts of the capital.
Residents of Damascus entered the new year to the sound of artillery hitting southern and eastern districts that form a rebel-held crescent on the outskirts of the capital, the center of which is still firmly under government control.
China's Newest And Deadly Warship Has Entered The South China Sea -- Business Insider
As five other countries claim ownership of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, and its supposed billions in oil and gas deposits, China's backing its claim by sending the newest warship it has to the region.
The Taiwan-owned China Times reports the Liuzhou Type 054A warship entered the South China Sea Fleet of China's PLA Navy, making it the sixth 054 warship in the area.
Abdul Qayoom, left, Farah City prison commander, points out the prison's sewer area to U.S. Army Sgt. William Russell, center, security force team member for Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah, and U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mark Martin, right, during a meeting with key leaders at the prison in Farah City, Afghanistan, Dec. 29, 2012. The team's mission is to train, advise and assist Afghan government leaders at the municipal, district and provincial levels in the province. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Hospital Corpsman Josh Ives
Top Afghan Negotiator Optimistic Over Peace Prospects -- Reuters
(Reuters) - A top Afghan peace negotiator said he was cautiously optimistic about prospects for reconciliation with the Taliban and that all sides now realized a military solution to the war was not possible.
Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai also told Reuters that the Kabul government hoped to transform the Afghan Taliban, who have proved resilient after more than a decade of war against U.S.-led NATO and Afghan troops, into a political movement.
He predicted the highly lethal Haqqani militant network, the most experienced at guerrilla warfare, would join the peace process if the Afghan Taliban started formal talks.
My Comment: I do sense that a tipping point has been reached .... that the Taliban simply do not have the resources to come back to power. But .... like Iraq .... even if a peace agreement is reached, I do see sectarian violence becoming a daily occurrence in Afghanistan .... specifically in the Pashtun areas.
