Petraeus: al-Qaida not operating in Afghanistan (VIDEO)

(AP) WASHINGTON — The chief of the U.S. Central Command says al-Qaida no longer is operating in Afghanistan. But Gen. David Petraeus (peh-TRAY'-uhs) says affiliated organizations still have "enclaves and sanctuaries" in the country.

Petraeus says al-Qaida, which carried out the Sept. 11 attacks, has suffered "very significant losses" in recent months in its hide-outs across the rugged, mountainous border in Pakistan.

He's praising Pakistan for its offensive to root out Taliban militants sheltering al-Qaida.

Petraeus spoke Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

Comments

[JoeBlough]

He's lying again.

[KCBW]

Below is a great report released by Chatham House:

"Transatlantic Dialogues on International Law: Preparing for the Next US Administration"

http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/files/13377_il051208.pdf

Important read in light of United States' early May Air Strike in Afghanistan which is in clear violation of Article 51 Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions.

Judge for yourself if the US broke the law by the recent village airstrike:

http://www.icrc.org/IHL.nsf/WebART/470-750065?OpenDocument

[IntellectuallyHonest]

Then why are we there?

[Rog49Thomas]

That I believe constitutes "Mission Accomplished".

Taliban out of power. AlQaeda out of the country.

Bring our brave servicemen and servicewomen home - alive and unmaimed.

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

the problem is that our actions have insured that they will simply come back as soon as we leave, no matter when that is, so you're right, we may as well leave, but the problem is far from over and has only unfortunately been exacerbated by the path that was chosen.

[Dredd]

Wonder how long it will be until the state of the union speech will be given by Petraeus?

Not much difference, he would read it out loud before the assembled rubber stamps ...

http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/04/what-is-americas-greatest-enemy.html

[Luvial]

Never have so many done so little with so much.

[Icomeinpeace]

Thats because the American military is held to unreal standards. If they were just aloud to........­., this would of been over years ago.

[ipv4]

Please finish, allowed to what??

[hortonhearsawho2]

title of the new palin family book...

[AliMB]

Part I

As someone whose 'job' allows her to hear expert analysis on this issue, I can say that General Petraeus' commentary is 100% accurate. For various reasons, AQ has shifted its command to Pakistan, but its ten.tacles still reach into Afghanistan. I also believe Petraeus' praise of Islamabad is part of an Administration wide-effort to bolster the fragile Zardari government. Pakistan has been sliding backwards at a drip-like pace. After what happened in the Swat Valley, many fear that this disintegrati0n is accelerating at an alarming rate.

Based on the assessments of some based out of Pakistan, I would argue that there is no greater an ti-American constituency than the TBN-infested tribal regions (the 15% Pashtu population). Any presence of US troops would be met with fierce r e s i s t a n c e. Our best weap0n is a Bush-implemented program: the CIA's k i l l e r d r o n e s.

The Agency went public in February with extraordinary (yet seemingly underreported) news. It claimed that dr0nes over the past 6-9 months (about the time the Bush Administration cranked up the targeting in last summer) had been "so successful" that it is was "possible to foresee a complete AQ defeat" in the Af-Pak border region. The CIA argued that the leadership of AQ had been "DECIMATED". Petraeus' statement that AQ suffered "very significant losses" in recent months confirms the CIA's account.

[AliMB]

Part II

Following the CIA's advice, one of the best early decisions by President Obama was continuing this program. In fact, he accelerated it. Off the top of my head, there have been about 15 predat0r st ri kes under Obama (less than 4 months), compared to about 35 in ALL of 2008.

The President also sagaciously decided to broaden the program to include anti-g0vernment elements, in particular the forces controlled by Batiullah Mehsud. This is part of the reason we should view all those 'c0ndemnations' from Islamabad with skepticism. As the TBN consolidates power, the CIA might look to expand its reach.

Unfortunately, there is news that the Obama Administration may be "reevaluating" the program (though I caution; this information was based on a UK paper's anonymous sources). There is no denying that there are adverse consequences as a result of this program. However, in terms of the Islamabad's f i ght with the TBN, I believe the negative effect is gr0ssly exaggerated i.e. cancelation of the program wouldn't lead to meaningful political reconciliation, nor will it tone down an.ti-Americanism by any substantive degree.

For some of the aforementioned reasons, I hope any talk of prematurely rolling back the program is inaccurate, or that the WH is making closed-door agreements with Pakistan to help Zardari save face (while simultaneously feeding the predat0rs).

[zaz33]

Inappropriate on Mother's day.

Families live in houses.

[AliMB]

Where I live, it is not mother's day

[cycle3man]

Bull! They have the ultimate recuting tool: "GUANTANAMO"

[Meah]

Sounds like the beginning of the drum beats for war in Pakistan. Sounds familiar, eh?

[zaz33]

Have to admit there's an awful lot of propaganda floating around.

[Khirad]

Yeah, and India says, YOU invade Pakistan? Listen...

[BannedInBoston]

Um, why are we there, then?

[BannedInBoston]

Oh, wait. I forgot. We're bring truth, justice and the American Way (plus democracy into the bargain)to Afghans. Aren't we good.

[Icomeinpeace]

dont forget mcdonalds and target.

[mick7191]

Does this mean we can leave?

[DocSyracuse]

Seems like there's a major new leftie meme here:

"Al-Quaida is a CIA hoax."

Next will probably be- Islamic militancy is a CIA hoax.

[BannedInBoston]

Don't put words in our mouths. (Oh, I know, it's a conservative thing, but still...)

[Meah]

The flag should not be your moniker. How disrespectful!

[DocSyracuse]

Actually, what's disrepectful is the accusation that CIA is behind al-qaeda, but you wouldn't appreciate that, I'm sure.

[jackpinesavage]

Not a hoax in the least, but you can't argue with the historical record. Google The Asia Foundation. We funded and supported Islamic militancy for a long time in an attempt to destabilize the USSR. While it might have been a good idea in context, American short-termism struck again.

[army193]

The major problem was we let Bush move on to Iraq and 8 years was lost...

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html

Afghanistan's economy is recovering from decades of conflict. Despite the progress of the past few years, Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid, agriculture, and trade with neighboring countries. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs. Criminality, insecurity, and the Afghan Government's inability to extend rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth. It will probably take the remainder of the decade and continuing donor aid and attention to significantly raise Afghanistan's living standards from its current level, among the lowest in the world. Kabul will need to overcome a number of challenges. Expanding poppy cultivation and a growing opium trade generate roughly $3 billion in illicit economic activity and looms as one of Kabul's most serious policy concerns. Other long-term challenges include: budget sustainability, job creation, corruption, government capacity, and rebuilding war torn infrastructure.

Is there anything you find in the above statement where the help is needed to have any resemblance of winning?

[scottpot]

So we can just buy all of the opium for 3 Billion and save oursleves a lot grief.But our policy is to bomb on faulty intelligen­ce,express regrets,continue to waste billions,create enemies and victims, and keep repeating that we will turn the corner in the next six months.We just need to train the Afghans,Ir­aqis,Pakis­tanis,Yeme­nis,Saudis­,Iranians,­Somalians to be more like us.

[marbiol]

i presume "we" is defined as our ELECTED representatives who saw fit to allow our government the use of force to ENFORCE existing UN Resolutions regarding Iraq???

[DocSyracuse]

"And al-Quaida is made up by CIA"

Wow. You are really far gone, sir.

If al-Q is fiction, this has been the most convincing, multi-national hoax ever perpetrated in history.

[facebook1]

Pakistan Army is AQ

[BannedInBoston]

(Actually, the Pakistani Intellgence Agency....­)

[facebook1]

The move people between the Pak Army and the ISI. Gen Giyani The Chief of the Army used to be the head of the ISI. and ISI and AQ members also mix it up. Their families marry into each other.