BROWNSVILLE REPRESENT: Bollywood black comedy about the Taliban + Google Snooze + Tarpology 101: "Let's Get It"

Bollywood actors John Abraham (L) and Arshad Warsi attend a news conference for their forthcoming film 'Kabul Express' in Mumbai December 12, 2006. (Adeel Halim/Reuters)

Yahoo! News

Bollywood black comedy muses on role of Taliban

By Krittivas Mukherjee Tue Dec 19, 2:43 AM ET

MUMBAI (Reuters) - From the blood-thirsty to the philosophical, the militant Taliban movement is cast in many roles in a new Bollywood film about war-ravaged Afghanistan.

The makers of "Kabul Express," which charts a 48-hour journey of three journalists, stress the film does not preach politics, but its satirical narrative often takes the United States and the Taliban to task for the miseries of ordinary Afghans.

The film opened to mixed reviews last week, with some calling it a muddled political documentary while others welcomed its insights into post-Taliban Afghan society.

"Kabul Express is not a documentary at all. It's a proper film -- a thriller to be precise -- that dares to tackle a difficult and different theme," leading Bollywood critic Taran Adarsh told Reuters.

Film critic Khalid Mohammed disagreed. "Throughout, the politics seem muddled; eventually the Taliban is defended and sentimentalized," he wrote in the Hindustan Times newspaper. "Frankly, you expected far more spleen and substance from this fact-inspired adventure thriller."

The film opens with two Indian television journalists getting a lift into Kabul on a tank as they search for a Taliban fighter to interview. On the way, they meet a U.S. female photographer.

What follows is a sight-seeing tour of the desolate beauty of the landscape of Afghanistan, its bombed buildings and people.

For thrills, there are gunfights between the Taliban and their opponents. For politics, there are conversations between the journalists and their Taliban hostage-taker.

"Kabul Express" was filmed on location in 45 days under heavy security provided by the Afghan government. It was inspired by director Kabir Khan's numerous trips to the country after the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001.

Khan, a documentary film maker, told Reuters that despite all the death threats from the Taliban, he could not imagine shooting his first feature film anywhere but Afghanistan.

"The country was not just a location; it was a character in my film," he said.

Many of the Afghan, Pakistani and American actors said they filming in Afghanistan despite the harsh, restrictive conditions.

Lead actor John Abraham, who plays the Indian reporter, told reporters that once after a spate of suicide bombings in Kabul, he asked his driver where the attackers came from.

"The driver said: either the right or left or the front or the back," he quipped.

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SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061219/en_nm/bollywood_taliban_dc

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South Asia Features

Outside View: Afghanistan needs help

By Obaid Younossi Dec 19, 2006, 16:48 GMT

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- The people of Afghanistan received good news recently when the leaders of the 26 nations in NATO issued a joint statement at their summit meeting that said: 'Contributing to peace and stability in Afghanistan is NATO`s key priority.' Unfortunately, those words alone won`t solve the myriad problems of Afghanistan. They must be followed by action.

In Afghanistan today, security is deteriorating as the Taliban step up attacks, the opium harvest is at all-time high, corruption permeates national and local governments, and reconstruction progress is slow in some places and non-existent in the others. Afghans are on the edge and sense of hope is beginning to fade.

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SOURCE - http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/features/article_1234743.php/Outside_View_Afghanistan_needs_help

Commentary :: printer friendly

A disappointing story in Afghanistan

December 19, 2006

Just as the radical Taliban are emerging as a virulent force in southern Afghanistan, France has decided to withdraw its special troops from the area, soldiers especially trained in counterinsurgency. The French government will leave troops in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul -- the safest zone in Afghanistan -- and it will supply air support to NATO troops. But it is taking 200 soldiers out of Jalalabad where there has been some of the deadliest insurgent attacks in the last few months.

Trust the French to be there when you need them.

As Sen. John McCain pointed out, it has been the Dutch, the Canadians, the British and the Americans who are taking on the tough work in Afghanistan, sending more troops into areas where suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks have occurred. The explanation from France for its troop withdrawal is that it is reorganizing its forces and it plans to train Afghan special forces. "It appears important to us that the Afghans see that it is their own forces which are retaking" the areas of their country which are under attack, said France's defense minister, Michele Alliot-Marie.

The French decision is not only disappointing, it is alarming. NATO needs more troops in Afghanistan, military experts agree. Clearly the French don't have the fortitude to continue the difficult work it will take to make Afghanistan safe.


SOURCE - http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/177321,CST-EDT-edits19b.article

France Willing to Redeploy Troops in Afghanistan For Emergencies

By VOA News
18 December 2006

The French defense minister said France is willing to send its remaining troops in Afghanistan anywhere in the country to help in emergencies.

Michele Alliot-Marie said during a visit to Kabul Monday that French troops could be sent as temporary reinforcements to assist allied forces in combat situations. But she said French troops would not be sent permanently to the restive south and east of the country.

NATO allies agreed last month to redeploy their forces anywhere in the country when necessary.

On Sunday, Alliot-Marie announced that France will withdraw its 200-strong special forces unit from the eastern city of Jalalabad, near the border with Pakistan. France has another 1100 troops stationed in and around the capital Kabul.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

SOURCE - http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-12-18-voa13.cfm

Winning: The Secret War in Afghanistan: Current 2005

The Secret War in Afghanistan

December 19, 2006: The recent fighting in southern Afghanistan was reported in terms of American, British, Canadian and Dutch troops fighting the Taliban. But the most effective troops hardly got mentioned at all, and that's the way they like it. Among 20,000 or so American and NATO troops, there were nearly 2,000 commandos (about a third of them U.S. Special Forces). Afghanistan has been something of a commando Olympics for the past five years. During the last three months, the Taliban were subjected to a series of offensive operations, most of them using the commandos to get the drop on the Taliban, and then call in U.S., NATO or Afghan troops to finish off the enemy, after the commandos and smart bombs had done their work. In this way, about half the 4,000 deaths in Afghanistan this year, took place in those three months. During that period, 2,077 Taliban were killed. Some 40 percent of those Taliban losses occurred during Operation Medusa, which took place in September, in Kandahar province. This operation was meant to upset the Taliban plans to bring in thousands of gunmen, and take control of the area around Kandahar (the traditional Taliban "capital") and perhaps (if only temporarily) the city itself. The Taliban were outmaneuvered and outfought, especially by the international commando force.

The Taliban have declared their 2006 operations a success, despite the death of nearly 3,000 of their fighters, and the wounding of even more. Exactly how many Taliban were running around in southern Afghanistan this year is hard to tell. Could have been as many as 10,000. But success depended a lot on cooperation from local tribesmen. Some tribes were more pro-Taliban than others. Where they had some local support, there was a lot of terrorizing of civilians going on. But any organized attacks on local officials or police, brought a quick response. The Coalition commandos, plus air power, were the most feared combination. UAVs could quickly be over an area and would appear to stay there forever. If the commandos picked up the trail of a group of Taliban, they would usually catch up with them, and, using a combination of smart bombs and superior fighting skills, destroy the Taliban unit. These Taliban groups would sometimes have several hundred fighters. The Taliban were not stupid, and would often scatter when they knew the commandos and UAVs were on their trail. But since so many of the Taliban gunmen were Pakistani Pushtuns, and not familiar with the local terrain, the most effective tactic, of ditching weapons in one of the many little caves in the area, and then splitting up in to much smaller groups and scattering, didn't work. So hundreds of Pakistani Taliban died in these operations, trapped in a landscape they were not familiar with.

American air reconnaissance (UAVs and manned aircraft) made it dangerous for the Taliban to try and get away in vehicles, and the commandos were able to go after them on foot. The Taliban rationale for their "victory" in 2006 rests on the fact that they did mount a major effort, most of them survived it, and they burned down 200 schools, killed at least twenty teachers, and several hundred other uncooperative Afghans. They managed to kill 56 foreign troops, and several hundred Afghan soldiers and police. But the Taliban lost about ten dead, for every enemy they killed. The Taliban also enraged many Afghans, who like the idea of having schools, and roads and being left alone. So who really won?

SOURCE - http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htwin/articles/20061219.aspx

Last Updated: Tuesday, 19 December 2006, 16:49 GMT

Afghanistan 'holds Pakistani spy'

Afghanistan says it has arrested a Pakistani intelligence agent who acted as a key link with al-Qaeda leaders.

Presidential spokesman Karim Rahimi said the agent had been detained in eastern Kunar province carrying documents which proved his guilt.

The news came a day after intelligence officials said an Afghan general had been arrested for spying for Pakistan.

Afghanistan has long blamed Pakistan for cross-border attacks by the Taleban. Islamabad denies the charges.

'Bin Laden escort'

Mr Karimi named the man arrested as Sayed Akbar, who he said worked for Pakistan's controversial Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

A Pakistani national currently working as an officer for the ISI was arrested with convincing documents

"Some evidence and documents have been seized with him proving his destructive activities in Afghanistan," Mr Karimi told a news conference in the capital, Kabul.

SOURCE - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6192939.stm

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December 19, 2006 at 06:45:29

New Pimp for the Bush Occupations

by Ron Fullwood

Tell A Friend

"Failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation, impair our credibility, and endanger Americans for decades to come."

--Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at swearing-in

Out with the old Defense chief, in with the new, and, everything is as it was. At least, the posturing and rhetoric remains the same. Watching Rumsfeld exit his job with pageantry usually reserved for victors and conquering heroes, it would serve this White House-in-denial if we somehow forgot that neither historic deployment of our military forces, in Afghanistan or Iraq, managed to come anywhere close to accomplishing any of the goals the Bush regime claimed would make our nation more secure in the wake of the 9-11 attacks.

Yet, there he was, standing beside the President and Vice-President of the United States in front of an honors ceremony -- reveling in Bush's praise for "racing down smoke-filled hallways to the crash site, so he could help rescue workers pull the victims from the rubble" on 9-11 -- instead of before a tribunal, being made to account for the hundreds of thousands of innocents caught in the way of his "shock and awe" campaigns, and to account for those held captive and tortured in the new gulags of his dual occupations.

"Under Secretary Rumsfeld's leadership," Bush proclaimed, "U.S. and coalition forces launched one of the most innovative military campaigns in the history of modern warfare, sending Special Operations forces into Afghanistan . . . On his watch," Bush said, "the United States military helped the Iraqi people establish a constitutional democracy in the heart of the Middle East, a watershed event in the story of freedom."

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RARE SOURCE FOR SENSE - http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_ron_full_061219_new_pimp_for_the_bus.htm







Peace by proving we're playing dead... or death...

BK

_______________________

...

Black Krishna Brand

MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/blackkrishnaverse

Philosophy - http://blackkrishna.blogspot.com/

Music - http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/blackkrishna.htm

...

P.S. Stewart and Colbert show us they're lying and trying to dumb us down, to find out why and help Save The World, please Google for "TerrorStorm: A History of Government Sponsored Terrorism", "America: Freedom to Fascism" and "SaveTheInternet.com". Also, check the daily newswires at "Infowars.com" and "PrisonPlanet.com" -- and pass this info on to everybody -- NOW!!!

Webster Tarpley - 9/11 Truth L.A. Conference - June 2006

::: 5 mins :::

Added July 23, 2006
From rv36116

Webster Tarpley at the 9/11 Truth American Scholars Symposium Conference in Los Angeles with Alex Jones, speaks about exactly what is happening and what will happen in the future... he's brilliant. He makes the complex - simple, which is what all the greatest thinkers in history have done for the benefit of mankind.





TARPOLOGY 101: LET'S GET IT - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMjwJBha2Eg