You are herecontent / Kucinich Renews Call to Cease Hostilities in Pakistan

Kucinich Renews Call to Cease Hostilities in Pakistan

By davidswanson - Posted on 30 September 2010

“We are killing the same troops we claim to be helping”

Washington D.C. (September 30, 2010) – Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who previously forced a vote in the House to stop the war in Afghanistan from spilling over the border into Pakistan, today renewed his calls for Congress to explicitly cut off funding in the region after the Associated Press (AP) reported that North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) helicopters attacked Pakistani troops at a border crossing. The Pakistani troops, who were in uniforms similar to the local civilian population, are among the same troops being trained by the United States. According to the AP, they were ordered to stop supply trucks attempting to cross the Torkham border post.

“NATO troops have attacked Pakistan, attacked an ally for the simple offense of refusing NATO forces to expand the war into their sovereign nation,” said Kucinich. “Last night, in the middle of the night, Congress passed a Continuing Resolution that included Pakistan counterinsurgency funds. Those funds are for our troops to operate in Pakistan, and to train Pakistan’s military and Pakistan’s Frontier Corps. We are killing the same troops we claim to be helping.

“We cannot afford to continue the status quo in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. Our counterinsurgency strategy places our troops and our national security in great peril. The truth is that we cannot afford these wars. We cannot afford an open-ended commitment to wars that have done nothing to further our security or moral standing in the world. The American people cannot afford to have Congress allocate vital resources under the façade of nation-building overseas, especially while people here at home have such urgent unmet economic needs. Congress must take its Congressional responsibility seriously. We have not declared war on Pakistan and we must cut off military funding immediately,” said Kucinich.

Tags

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
"Pakistan cuts off Nato supply route"
Submitted by mikecorbeil on Fri, 10/01/2010 - 2:30am.

"Pakistan cuts off Nato supply route

Lorries prevented from crossing into Afghanistan in apparent retaliation for recent deadly cross-border Nato raid"

by AlJazeera.net, Sept. 30th, 2010

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m70299

Pakistan has blocked a vital supply route for international forces in Afghanistan in apparent retaliation for an alleged cross-border helicopter raid by Nato troops that killed three Pakistani frontier soldiers.

Over the weekend, Nato helicopters fired on targets in Pakistan at least two times, killing several suspected fighters they allegedly pursued over the border from Afghanistan.

Pakistan's government protested against the attacks, which came in a month during which there have been an unprecedented number of drone missile attacks in the country's northwest.

Pakistan also threatened to stop providing protection to Nato convoys if the military alliance's helicopters attacked targeted inside Pakistan again.

Kamal Hyder, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Islamabad, said on Thursday that there are reports of 100 Nato supply lorries already being held up at the Torkham border post in retaliation for the earlier cross-border Nato raids.

"A Nato convoy had been moving through Khyber Pass, but the trucks were turned back from entering the Khyber region," he said. "We are also told that the CIA chief [Leon Panetta] in Islamabad has been addressing this issue."

Our correspondent also said that the Pakistani government is making quite a big noise about it. Pakistan said that Isaf [the Nato-led force] and Nato must respect the mandate under which they are operating. They are expressing deep concerns that, despite the fact that [Isaf] knew where these positions were, they still went ahead."

Critical supply route

Khyber is on the main Nato supply route through Pakistan into Afghanistan, where more than 152,000 US international troops are fighting the Taliban.

This supply route is critical for non-military supplies for Isaf: it is reported that up to 250 vehicles a day cross the Pakistan border into Afghanistan as part of the Nato supply chain. Pakistan's relations with Nato are already strained over the intensifying drone attacks in the border regions.

Rehman Malik, the Pakistani interior minister, said of the border incident: "We will have to see whether we are allies or enemies."

(snip)

What, no mention of the wars being illegal, so criminal?
Submitted by mikecorbeil on Fri, 10/01/2010 - 2:36am.

Why is this issue not brought up by Dennis Kucinich? Is it because it wouldn't "sell" in Congress, or because he doesn't realize that these wars are all criminal, or has forgotten that they are? Why the non-mention?

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

 
 


Advertise on this site!




Facebook      Twitter




Innocence shattered and ultimate redemption are portrayed against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and the turbulent sixties.







Our Stores:























Movie Memorabilia.

Custom Banners, Wholesale Prices.

Sign Up Fast Here