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[...and the U.S. and its NATO satellites can continue using Afghanistan as a training ground for NATO command and operational 'inter-operability,' for new and increasingly more lethal military hardware, including Daisy Cutter and thermobaric, not to mention low-grade nuclear 'bunker buster,' bombs; for absorbing all the former Central Asian and Caucasian Soviet republics into an ironclad military alignment; for constructing and rehabbing airforce bases, troop barracks, command and control and communication centers in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, directly encroaching on the Russian and Chinese borders; for building up a permanent U.S. military personnel deployment of over 50,000 in the arc stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea; for facilitating the first out-of-country and out-of-area deployment of German and Japanese troops, air and naval forces since the end of World War II; for coercing every nation on earth into 'you're either with us or against us' blackmail; for providing Canadian, Australian, German, English, French and Eastern European troops with their first direct combat experience since the Persian Gulf War if not since War World II, training which will be put to good purpose elsewhere - soon. But this is a war against terrorism, affirm the supporters and cheerleaders of terrorism in the Balkans and beyond. Pity the poor Afghan people to be the pretext for so much cynicism and brutality.] AFP Tuesday March 19, 11:17 PM Thousands of al-Qaeda still a threat in Afghanistan: US commander Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters may have been crushed in their last-known Afghan stronghold but US and Canadian commanders warned that thousands remain at large, well-funded, well-prepared and well-equipped. The massive Operation Anaconda in eastern Paktia province was wound up Tuesday as the last allied troops returned to their barracks, the threat from Taliban and al-Qaeda extremists remains, the general in command of the US-led offensive said. "Even if you do the math, there are thousands of enemies that remain out there," Major General Frank Hagenbeck said at this air base near Kabul. "We took (out) only a troop that we consider somewhere between 800 and 1,000. That told us there are lots of more folks out there." Those at large were "going to ground," he added. "We have intelligence that tells us that. We will wait to see how this intelligence develops over time and we will go after those pockets (of resistance), whether they be large or small." But Hagenbeck said the "world was a safer place" in the aftermath of the fortnight-long Operation Anaconda. "We destroyed hundreds of al-Qaeda's most experienced fighters and trainers. We destroyed this base for terrorist operations and eliminated their sanctuary. "We destroyed critical terrorist equipment and we reduced the terrorists' ability to launch large attacks from the Gardez region (of Paktia)." The apparent financial muscle of the extremists was highlighted by a Canadian officer who was told during a search of al-Qaeda caves around the Shahi Kot valley that locals had been paid 400 dollars to vacate their homes in surrounding villages. "I was told ... that when the al-Qaeda moved into the area they told the locals they were going to fight to the death there," Lieutenant Colonel Pat Stogran told AFP. "They either vacated the area, or stayed to fight to the death and apparently they paid everybody that left 400 dollars American to leave, which is a massive amount of money to clear an area so they could set up shop." Afghan civil servants earn about 40 dollars a month. "It gave me the impression they do have significant funds," he said. The search of some 30 caves had unearthed rocket propelled grenades, heavy mortars and large caches of ammunition. "They had a lot of ammunition, a lot of weaponry out there, that all cost money." "They know how to use their kits ... these guys were not amateurs. They knew how to use mortars indirect, using an observer at a separate site and engaged the coalition forces very accurately," the Canadian commander said. "I would go as far to say they were not first-timers." Hagenbeck said that the operation had "reinforced to us that this is an extremely determined and well-trained enemy". "Enemy forces we have detained or killed are not lacking for money." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
