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Author Topic: Blast at Kabul Hotel Heard Miles Away
Frustrated Mess
rabble-rouser
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posted 14 January 2008 07:58 AM      Profile for Frustrated Mess   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
A thunderous explosion struck a Kabul luxury hotel frequented by foreigners on Monday, and the Taliban took responsibility, calling it a coordinated suicide attack. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.

The explosion struck the Serena Hotel, the only five-star hotel in Afghanistan and one that is popular among diplomats and is often used for conferences, around 6.15 p.m. local time and could be heard for up to two miles away across the city. Police blocked the roads around the hotel.



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/world/asia/15afghan.html?hp

From: doom without the gloom | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Webgear
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posted 14 January 2008 06:08 PM      Profile for Webgear     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The target of the attack was a Norwegian delegation conducting a meeting at the hotel

"UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Norwegian foreign minister, who was not hurt, was the target of the assault, which came as the Norwegian embassy was holding a meeting at the Serena Hotel. Two State Department officials said at least one American was among the dead. A Norwegian reporter also died."


From: Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
Webgear
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posted 15 January 2008 02:27 PM      Profile for Webgear     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Arrests made in attack.

Afghan officials have arrested four men following an attack on Kabul's main luxury hotel, including one suspected of wearing a police uniform during the multi-pronged assault that killed eight, officials said Tuesday.


From: Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
kropotkin1951
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posted 15 January 2008 02:34 PM      Profile for kropotkin1951   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
So Webgear what are the chances they will be treated as a suspect and thus innocent until proven guilty compared to the scenario that they are currently being tortured into a confession and denunciation of others?
From: North of Manifest Destiny | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
Webgear
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posted 15 January 2008 02:57 PM      Profile for Webgear     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
That is a good question, since the attack took place in Kabul and there are a large number of NGOs and Foreign Governments interested in the attack, I would speculate that the suspects are being treated in a humane way.

This is a high profile international case; I would hazard a guess that the Government of Afghanistan wants to conduct this case in a professional manner in order to show the world that their police and security forces are becoming professional.

I suppose there are many international watch groups taking a deep interest in this case and have already started their investigations into the cause and future actions of those involved including the insurgents/terrorists and police forces.

From the news article it appears a large amount of evidence has been found and the guiltiness of those who that conducted is pretty apparent. Thus they will likely have a quick trail and receive the proper Afghan punishment according to Afghan law.


From: Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
kropotkin1951
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posted 15 January 2008 03:00 PM      Profile for kropotkin1951   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Most likely a beheading then if proven guilty?
From: North of Manifest Destiny | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged
Webgear
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posted 15 January 2008 03:09 PM      Profile for Webgear     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I am not sure; it is possible however the previous executions were carried out by firing squads.
From: Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
Webgear
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posted 15 January 2008 03:10 PM      Profile for Webgear     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Afghan Government Executes 15 Prisoners

The mass execution took place Sunday evening according to Afghan law, which calls for condemned prisoners to be shot to death, said Abdul Salam Ismat, the prisons chief.


From: Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
Fidel
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posted 15 January 2008 09:07 PM      Profile for Fidel     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Webgear:
From the news article it appears a large amount of evidence has been found and the guiltiness of those who that conducted is pretty apparent. Thus they will likely have a quick trail and receive the proper Afghan punishment according to Afghan law.

That's good'nough for me. Hang'em high!!


From: Viva La Revolución | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
Noise
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posted 16 January 2008 07:01 AM      Profile for Noise     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
From the article Webgear linked:

quote:
The previous execution, in April 2004, had been denounced by the London-based human rights group Amnesty International, which said President Hamid Karzai had assured the group he would institute a moratorium on the death penalty.

...

The mass execution is likely to complicate relationships between Afghanistan and some NATO members with military forces in the country. International troops often take suspected fighters prisoner and later hand them over to the Afghan government, but some foreign governments would bar that if Afghanistan uses capital punishment.


Think we'll continue to hand-over prisoners so they can be executed?


From: Protest is Patriotism | Registered: May 2006  |  IP: Logged
unionist
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posted 16 January 2008 07:07 AM      Profile for unionist     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Webgear:
I am not sure; it is possible however the previous executions were carried out by firing squads.

Waste of scarce bullets, IMO. Ropes and blades are reusable. Has Karzai learned nothing at all about sustainable development and eco-friendly execution techniques??


From: Vote QS! | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
Webgear
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posted 16 January 2008 02:19 PM      Profile for Webgear     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Fidel:

That's good'nough for me. Hang'em high!!

I believe that hanging is only for


From: Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
Webgear
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posted 16 January 2008 02:25 PM      Profile for Webgear     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by unionist:

Waste of scarce bullets, IMO. Ropes and blades are reusable. Has Karzai learned nothing at all about sustainable development and eco-friendly execution techniques??


Being sort of a traditionalist, I hope they would use a sword. Firing squads are so impolite, too contemporary in my view and quiet frankly not as personable as an executioner with a finely sharpened sword.

However there are plenty of bullets in Afghanistan.


From: Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
Fidel
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posted 16 January 2008 03:42 PM      Profile for Fidel     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Webgear:
However there are plenty of bullets in Afghanistan.

I'll say. They must be making their own by now. In the 1980's, U.S. taxpayers were said to be paying $5 dollars per bullet supplied to "freedom fighters." Someone made a killing.

So when does freedom kick-in?

[ 16 January 2008: Message edited by: Fidel ]


From: Viva La Revolución | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
Webgear
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posted 16 January 2008 04:17 PM      Profile for Webgear     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
"The CIA was especially resistant to calls for providing the mujahidin with U.S.-made weaponry. Traditionally, the Agency purchased foreign, usually Soviet-styled, weaponry in order to "plausibly deny" U.S. involvement if the need arose. Throughout the Afghan war, the CIA purchased Soviet-designed weapons from Egypt, China and elsewhere and transported them to Pakistan. Cables reveal that Chinese and Egyptian AK-47 rifles and SA-7 anti-aircraft missiles arrived in Pakistan as early as 1980. This covert purchasing process not only covered U.S. tracks, but ensured the availability of weapons that were compatible with the kind captured by the rebels from their Soviet-supplied enemies."

Soviet Designed Weapons Are Not Cheap


From: Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
Fidel
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posted 16 January 2008 10:01 PM      Profile for Fidel     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Yaaaa but they can afford it with the largest official and unofficial military and secret police budgets in world history.

There was money to train the South Vietnamese to
defend themselves too.

And unlike the fate Najibullah suffered, Karzai would likely be whisked away by helicopter(like the secret al Qaeda rescue op in Afghanistan) after seeking sanctuary at a UN compound. NATO didn't give a shit about the carnage in Afghanistan post 1992. Western news agencies prophesied that the PDPA would fall to the mujihaden in six month's time. It was two years after the Soviets pulled out that the rockets began raining down on Kabul and Jalalabad. Western-backed freedom fighters celebrated with public executions and by raping women. They were destroyers not builders. Cold warriors backed the most ruthless and most vicious religious fundamentalists and scum of the earth, like this man implicated in an attempted bombing of the World Trade Towers years before 9-11.

[ 16 January 2008: Message edited by: Fidel ]


From: Viva La Revolución | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged

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