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border crossing

Pakistan Building Fence Along Border with Afghanistan

In order to slow the flow of terrorists from Afghanistan, Pakistan has begun a project to construct border fences along their porous 1500-mile border with Afghanistan.

The project is slated to cost $483 million and the military is hoping it will help in dismantling militant networks in the largely lawless North and South Waziristan regions.

“For the better security of our country and nation, we had to do this work,” a Pakistani army official, Brig. Nisar, who uses only one name, told journalists during a government-organized visit to the border this month.

The barrier has angered the Afghan government, which disputes the location of the boundary and says the fence will tear communities apart.

Construction began last year on two fences that parallel each other as they snake through the remote, mountainous landscape. Standing 13 feet high on the Afghan side and 11 feet on the Pakistani side, sharp spirals of silver barbed wire are cradled at the top of each.

Additional coils of barbed wire have been placed on the ground in the gap between the fences, which are dotted with Pakistani military towers.

The military says it will have 92 percent of the national border fenced before the end of 2019.

However, only three miles of the 789-mile stretch of the border along the remote southwestern province of Balochistan has been fenced so far, according to a military official who spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity.

Beyond Balochistan, Pakistani authorities said the other part of the fence, including the portion visited by NBC News, would eventually total 516 miles in length. Around 146 miles of that stretch has been completed, according to officials.

Some parts of the border will not be fenced as they are too mountainous.

The Pakistanis have accused the Afghans of not doing enough to secure the border area and claim terrorists from ISIS use Afghanistan to plan operations. The Afghan government also disputes where the actual border is, put in place by the British during the 19th century.

To read the entire article from the NBC News, click here:

File Photo courtesy Wikipedia of construction along Pakistan-Afghan border

Israel, Backed Into a Corner, Had No Other Choice

Opinion: No one liked what they saw unfold on television earlier this week. Dozens of people dead, hundreds more wounded in violent clashes along the border between Israel and Gaza. And while the left-wing press continued the lie and called it a “protest”, it was anything but. What could Israel have done differently, everyone asked? Nothing.

This wasn’t a protest but in an invasion of thousands of people. When thousands of people try to cross the border of another country intent on doing the other harm, it isn’t a peaceful protest but an armed invasion, regardless of whether everyone was armed or not.

And the prevailing message that this was a protest about the United States moving its embassy to Jerusalem is the second biggest lie about this entirely orchestrated episode. The biggest lie will post below. Palestinian leaders have turned down several formal U.S. and Israeli offers (the last in 2008) for a permanent statehood in exchange for peace that would have given them a state with its capital in that portion of Jerusalem. But to do so would require that they acknowledge Israel has a right to exist.

Hamas isn’t interested in peace or coexistence but in the destruction of Israel. And they’ll use anything at their disposal to achieve that goal. If there is any doubt as to what the ultimate goal of Hamas was in the border crossing, don’t listen to what Israel or the United States says. Listen to what the leaders of Hamas had to say.

Perhaps cutting the hearts out of the people of Israel is considered “peaceful protest” in some circles. The Israelis know better. And they have every right to defend their border against people sworn to their destruction. If there is blame to be laid, lay it where it belongs, squarely on the head of Hamas.

Hamas doesn’t care about the plight of the Palestinian people. They are completely onboard with inflaming their passion and using women and children as human shields and have done so for a very long time.

When Hamas launches a rocket attack, (which they do frequently), this is why they do so between apartment buildings. They know, Israeli radar will immediately pick it up and their counter-battery artillery fire is on the way before the rockets ever touch the ground.

The Hamas “fighters” are long gone, left are the civilians. Useful pawns in the game for the ultimate goal. They then ensure there are plenty of video cameras to record the results of Israeli aggression. Are those the actions of an organization worried about the people?

Hamas doesn’t represent the best interest of the Palestinians. They represent the ayatollahs in Tehran. That is where the organization gets all of their rhetoric (and most of their money) from. Iran has stated that the state of Israel doesn’t have a right to exist. Iran is moving into Syria to get closer to the border of Israel and the IDF knows what their intent is.  They are taking a beating there as the Russians, allies with the Assad regime, have not lifted a finger to protect them from Israeli air strikes. This is just a continuation of their policy.

The Israelis who have arguably the best intelligence services in the world have stated that Iran is funding these “protests” along the border with Gaza. Shin Bet, the intelligence service said they’ve intercepted documents and interrogated detainees stating that Hamas has warned its own members to stay away from the security fence during Gaza’s mass protests, lest they get shot, while actively encouraging Palestinian civilians — particularly children and teens to actively do so. Once the wall is breached, Hamas gunmen will enter Israel to carry out operations.

From the Times of Israel: Yahya Ijlah, a 19-year-old Hamas member who entered Israel on April 29, told Shin Bet interrogators that he had been sent to the border in order to steal a security camera along the fence.

According to the Shin Bet, Ijlah said Hamas “is working to make its activities look like a popular uprising in the media and not a violent operation by its members.”

Are the Israelis always right? Of course not. No one is, certainly not the United States or anyone else. It is imperative that the U.S. keep an open and honest dialogue with the Israeli government and offer constructive criticism. But the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are as strict, if not even more so about limiting civilian casualties than the US is.

Of the 62 dead, that are being reported, Hamas has said that 50 are their operatives. Against a massive influx of people intent on destroying Israeli property and killing its population, it is small wonder how that number isn’t far more than that.

The world, and Hamas must come to the realization that Jerusalem is not “occupied territory” but the capital of Israel and the rightful capital of the country. Can the Palestinians also claim this as their own capital in a sharing scenario? Of course. Will they? Not until they rid themselves of Hamas and recognize that Hamas doesn’t have their welfare at heart.

Which brings us to the biggest lie in this unfortunate series of events is the oft-repeated one, “this will interfere with the peace process.” How in the world can there be peace when one side of the equation wants the other side dead? The only way that Jerusalem will not be the Israeli capital is if the country of Israel ceases to exist and the people wiped from the map. But that is the true goal of Hamas in the first place right? Rewatch the video above and ask who is really to blame here?

Photo: Wikipedia