Cuomo Blasts Opponents Remarks Along Parade Route - NY1

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Carl Paladino's latest remarks about gays brought a sharp response Monday from his Democratic opponent. NY1's Josh Robin filed the following report.

Andrew cuomo isn't mincing words when it comes to what Carl Paladino said to a small group of observant Jews Sunday.

"They were divisive. They were the worst cynical politics, trying to pit people against one another," Cuomo said.

The Republican believes children shouldn't be "brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option." He was also slamming Cuomo for taking his daughters to the city's Gay Pride Parade, which he says is too graphic.

"I don't think I'm going to accept parenting advice from Mr. Paladino," Cuomo said.

Until now, Cuomo has had trouble fully winning over gay rights groups. In separate appearances along the Columbus Day Parade Route this weekend, he was apparently relishing the ability to slam Paladino's statements which come as the city reels from an anti-gay attack in the Bronx involving gang members.

"New York celebrates our diversity. Today we have parades to celebrate diversity, today we have the Columbus Day -- the Italian parade. We have the Gay Pride Parade. We have the Israel Day Parade. We celebrate our diversity. You're not going to make it a negative. Not going to play one off against the other. We won't let it happen in New York," Cuomo said.

Meanwhile, people along the parade route were giving Cuomo a warm reception. While it was supportive, it was not overly enthusiastic.

"He knows politics. He's in the business before, his father was too. He's qualified. He's the best qualified," said one parade goer.

"He's not an angry man. he looks very good," said another.

"He's the same city as my city in Italy, that's why I like Cuomo -- Mario Cuomo, Andrew Cuomo, Matilda Cuomo," said a third.

Cuomo marched a few paces ahead of Paladino -- a position the Democrat no doubt would like to hold come Election Day.

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Key NATO supply route hit again in Pakistan - The Associated Press

Key NATO supply route hit again in PakistanBy ZARAR KHAN (AP) – 40 minutes ago

ISLAMABAD — Suspected militants attacked and set fire to around 20 tankers carrying oil for NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Monday, the third such strike inside Pakistan in as many days, police said.

The attack took place on a supply line that has been closed by Pakistani authorities in protest at a NATO helicopter attack that killed three Pakistan troops on the border last week.

It will raise the stakes in the closure, which has exacerbated tensions between Washington and Islamabad but has been welcomed by Islamist groups opposed to Pakistan's support off the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

Police officer Umer Hayat said two people were killed in the attack close to the capital Islamabad by what he called "terrorists." The attackers opened fire on trucks that were parked at a poorly guarded terminal before setting them afire, he and other officers said.

The trucks were en route or waiting to travel to the Torkham border crossing along the fabled Khyber Pass, which is used to bring fuel, military vehicles, spare parts, clothing and other non-lethal supplies for foreign troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan's other main route into landlocked Afghanistan, in Chaman in the southwest, has remained open.

While NATO and the United States have alternative supply routes into Afghanistan, the Pakistani ones are the cheapest and most convenient. Most of the coalition's non-lethal supplies are transported over Pakistani soil after being unloaded at docks in Karachi, a port city in the south.

On Friday, a day after the closure of the Khyber Pass route to NATO and US traffic, there were two attacks on oil tankers headed to the country. The convoys take several days to reach the border after setting off from Karachi and make frequent stops.

Over the past two years they often have been attacked by militants, mostly in the northwestern border region where militants are strongest. They also have been targeted by criminals, who can sell the clothing, vehicles and other equipment they carry.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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US: Only one supply route shut down by Pakistan - CNN International

Three soldiers were killed when NATO helicopters crossed the Afghanistan Pakistan border, Pakistani security officials said.NEW: U.S. says only one supply route is closedPakistan says its troops fired warning shotsNATO aircraft entered Pakistani airspace, ISAF said

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The U.S. military says only one supply route to Afghanistan has been closed by the Pakistani government after fighting that led to the deaths of three Pakistani soldiers, and a military spokesman said Thursday that United States is hopeful the situation is only temporary.

Pakistan banned NATO supply convoys from entering Afghanistan after the deaths of the three soldiers, whom the government says were killed in Pakistani territory during fighting between NATO troops and militants, according to a military official from the NATO-led command in Afghanistan.

Other routes from Pakistan to the war zone remain open, Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Thursday. Lapan said it was too soon to assess the impact of closing this crucial route.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad is talking with Pakistan to resolve the situation.

Supply convoys are all-important for the Afghan war effort, and officials from NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) were trying to persuade Pakistan to lift the ban. Coalition forces rely heavily on convoys from Pakistan to bring in supplies and gear.

ISAF said in a statement Thursday that its forces saw what they thought were insurgents trying to fire mortars at a coalition base in the Dand Patan District of Afghanistan's Paktiya province, near the Pakistani border.

An air weapons team targeted the suspected insurgents' firing position, located inside Afghanistan along the border area, and the aircraft entered Pakistani airspace briefly "as they engaged this initial target," the ISAF statement said.

After this strike, the "aircraft received what the crews assessed as effective small arms fire from individuals just across the border in Pakistan" and the ISAF aircraft, operating in self-defense, entered into Pakistani airspace and killed "several armed individuals."

Later, Pakistani military officials told ISAF that coalition aircraft struck its border forces.

"ISAF and Pakistani forces are reviewing the operational reporting to verify the exact location of the two engagements and the facts in this case, and we will work together to fully investigate this incident.

"Both sides have in mind that it is the insurgents, operating on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and violating the territorial sovereignty of both countries, that we are focused on fighting," the ISAF statement said.

ISAF issued "sincere condolences to the Pakistani military and the families of those who were killed or injured."

The Pakistani government said two helicopters from Afghanistan appeared to have crossed the border into Pakistan in the Mandata Kandaho, Ali Mangola area of the upper Kurram Agency and engaged an outpost of Frontier Corps through cannon fire.

The post, manned by six soldiers, is located 200 meters inside Pakistan, and troops fired their rifles to indicate that the helicopters were crossing into Pakistani territory.

Instead of heeding the warning, the choppers fired two missiles and destroyed the post, killing the three soldiers and injuring three others.

"This is the third incident of its kind during past one week. In the wake of the last incident on 27 September, contact was made at the highest military level and the incident was regretted by the USA," the government said.

NATO helicopters crossed into Pakistani airspace from Afghanistan in pursuit of insurgents over the weekend, killing 49 people, a spokesman told CNN Monday.

Crossing the border did not violate the International Security Assistance Force rules of engagement, Maj. Michael Johnson said.

Pakistan is very sensitive about U.S.-led military operations on its territory and issued a strong protest Monday.

Pakistan called the incursions "a clear violation and breach" of U.N. rules for foreign forces in Afghanistan.

The United Nations "mandate terminates/finishes at the Afghanistan border. There are no agreed hot pursuit rules," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

A senior administration official in the tribal region's Khyber Agency told CNN Thursday that Pakistan had temporarily stopped NATO supplies from entering Afghanistan in the area of Takhta Baig, which is located about 45 km (28 miles) from the border with Afghanistan.

The official asked to not be named because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

A commander of international forces in the western part of Afghanistan said Thursday that Pakistan's recent ban on use of supply routes is "not a problem" for troops in his area of the country.

Italian Gen. Claudio Berto, talking to reporters in the Pentagon via satellite from Afghanistan, said, "In my point of view, it's not a problem, we are really far away from Pakistan, and if you mean the goods for the soldier, they're coming through other borders, for example Turkmenistan. And we have no problem with this issue."

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