Apathy.net - Afghanistan

Afghanistan Falling Into Taliban Control

john — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 09:24:02 -0500

As the U.S. remains distracted by the conflict it started in Iraq, the mission in Afghanistan gets further and further away from being "accomplished".

Taliban Moving Closer To Kabul

john — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 08:23:07 -0400

The Taliban stronghold areas in Afghanistan lies in provinces that border Pakistan; but, recently, they have begun making inroads into provinces further inland and closer to Kabul.

Training Them There So We Can Fight Them Here

john — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 09:33:58 -0400

Of the many tent poles used to justify the invasion of Iraq, the last one standing was Bush's assertion that by fighting terrorists in Iraq, we won't have to fight them here. Well, a new National Intelligence Estimate kicks over the last tent pole.

Obama Calls For New Role For U.S. Troops

john — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 11:16:55 -0400

While campaigning in Iowa on Saturday, presidential candidate Barack Obama put forth the suggestion that U.S. troops in Iraq be sent to fight al Qaeda.

al Qaeda Back To Pre-9/11 Strength

john — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:31:19 -0400

U.S. Intelligence analysts, in a report titled "Al-Qaida better positioned to strike the West," have stated that al Qaeda has managed to regroup and rebuild back to the point it was at before September 11th.

Senate Republicans Kill Troop Protection Bill

john — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 08:50:40 -0400

Forty-one Republicans voted to block cloture on a bill to protect U.S. troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Peace Time Procurement No Way To Win A War

john — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 08:23:03 -0400

After the failure of several contractors to deliver badly needed equipment on time, the U.S. Military's procurement practices have been called into question by the Pentagon's Inspector General.

Afghanistan Has Record Opium Crop

john — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:33:41 -0400

Another tangible non-benefit of the War On Terror has been the dramatic rise in opium in Afghanistan. 2006 brought a record 6,700 tons of it, or 92 per cent of the world 7,300 tons total production. Much of this production is helping heroine supplant other drugs, like cannabis, as the drug of choice.

Iran Arming Taliban Fighters

john — Thu, 7 Jun 2007 08:58:34 -0400

Further evidence has come to light that Iran is indeed fighting a proxy war against the United States and Britain in Afghanistan (and, no doubt, Iraq as well).

Afghanistan Moves Toward State Controlled Media

john — Mon, 7 May 2007 10:20:15 -0400

Before the fall of the Taliban in 2001, all media in Afghanistan was under state control. Now, as the fighting with the Taliban resumes, efforts are under way in the Afghan parliament to reign in the media once again.

NATO Seeks More Forces For Afghanistan Amid Talks Of A 2008 Exit

john — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 07:11:10 -0500

Ahead of a NATO summit in Riga, George W Bush is pressing NATO allies for more troop commitments to bolster forces in Southern Afghanistan that are as much as 20% below the levels NATO commanders feel are appropriate to accomplish their mission.

The forces are ostensibly to aid the reconstruction effort, but a resurgent Taliban force in the area requires that the committed forces also be combat ready -- something several fledging NATO nations, like Estonia, are unwilling or unprepared to commit to.

Meanwhile, some of the largest NATO nations, the U.S., Britain, and France are facing political situations that make further troop commitments difficult to impossible. Bush faces a Democratic congress, while Blair and Chirac are almost certainly on their way out in coming months.

Afghanistan Continues To Slip Away

john — Mon, 9 Oct 2006 08:11:46 -0400

As the American military and people are distracted by the War in Iraq, the United States' first victory in the Bush Administration's 'War on Terror' continues to slide into defeat. Consider this lede from an Oct 2 Associated Press article:

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring "people who call themselves Taliban" and their allies into the government.

Surprised by that? I was. I'm not surprised by the recognition that a war against an armed insurgency would be long and potentially futile. I'm surprised that that is coming from the Republic Majority Leader in the Senate.

It is also surprising the extent to which that sentiment undercuts the activities of NATO allies. Consider the appeal from the NATO Commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Richards, for more troops to bolster his 32,000 man force:

He said the south of the country, where NATO troops have fought their most intense battles this year, has been "broadly stabilized," which gives the alliance an opportunity to launch projects there. If it doesn't, he estimates about 70 percent of Afghans could switch their allegiance from NATO to the Taliban.

Mission Unraveling

john — Sat, 2 Sep 2006 23:21:09 -0400

As the Bush Administration continues to pat itself on the back for its successes in the Global War on Terror, err, I mean War Against Islamic Fascists, Afghanistan continues to slip back into Taliban control.

Afghanistan's southern provinces are now producing record crops of opium amounting to 92% of the world's supply. Much of which fueling the Taliban.

In response to the problem, the Bush Administration's answer is to fund the fledgling Afghan goverment's efforts to eradicate the crops rather than taking matters into their own hands.

I thought we had learned our lesson when it comes to outsourcing in Afghanistan. If we'd had the backbone to handle the Tora Bora conflict ourselves during the invasion, instead of making the locals do it, we might have captured Osama bin Laden then.

When will the administration learn that Americans still support what we did in Afghanistan -- it's the one gold star on their report card. They need to retake ownership of the problem before it becomes another embarrassment.