Many of you that have visited this site over the years get steamed when I deem anything that Colin Powell says as credible. Yes, he wasn't tough enough to stand up to Bush before the war, and about Saddam's weapons programs to the United Nations General Assembly. Even with that said, he is one of the most well-known pragmatic military minds today. Like Obama and other Democrats, Powell today that Afghanistan might even be an even tougher task than Iraq:
"We have responsibilities in Afghanistan. And in some ways, Afghanistanis more difficult than Iraq. You have the tribal problems. You had druglords running around ... and al Qaeda and the Taliban are making aresurgence," Powell said.
Unlike Iraq, where Al Qaeda has already been rejected by the locals, they have formed unbreakable alliances in Afghanistan with warlords and former Taliban officials.
During Senator Joe Biden's (D-DE) thorough questioning of US Ambassador Ryan Crocker yesterday, the former presidential candidate got Crocker to admit that Afghanistan, not Iraq, is the in the war against those that attacked us on September 11th:
US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker conceded during Senate hearingstoday that Afghanistan, and not Iraq, is the main front in the fightagainst al-Qaeda.
Evading a direct answer to a question from Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) asto whether the focus of the war against the terror network is in Iraqor Afghanistan, Crocker finally said, "I would ... pick al-Qaeda in thePakistan-Afghanistan border area."
That's exactly what every Democratic presidential candidate believed. John McCain feels a lot different.
Maybe offers us with yet another example of how the Bush Administration took its eye of the ball in Afghanistan:
KARACHI - Like a voice from the grave, legendary Afghan mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani has emerged from years of silence to boldly launch the Taliban-led spring offensive in Afghanistan, at the same time burying any doubts of a split between his coalition of resistance groups and Mullah Omar's Taliban.
In a video message released last week and which is only now coming into wider circulation, Haqqani, speaking in his trademark low-pitched voice and with his hair dyed red with henna, called on the people of Afghanistan "to stand up against the US-led forces in Afghanistan and drive them out".
The release of the message by Haqqani, who has a bounty on his head as one of the US's most-wanted men, coincides with an important North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meeting in Bucharest, Romania, this weekend at which the divided alliance will try to hammer out a more coherent strategy in the war in Afghanistan which many analysts believe it is losing.
Just a reminder, these freaks attacked us on 9/11. Where is Osama? Where is Mullah Omar? Well, at least Bush is happy he got Saddam.
The war in Afghanistan has lasted six years -- more than the Iraq war and World War II. And six years later, the Bush Administration can only report :
A White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan has concluded that wide-ranging strategic goals that the Bush administration set for 2007 have not been met, even as U.S. and NATO forces have scored significant combat successes against resurgent Taliban fighters, according to U.S. officials.
The evaluation this month by the National Security Councilfollowed an in-depth review in late 2006 that laid out a series ofprojected improvements for this year, including progress in security,governance and the economy. But the latest assessment concluded thatonly "the kinetic piece" -- individual battles against Taliban fighters-- has shown substantial progress, while improvements in the otherareas continue to lag, a senior administration official said.
The number of troops that sustained brain injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan is than what the Pentagon claims:
At least 20,000 U.S. troops who were notclassified as wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have beenfound with signs of brain injuries, according to military and veteransrecords compiled by USA TODAY.
The data, provided by the Army, Navy andDepartment of Veterans Affairs, show that about five times as manytroops sustained brain trauma as the 4,471 officially listed by thePentagon through Sept. 30. These cases also are not reflected in thePentagon's official tally of wounded, which stands at 30,327.
Very sad that is takes a newspaper to audit the federal government for this information to come out.
Afghanistan's drug trade has doubled over the last two years, and has risen 34% since the beginning of 2007. Security is almost non-existent outside of Kabul. Yet, in an interview with , Ronald Rumsfeld bragged that Afghanistan turned out to be a big success, and that plans for postwar Iraq actually did exist:
"Look at Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, 28 million people are free. Theyhave their own president, they have their own parliament. Improved alot on the streets."
All your theories worked there, in other words.
"It'sbeen a big success! The Iraqi government has not been successful asyet. And, uh, it's gonna take some time and some effort."
When do you see it resolved?
"I'm not gonna get into that."
Right.But if you distill the general sense…the measured general sense…of whatthe American public feels about Iraq right now, it would be: a plan inbut not a plan out. Do you agree with that?
"No! No, no! Themilitary has to have plans for post-major-conflict stabilization, andthey did. And, uh, the focus of the insurgents and the terrorists andthe Al Qaeda have put on Iraq… It's enormously important to them."
But you sleep okay?
"I do. Always have."
Generations from now, Rumsfeld will were as an example of what future Defense Secretary hopefuls should not have: arrogance, clouded judgment and a disregard for realism.
We were seeing reports about this , and even then it was bad. But a new report submitted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime found that Afghanistan's drug economy is soaring out of control -- over the last two years:
Afghanistan's opium production has doubled in two years, reaching a newhigh in 2007, with the country almost the exclusive supplier of theworld's deadliest drug, the United Nations announced Monday.
Production was estimated to have jumped 34 percent this year over lastwith the number of heroin labs also increasing, the UN Office on Drugsand Crime said in its Annual Opium Survey.
The southern province of Helmand had meanwhile become the world'sbiggest source of illicit drugs, surpassing the output of entirecountries.
Earlier this summer, I reported on the severity of the disaster in Helmand Province. In that province alone, three times as much opium is produced than in Burma, the second worst opium country. Of course, the US only has 20,000 troops in Afghanistan, so it is unmistakably difficult to do anything about it right now.
Until just a one year ago, the violence in Afghanistan was mostly confined to everything outside the borders of Kabul. Sounds bad. But at least the Afghan government had a political center that it used to conduct government business. This year, however, kidnappings all over Afghanistan, including some in the Kabul capital, are threatening the government's ability to maintain order. More significantly, because many foreigners are being kidnapped as well, it increases the potential that some members of the coalition will reduce their involvement.
Time's explain just how bad it is:
While the abduction of foreigners is a new trend, criminal kidnappingsof Afghans have been going on in the capital for several years. But thepast year has seen a dramatic rise in such abductions, few of which areever reported in the media. "This is going to make news because it's aforeign woman who was kidnapped, but the reality is that it's a dailyoccurrence — not weekly, not monthly — for local nationals," says aKabul-based businesswoman who asks to remain anonymous due to securityfears. "Everyone who works in this town will have it happen one way oranother, be it a kidnapping, a threat of kidnapping or a hold up," sheadds, saying that in the past month there have been two kidnappings onher street, despite a police presence. "Security in this town is ajoke. The Taliban are talked about incessantly, but no one talks aboutthis stuff — this is the real reason Afghanistan can't catch its breath— not the insurgency, but the relentless and unanswered spate ofcriminal activity and corruption."
Yes, it is terrible that many locals are being kidnapped as well. Although, when it comes to politics, these foreign kidnappings will have a significant impact on the amount of help other nations will give to the Karzai government. Just recently, a while eating at a fast-food restaurant in Kabul. Add this case to the who were kidnapped earlier this summer by the Taliban -- yes, the Taliban, the group we lost site of when we diverted our attention to Iraq. Two of those hostages were killed, and two women were released.
20,000 US troops in Afghanistan. 163,000 US troops in Iraq. So Afghanistan is one-eighth as important as Iraq? Let's get real.
Mitt Romney joined the Republican National Committee in criticizing Barack Obama for the following about the current state of the US mission in Afghanistan ():
And that requires us to have enough troops that we're not just airraiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormousproblems there.
's campaign shot back:
"That is a very troubling remark on so many levels," said Romneyspokesman Kevin Madden. "Most importantly, it's emblematic of SenatorObama's lack of experience for the job of commander-in-chief. But it'salso an entirely inaccurate condemnation of the efforts of the men andwomen of the United States military who are serving in Iraq andAfghanistan."
But according to the , coalition forces have been killing Afghan civilians at a faster rate than insurgents, vindicating Obama's concern about our current policy there:
A check of the facts shows that Western forces have been killingcivilians at a faster rate than the insurgents have been killingcivilians.
The U.S. and NATO say they don't have civiliancasualty figures, but The Associated Press has been keeping count basedon figures from Afghan and international officials. Tracking civiliandeaths is a difficult task because they often occur in remote anddangerous areas that are difficult to reach and verify.
As ofAug. 1, the AP count shows that while militants killed 231 civilians inattacks in 2007, Western forces killed 286. Another 20 were killed incrossfire that can't be attributed to one party.
This is not called 'blaming the troops,' it is called reality.
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