State Dept. Official On Afghanistan: ‘Nobody Can Tell Me It’s Not Going In A Positive Direction’
State Dept. Official On Afghanistan: ‘Nobody Can Tell Me It’s Not Going In A Positive Direction’
In a Senate hearing today on Afghanistan, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher proclaimed, “There is progress. It’s going in the right direction.” Boucher said Afghanistan now has “a government that works fairly well,” a “quality” police force, a growing “cell phone market,” and even residents who are “furnishing houses.” He concluded:
So, I see all these efforts. Nobody can tell me it’s not going in a positive direction.
Watch it:
Yesterday, however, three major reports said just that, each concluding that the situation in Afghanistan is eroding quickly. “Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan,” said a military report chaired by ret. Gen. James Jones and Thomas Pickering. Boucher said he partly “disagreed” with the conclusions of the reports, which said:
Jones-Pickering Report: “The progress achieved after six years of international engagement is under serious threat.” [LINK]
Atlantic Council Report: “Afghanistan remains a dangerously neglected conflict in a Washington transfixed by Iraq. … On the security side, a stalemate of sorts has taken hold.” [LINK]
National Defense University Report: “It is our assertion that the current Afghan government and its allies, principally NATO and the United States, are not winning the battle in the civil sector.” [LINK]
Over the past year, the situation in Afghanistan has dramatically deteriorated. Violence has jumped 27 percent. Suicide bombings rose to 140 in 2007, compared with five between 2001 and 2005. Coalition and Afghan civilian casualties have reached “the highest level since 2001.”
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January 31st, 2008 at 2:14 pmApparently, no one can teach this asshat a damned thing.
Prime candidate for a Darwin Award.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:16 pmWhat boucher means is that no one can tell him anything at all. In his world, only his opinion counts.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:19 pmto put it to the morons of this country in terms even they can understand….
look at the quarterback.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:19 pmI think we can shorten that to “Nobody can tell me i̶t̶’̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶i̶t̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶r̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶. anything.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:22 pmLet’s see…. Taliban resurgent, and gaining strength, opium production at record levels…….yup, that’s real progress alright.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:22 pmYou have to be able to listen first, before anyone can tell you anything.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:23 pmIt’s the bush legacy, regardless of reality, “We done good.”
I suggest Mr. Boucher set up his office in a nice rental space in rural Afghanistan and then report back in six months about the wonderful progress. Heck, he could call back on a cell phone he could now buy there!
We can expect to see more of the same from the bush/cheney mis-administration for the balance of 2008. Regardless of the reality, “All is going well.”
January 31st, 2008 at 2:23 pmSigh, preview would be a wonderful thing.
Also, rats, beaten to the punch.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:24 pmI am really puzzled as to how the Taliban controling about 50% of the country is a “positive direction”.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:24 pmNobody can tell me anything…. BECAUSE I DON’T LISTEN.
It is a characteristic shared by the entire Bush administration and all its supporters.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:26 pmNobody can tell him it’s not going in the right direction.
But can anyone tell him it IS going in the right direction.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:26 pmReichwing liars? That’s not a question. It’s a synonym.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:28 pmComment by Wayne — January 31, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
It hard to hear anything when you’ve got yer head up yer Cheney…
January 31st, 2008 at 2:28 pmOT I know, but check out this site for a reminder of what happened exactly 1 year ago today!
January 31st, 2008 at 2:31 pmhttp://lokinews.wordpress.com/
“No one can tell me anything”. The mantra of Bush and the Boyz. They create their own reality and live in their own alternative universe with the 25%ers.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:31 pmHas he ever been there? Heck of a job richie!
January 31st, 2008 at 2:31 pmThis is the kind of Kafkaesque twaddle that the world has been saddled with as a result of Americans permitting shameless hucksters who brag about “creating their own reality” to control the levers of power of the world’s sole remaining super-power.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html
January 31st, 2008 at 2:35 pmgood news for America or Afghanistan will always = bad news for libs and regressives.
more bad news for you: top al-qaida leader killed by U.S forces today in Afghanistan.
oh well – at least have some fun pooh poohing this news, and have a nice day hating everyone
January 31st, 2008 at 2:37 pmJust like HerrBrush if Bouchers lips are moving hes lying.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:37 pmOh goody… an irrational, self-serving troll here to indulge in meaningless generalizations…
January 31st, 2008 at 2:38 pmNot you, Namaste, but ct…
January 31st, 2008 at 2:39 pmThanks for the warm words ct. Instead of hating you sick bastards, we’ll just vote your party out in November and we will have a good day.
Fck you very much……
January 31st, 2008 at 2:39 pmComment by ct — January 31, 2008 @ 2:37 pm
ct, if you actually had a brain, you would probably take it out and play with it.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:41 pmmore troops in iraq today than when “your” party took over the senate last november.
i seem to remember a few campaign promises from “your” party about all troops coming home as soon they get in office.
didn’t quite work out for you. oh well
January 31st, 2008 at 2:44 pmA Positive Direction
Period US Other Total
+ 2008 7 7 14
+ 2007 117 115 232
+ 2006 98 93 191
+ 2005 99 31 130
+ 2004 52 6 58
+ 2003 48 9 57
+ 2002 49 20 69
+ 2001 12 0 12
Yes the taliban are doing very well
The Afghanis will never be beaten in time
January 31st, 2008 at 2:44 pm“So, I see all these efforts. Nobody can tell me it’s not going in a positive direction.”
TRANSLATION: “Don’t bother me with facts — I’ve made up my mind!”
I think that if you look hard enough, you will find something positive about every scenario you encounter. This optimistic philosophy is one I try to live by, in fact.
And it truly is good news that there’s a growing cell phone market there and that some people are furnishing houses.
However, while optimism can be wonderful, it’s helpful to keep some kind of perspective that’s close to reality. Otherwise, it’s equivalent to admiring the ornate woodwork in the first class lounge on the Titanic.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:46 pmdidn’t quite work out for you. oh well
Comment by ct — January 31, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
Gawd, what a mental midget. “Your party”??
Have anything at all to say that’s not a meaningless generalization?
January 31st, 2008 at 2:46 pmCanadians want to leave Afghanistan so do the Germans and the Brits in a way
The minute Bush is out of Power they will leave were all just working at keeping him Amused to the day he leaves
January 31st, 2008 at 2:46 pmWhy do you hate our troops – you should ask what has an Iraqi ever done to America prior to the invasion
January 31st, 2008 at 2:51 pm“Nobody can tell me it’s not going in a positive direction.”
There are none so blind than those who refuse to see.
Welcome to Bushworld where up is down, black is white and Afghanistan is progress.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:52 pmThe minute the troops leave and they take the Puppet President with them then Afghanistan can join the Shanghai Corporation organiszation and have a better life
January 31st, 2008 at 2:53 pmUh, yeah! How could people being executed for blasphemy be anything but positive?!
January 31st, 2008 at 2:53 pmi seem to remember a few campaign promises from “your†party about all troops coming home as soon they get in office.
didn’t quite work out for you. oh well
Comment by ct — January 31, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
“Our” party said that? Really? Could you provide a link to the quote, please?
You can’t, of course. Unlike the GOP, who goes in for things like Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America, the Democratic party doesn’t speak as a monolithic unit when it comes to individual House and Senate races. My congressman — an incumbent Democrat, whom I voted for again — never made any promise that electing him would result in an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. He did, however, say that he would not vote to continue to fund the war without a condition of troop reduction/withdrawal, and he has lived up to that.
I am, however, disappointed in other Democrats who have caved in to this administration and who have put up with GOP obstructionism. I (and many other Democrats) now see that in order to bring about real change, we must elect a Democratic president and a veto-proof Democratic majority in both houses. Since “your” party is completely incapable of bi-partisanship, it’s the only way.
And it will be done. Too bad for you. Oh well.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:57 pmComment by Anjuna Laguna — January 31, 2008 @ 2:53 pm
Uh… yeah. What did I read about that the other day… the Chinese building a shipping facility in Iran?
Someone needs to explain the concept of “strange bed fellows” to Herr Brusch, along w/ “Necessity is the mother of invention”…
January 31st, 2008 at 2:58 pmHe is part of this War Criminal Organization that Bush/Cheney have built, what do expect except anything but lies and denial.
Buck Fush
January 31st, 2008 at 2:58 pm“Nobody can tell me it’s not going in a positive direction.”
I’ve made my mind. The facts will just confuse me.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:04 pmI guess delusion is a communicable disease…!
January 31st, 2008 at 3:05 pmmore bad news for you: top al-qaida leader killed by U.S forces today in Afghanistan.
Comment by ct — January 31, 2008 @ 2:37 pm
I guess you don’t pay very close attention to the fact that when one of these people are killed, there are many more to step in and take their place.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:08 pmWhat a f’n idiot.
Afghanistan sentences journalist to death for downloading report on women’s rights
http://www.americablog.com/2008/01/wheres-laura-bush-now.html
January 31st, 2008 at 3:09 pmNYT ~ August 25th
“LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Aug. 25 — Afghanistan produced record levels of opium in 2007 for the second straight year, led by a staggering 45 percent increase in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand Province, according to a new United Nations survey to be released Monday.”
Real progress for the CIA’s cash cow maybe…
January 31st, 2008 at 3:19 pmum… is it just me, or is an increase in the cell phone market actually a bad thing because cell phones can be used as cheap detonators for bombs?
January 31st, 2008 at 3:26 pmFor more Kool-Aide?? Or is this from just excessive shoe shopping…..
January 31st, 2008 at 3:31 pmState Dept. Official On Afghanistan: ‘Nobody Can Tell Me It’s Not Going In A Positive Direction’
That sounds about right. The generic version of this headline would be
State Dept. Official On Anything: ‘Nobody Can Tell Me Anything I Don’t Want to Hear’
January 31st, 2008 at 3:32 pmBoucher’s response: “LALALALALA! I CAN’T HEAR YOU! LALALALALA!”
AF
January 31st, 2008 at 3:39 pmPlease, someone, overnight, rush delivery, urgent – mail this clown a clue! Please!
January 31st, 2008 at 3:56 pmReal progress for the CIA’s cash cow maybe…
Comment by RUCerious — January 31, 2008 @ 3:19 pm
You know Bush Sr’s nickname, given to him while in the CIA, is “Poppy”, right?
January 31st, 2008 at 3:59 pmDid this guy put his fingers in his ears and yell “la, la, la I can’t hear you”?
January 31st, 2008 at 4:17 pmum… is it just me, or is an increase in the cell phone market actually a bad thing because cell phones can be used as cheap detonators for bombs?
Comment by raynman — January 31, 2008 @ 3:26 pm
I’m glad someone else connected those dots. Add in our arming of all parties in a civil conflict, in Iraq, and you see what passes for “progress” in the eyes of Bushco.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:22 pmThe country has gone from zero heroin production before the invasion to being the top supplier of heroin in the world-supplying 80% of the worlds heroin. And why has this come about? In exchange for letting the war lords grow poppies, the Bush Admin. gets to build the oil pipeline the US, UK and European oil companies have been trying to build for the last 80+ years. Quid pro quo. Isn’t it a weird coincidence the country that needed to be invaded after 9/11 is the very country the oil companies have been trying to get said oil pipeline built for almost a century? And the other country we invaded has the second largest oil reserves in on the planet? The CIA is nothing more than the mob that does the bidding of Big Corporate. They are the muscle behind Corporate America’s greed. And who was it that Reagan used to train those ‘Freedom Fighters’ we now call terrorists when the Soviet’s were trying to conquer Afghanistan to build the very same pipeline? You got it: the CIA.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:30 pmNobody can tell these idiotologues anything, apparently.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:27 pmOff-topic a bit, but in 1980, when Lorne Michaels, the original producer of Saturday Night Live, left the show, and what was left of the original cast and most of the crew went with him, NBC hired a realtviely untested Producer, Jean Doumanian, to replace him. She was Talent Relations for the show and had produced a special featuring the comedy duo Bob & Ray, which was so filled with SNL talent, it was essentially Bob & Ray hosting SNL. And Lorne did most of the producing from the sidelines. Anyway, aside from a few kinda-smart hires (Joe Piscopo as a regular, Eddie Murphy as a glorified extra [at first, anyay]), the show’s ratings took a tremendous hit, critics lined up to crap all over it, and through it all, she never stopped believing it was going relatively well. She didn’t know what she was doing, and she wouldn’t listen to people who were in a position, either from experience putting together television shows or from being executives within the network, to help her out. No one could tell herthings weren’t going well either. She lasted about half a season before she was replaced with Dick Ebersol, a person who not only helped get SNL on the air back in 1975, but had just enough humility to get people on the show who had previously worked on the show, and who knew how to put a show together.
If only responsible grownups gave as much of a crap about our overstretched military as NBC execs gave about a damn variety show…
January 31st, 2008 at 6:00 pmGood news out of Afghanistan/Pakistan Theater of the War:
Top Al-Qaeda Commander Killed in Pakistan
By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 31, 2008; 4:21 PM
Abu Laith al-Libi, one of al-Qaeda’s most senior commanders, was killed in Pakistan on Monday, Western officials said today.
The officials declined to comment on whether Libi’s death was related to a reported U.S. missile strike, launched from an unmanned Predator aircraft, that killed at least a dozen people Monday in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region.
U.S. officials had offered a bounty of $200,000 for Libi, who used a nom de guerre and whose true name was not known. He had been identified by U.S. officials as having orchestrated the 2007 bombing of the U.S. base in Bagram, Afghanistan, during a visit by Vice President Cheney.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:42 pmIf people are dying dumbass, it ain’t positive. Excuse me, is your son in Afghanistan? Why don’t you ask the Russians how are their bullshit walked and talked on Afghanistan. Wake up smiley, smell the coffee and learn a little then maybe you’ll be ready for the big leagues. Suddenly, you wake up and start talking about Afghanistan because it’s what, a diversion from Iraq? Answer me this Mr., ain’t nobody tellin’ me nuttin, why wasn’t Afghanistan sexy in 2001 like it should have been? That’s alright let me answer in two words: oil and Israel. Did I get close.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:01 pmAnd here we go cheerleading the death of a fellow human. Maybe a bad guy ok, but where does this death work end. Yay we killed somebody and that means what? This guy is food for the BS machine back in Washington. There are more where he came from. Like this is a big deal in the infrastructure of a covert operating system jeez. Well be happy, yell and leap for the death of this man, and then with your cold, cold heart go hug your kid. Somebody hugged this man back when. When you kill, even if it’s an enemy, the joy of it leaves soon enough. Yay to nothing.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:07 pm