Gates: Taliban ‘no longer occupy’ territory in Afghanistan.
Gates: Taliban ‘no longer occupy’ territory in Afghanistan.
In a congressional hearing today, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates implied that the U.S. military had routed the Taliban from Afghanistan. Echoing his recent assessment that the Taliban has “lost” in Afghanistan, Gates said the Taliban has been “thrown out”:
The Taliban no longer occupy any territory in Afghanistan. They were thrown out of Musa Qala a few weeks ago before over Christmas. And the Taliban have had some real setbacks. Probably 50 of their leaders have been killed or captured over the past year, and we know that that’s had an impact on their capability and also on their morale.
Watch it:
As late as November, a report said the Taliban controlled over half of Afghanistan. Today, the U.K. and U.S. “issued a renewed appeal to Nato allies in Afghanistan to take on a greater share of the fighting against the Taliban.”
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Isn’t this perjury?
February 6th, 2008 at 4:28 pmMeet the new Rummy… same as the old Rummy.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:28 pmThe Taliban must all be in Iraq, just like alQaeda…
February 6th, 2008 at 4:29 pmWow someone’s lying!
February 6th, 2008 at 4:30 pmDid none of our intrepid Congresscritters stop Gates and call him a bald-faced liar?
February 6th, 2008 at 4:31 pmTheir lies just keep getting bigger and bigger. It’s all they have left.
Isn’t this perjury?
Comment by VerbalKint
Probably not. I doubt he was under oath. Congress seems to be content allowing people to testify while not under oath. Another really bad precedent they have set. I wonder if they have ever thought about the consequences of what they have done. There is nothing to stop the new Democratic President from using the powers Bush has granted to himself. The Right will scream bloody murder anyway the first time a Democrat refuses to testify under oath. And they will fail to see the hypocracy of their actions.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:33 pmThe Taliban no longer occupy any territory in Afghanistan. They were thrown out of Musa Qala a few weeks ago over Christmas. And the Taliban have had some real setbacks. Probably 50 of their leaders have been killed or captured, and we know that’s having an impact on their capability and their morale.
Robert Gates
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U.N.: Rapid opium growth in south Afghanistan
Cultivation provides ‘enormous funding’ for insurgency, new survey says
updated 5:48 a.m. ET, Wed., Feb. 6, 2008
TOKYO – Opium cultivation in rebel-controlled areas in southern and southwestern Afghanistan is expected to grow this year, fueling the Taliban insurgency with more drug money, a U.N. report said Wednesday.
The report, by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said that Afghanistan, in turmoil since a U.S.-led military operation toppled the repressive Taliban regime in 2001, is also steadily increasing its production of marijuana.
Afghanistan supplies some 90 percent of the world’s illicit opium, the main ingredient in heroin, and the Taliban rebels fighting the U.S.-led forces receive up to $100 million from the drug trade, the U.N. estimates.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23026078/
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Doin’ a heckuva’ job there , Bobby …………..
February 6th, 2008 at 4:35 pmIf a member of the Taliban swaps sides is he still considered Taliban?
From two days ago:
‘Britain planned to build a Taliban training camp for 2,000 fighters in southern Afghanistan, as part of a top-secret deal to make them swap sides, intelligence sources in Kabul have revealed. The plans were discovered on a memory stick seized by Afghan secret police in December
snip
The memory stick revealed that $125,000 (£64,000) had been spent on preparing the camp and a further $200,000 was earmarked to run it in 2008, an Afghan official said. The figures sparked allegations that British agents were paying the Taliban.’
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/revealed-british-plan-to-build-training-camp-for-taliban-fighters-in-afghanistan-777671.html
February 6th, 2008 at 4:38 pmlink
Why is it that I’m having a very hard time believeing a word that comes out of this mans mouth?
February 6th, 2008 at 4:39 pmthey really do drink some kind of kool-aid don’t they? Somewhere between Jim Jones Cyano Blue and Owlsley Purple?
February 6th, 2008 at 4:39 pmmind you, on the surface anyway, this part of the story linked above sounds good, the part about the viable alternative to growing opium:
‘The camp would also have provided vocational training, including farming and irrigation techniques, to offer people a viable alternative to growing opium. But the Afghan government took issue with plans to provide military training, to turn the insurgents into a defence force.’
February 6th, 2008 at 4:40 pmGates’ superior [secret, undisclosed] at the Pentagon originally planned this answer: “As you know, you have to go to war with the Taliban you can’t find, not the Taliban you want.”
February 6th, 2008 at 4:40 pmOkay, I see what happened. It’s all so simple!
We just convinced the Taliban to buy all that Afghan property with variable-rate sub-prime mortgages, then jacked up the interest rate around Christmas. THAT’s why they’re all in Pakistan now!
February 6th, 2008 at 4:42 pm“The Taliban are around Tikrit – to the north, west, south and east (or thereabouts).”
February 6th, 2008 at 4:44 pmThe figures sparked allegations that British agents were paying the Taliban.’
If we can pay the sheiks in Iraq, why can’t the British pay the Taliban in Afghanistan?
I will never understand that plan. Pay them not to kill you. Unfortunately sooner or later you have to stop paying them and then they start killing you again. So in the end, you accomplish nothing other than to waste a lot of taxpayer money.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:45 pmI will never understand that plan. Pay them not to kill you. Unfortunately sooner or later you have to stop paying them and then they start killing you again. So in the end, you accomplish nothing other than to waste a lot of taxpayer money.
Comment by bilbobaggins — February 6, 2008 @ 4:45 pm
Yeah, really. It’s so much more effective to pay them to go and kill somebody else. You know, like when we paid the Afghan mujaheddin to drive the Soviets from Afghanistan. What went wrong with that?
Oh, right…
February 6th, 2008 at 4:47 pmGates isn’t saying that there are NO Taliban in Afghanistan…he is saying the Taliban control NO Territory.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:55 pmI would remind Sec. Gates that the Viet Cong held No territory either…they just kept popping up in inconvenient situations with deadly results.
I missed something here:
I thought Afghanistan was going after Bin Laden / Al Q. And we were going to work with the Taliban / tribal factions.
When did we change from Al Q to the Taliban ??????
Of course, with Al Q’s structure, they can just pick up and move elsewhere which means that we can’t treat them as a classic enemy. The Taliban is tied to geography which makes it a lot easier to find them.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:56 pmGates conveniently neglected to mention how much territory the United States occupies in Afghanistan and how many homes and how many civilians the United States has bombed in Afghanistan. What must not be mentioned is the oil pipeline that the United States is protecting, that runs from Central Asia, through Afghanistan and Pakistan, and into the Indian Ocean.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:59 pmSomebody should tell the Taliban that they are no longer active in Afghanistan. I don’t think they got the memo.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:03 pmGuess Germany didn’t get the memo – they are sending troops to Afghanistan
February 6th, 2008 at 5:04 pmhttp://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3063799,00.html
They can’t even make up their minds as to which LIE they are going to walk in lock step over.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:06 pmGet ready for bush to say ‘wars over’ in Sept. and vote repuke to keep it that way. This puppet is just a prelude to the last lies they can peddle.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:10 pmThese Taliban fanatics along with all their Al Queda buddies should all be nothing but dust by now. But, BushCo was/is more concerned with war profiteering in Iraq.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:12 pmWaltin Texas is right on. Rumsfeld was worried that he was running out of targets in Afghanistan, and needed to showcase all his war toys in a “shock and Awe special”. Unfortunately for his plans, the Iraqi’s had other ideas.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:18 pmThe Bush admin has made a mockery of congressional hearings and the Dem leaders ( Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid ) simply bend over and say ‘thx can I have another’.
The Dems have had no backbone since 2000…. of course this will change when they take back Executive Branch probably with Obama but then watch the GOP minority wackos go even more ballistic !
February 6th, 2008 at 5:20 pmGates and Mullen made a very poor showing today at the hearing.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:36 pmHome from work due to the snow today – so I was able to see the whole thing. Double-talk on display.
Dems asked harder questions.
Repugs praised and thanked.
oops
February 6th, 2008 at 5:37 pmI forgot the last line.
Dems asked harder questions – but no substantive answers were given.
They’re using the Sgt. Schultz defense!
Hey, it always worked on Hogan’s Heros.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:38 pmOff the AP Wire ~~ Today!
updated 2:48 a.m. PT, Wed., Feb. 6, 2008
TOKYO – Opium cultivation in rebel-controlled areas in southern and southwestern Afghanistan is expected to grow this year, fueling the Taliban insurgency with more drug money, a U.N. report said Wednesday.
The report, by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said that Afghanistan, in turmoil since a U.S.-led military operation toppled the repressive Taliban regime in 2001, is also steadily increasing its production of marijuana.
Afghanistan supplies some 90 percent of the world’s illicit opium, the main ingredient in heroin, and the Taliban rebels fighting the U.S.-led forces receive up to $100 million from the drug trade, the U.N. estimates.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:53 pmaplogies, McMetal, didn’t read your #8…
February 6th, 2008 at 5:55 pmGates was an Aggie. An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal. Gates has experienced the same death of morality as Colin Powell. It seems to be a contagious malady in the Cheney administration.
February 6th, 2008 at 6:04 pmWhen are we going to put an end to this misery? The Republicans screwed up what should have been a very simple war with a very happy people after the Mujehaddin defeated the Soviets. You know, they expected us to provide economic development, help form a real government and ….
Oh, I am sorry, that was the first time we screwed it up in Afghanistan. You know, ignoring them after the Soviets left. Gave some idiot by the name of Bin Lad-something that we were against the muslims. No, this is the second time that we screwed it up by going to war and failing to provide adequate resources to finish the job against Bin Laden and the Taliban.
February 6th, 2008 at 6:05 pmIt depends on your definition of “occupy”. They’re not “occupying” territory in Afghanistan like we’re “occupying” territory on Iraq, meaning an outside military force there without to consent of the natives. They are accepted by the locals.
February 6th, 2008 at 6:16 pmI feel like I am living inside the novel “1984″. And a big % of Americans think it is true. And a big % of Americans know it is a lie but think this type of lie is all right. Where is the outrage?
February 6th, 2008 at 6:26 pmhuh… just last week i heard of a bombing, i forget where, but i do remember being surprised to hear the “taliban” was taking the credit…
February 6th, 2008 at 7:10 pmThe GOP created cut and run.
They will add this new one to the list.
Say you won and run.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:30 pmComment by katy — February 6, 2008 @ 7:10 pm
Pakistan has suffered yet another suicide bombing in one of its major cities. A suicide bomber targeted police stationed outside of the Lahore High Court in the provincial capital of Punjab. At least 22 police and civilians were killed and 70 wounded in the attack.
Al Qaeda and the Taliban have conducted numerous suicide attacks in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Karachi, Quetta, and a host of locations in the tribal areas, the Northwest Frontier Province, and Sindh, Baluchistan, and Punjab provinces. Several of the attacks have occurred on or near military bases housing Pakistani’s nuclear weapons facilities.
The taliban in Afghanistan, and the pakistanis in the “Tribal Areas” are all ethnic Pashtoons. The Border between them is an artifice of western influence from the past.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:51 pm35 – Bobwurst:
a Peter/Paul/Mary song:
Just like Poland is protected by her Russian Friends
February 6th, 2008 at 8:43 pmEl Salvador (?Afghanistan?)s protected by Americans
And if 200 billion per year seems too high a price for Afghanistan…
thank you, badger.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:07 pmAnd also today Condi Rice told the UK PM Brown that.
“Mr Gates’s comments were echoed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she met UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband in London on Wednesday.
“The alliance is facing a real test here. And it is a test of alliance strength,” she said.
Ms Rice added that people needed to understand it was not a peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, but a fight against the resurgent Taleban.”
How can we be fighting them if they are gone? :)
February 6th, 2008 at 9:52 pmMore double-talk and obfuscation. It never ends.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:43 am