Analysis: May marks most violent month in Afghanistan since 2001.
Analysis: May marks most violent month in Afghanistan since 2001.
McClatchy reports that according to “an insightful analysis” by former Joint Chiefs of Staff senior intelligence officer John McCreary, “May saw more violence than any other month since the 2001 U.S. intervention that toppled the Taliban and forced Osama bin Laden and his followers to flee into Pakistan.” From McCreary’s analysis:
April featured 199 violent incidents in 86 districts, making it the most lethal April in the six year conflict. May featured 214 incidents of violence in over 100 districts, also a new six-year total for May and the highest single monthly total. Despite official efforts to spotlight improvement, the spring offensive thus far is worse than last year’s spring offensive. The security situation has deteriorated again.
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That's what happens when you start a war, and then get bored with it.
I'm looking at you, George W. Bush.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 pmJust think of what progress we would have made if all of the resources we have wasted in Iraq would have been used in Afghanistan. Osama is winning.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:57 pmI'm imagining George has rubbed Saddam's pistol down to the nubbins by now.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:01 pmDo you think Unka Dick will ever let you have any bullets, eh, lil' Georgie?
It's been 12 hours since I suggested that TP post an article regarding Hillary's possible concession and Obama's victory in the democratic primary race. Still no report from TP.
Why is that TP? Isn't this story ending the way you want it to?
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:06 pmHillary did not concede anything.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:07 pmAccording to cnn.com, Obama has clinched the nomination.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Hillary did not concede anything.
Yup. That's why I said possible concession. She hasn't conceded, though. She is still in denial apparently. Kinda like GDumbya in that regard.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:17 pmUnderstood, tom... maybe she's going to pull a Gerald Ford and propose a co-presidency.....
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:20 pmthis is ot but did good_golly get fired?
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:27 pmOne end of the bridge was wobbly, so gg is shoved under there to keep it steady. :)
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 pmNevar, I think it is time for Hillary to pack up her sense of entitlement and go home to New York. She ran a crappy campaign -- that alone should disqualify her from being president. We never did need another dynastic family in the White House. We have already had two Bu$he$ and that was two too many. Hillary would have been one Clinton too many.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:37 pmI can't wait for the Obama/McCain debates. :-)
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:38 pmThey're going to have to put higher amperage fuses in McCain's control panel.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 pmWow....Obama is an absolutely amazing orator. I mean really, just amazing. We are talking Demosthenes, Cicero, Daniel Webster...incredible.
I too look forward to the debates. You don't get to whip up the crowd in a debate.
But what I just watched was freakin astounding stuff.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 pmAfghanistan slowly implodes... gee, I wonder if this has anything to do with Al Qaeda regaining strength and reinvigorating the Taliban as Bush diverted resources against a real target in the so-called war on terror for a personal vendetta and a potential economic boon to his benefactors.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 pmDitto. Obama is going to run circles against that shell-of-a-"man"
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:48 pmHmmm.... I look at the crowd in St. Paul, and the one thing that I notice is the youth of the people who are there. This bodes well.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:48 pmKeltoi at Night Says: But what I just watched was freakin astounding stuff.
We have forgotten what intelligent speakers who can use complete sentences sound like. After 7 years of George Bush, Homer Simpson sounds like a savant.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:49 pmMy morning bowel movement is more articulate that herr dubyah.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:52 pmWhat we have now whether TP wants to report it or not...
Barack Obama, a former Constitutional Law Professor is our nominee for President.
A Harvard Law degreed Constitutional Lawyer, running things for the democratic party and running the United States of America in 7 months.
Wow, what a victory for America.
Wait.. what is the topic here? Afganistan? Oh, that part of our War on Tera....
Sorry, I guess the news that a constitutional lawyer will be representing the American Peoples interest distracted me for a moment.
War in Afhganistan? In 2009? No way.
The war is over, America won!
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:54 pmNevar Says:
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Keltoi at Night Says: But what I just watched was freakin astounding stuff.
We have forgotten what intelligent speakers who can use complete sentences sound like. After 7 years of George Bush, Homer Simpson sounds like a savant.
No, you are wrong, my McFriend. It is true that everyone looks good rhetorically next to Bush. But O is special.
Do you notice that when the crowd starts to cheer and applaud, he doesn't pause later in his speeches, but just keeps on going? His cadence increases, in almost eerie tempo with the cheers, the voice becomes more sonorous - and what pipes! - and the crowd cheers yet louder.
I will take some heat for this observation, but those who know me will take it for what it means. Have any of you who don't speak German ever listened to Hitler speak? (I am not comparing O to Hitler in any way except in oratorical power so just be a grown up and think about what I am telling you) It is very similar. A delirious crowd - did anyone see the woman in green faint then rise up again? -and a guy who has a message he believes in and just has a sense of timing that can't be taught. Yet Obama is also good looking - Hitler did what he did during the radio era and would not have gone far in the era of television.
A lot of pundits have said O wouldn't be where he is if he wasn't Black. That may be true, but I am telling you, there has not been anyone since JFK who could speak like this. It is a feast for the psyche to watch him when he is in form.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:00 pmHear, hear, Sue Cauler@20! Maybe now TP can dare to breathe his name? Or must we continue to wait until the pant-suited lady sings?
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:03 pmWhat we have now whether TP wants to report it or not…
Barack Obama, a former Constitutional Law Professor is our nominee for President.
I thought I would see, by now, this very news worthy event up for discussing on TP.... came over here to see.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:04 pmAnd to echo what others have said here, YES, TP, it is over, it is okay to have a thread on Obama now. Otherwise, we'll talk about it on your Afghanistan thread.
Daily Show time PST.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:04 pmRed Pill
IS she going to sing and when?
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:06 pmI agree with everyone here. Obama's speech and the crowd reaction was amazing. I live only an hour and a half from the xcel center. Didn't make it tonite, but bet yr arse i'll be there in Sept. to "welcome" McCain and his party of criminals.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:07 pmOh yeah, Afghanistan, another of Bush's failures that the future President will have to deal with.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:08 pmKeltoi etc... "It is a feast for the psyche to watch him when he is in form."
I understand your fascination. Oratory is a vehicle for effective leadership. A good orator has a better chance of success in becoming that leader.
History will record the fruits of effective leadership, be they good or bad.
There have been untold orators down through the ages of human history, persons who had an effective command of language and art. Some were positive forces, others negative.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:13 pmIt's sad that the only example of another orator you can come up with is the poster bogeyman whom the republican neo-fascists have embraced as their own ultimate orator.
How poetic that Obama spoke this evening at the Excel Center.
Tonight, the christening of a rejuvenated party; in September, a funeral for a dead one.
The line to enter the arena was 15 blocks long just before 9 tonight. McNumbNuts couldn't draw a crowd that big unless it gathered to spit on his grave.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:15 pmNevar Says:
It’s sad that the only example of another orator you can come up with is the poster bogeyman whom the republican neo-fascists have embraced as their own ultimate orator
Balderdash, Bro! See my post at 14. I just don't have the priveledge of being able to hear the voices of Demosthenes, Cicero or Webster. And I referenced JFK in the same post.
This is a tribute. Obama is simply stunning. Hitler was stunning too. Hitler was steaming evil. There is no comparison except in this one area. Have you ever listened to Hitlers speeches? (Note: I am a HS History teacher, not a closet Nazi, I have heard him speak on ed videos).
Churchil was great too, but in a totally different style. Clinton and Reagan both had their moments. Obama is better than all three. That is pretty impressive.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:20 pmBalderdash, Bro! See my post at 14.
Touche...
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:24 pmOkay, one more comparable voice just came into my head: MLK.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:25 pmThanks, you did good tonight.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:27 pmMay saw more violence than any other month since the 2001 U.S. intervention that toppled the Taliban and forced Osama bin Laden and his followers to flee into Pakistan.
But I don't get it, everything's so peachy in Iraq.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
June 4th, 2008 at 12:02 amMaybe Obama getting the delegates he needs for the Dem nomination will make tomorrow's ThinkFast?
Hello, TP?
June 4th, 2008 at 12:14 amumm, gee, it looks like I pulled the ultimate troll act and, like, totally derailed this thread!
June 4th, 2008 at 2:08 amPay no attention to this. So what. It doesn't matter that OBL is in the mountains of Pakistan and that Musharraf is being forced out of office. No matter that Shia clerics will take over control of Pakistan, who have nukes. Don't worry that the clerics will give OBL access to those nukes.
Could Bush have F'ed this up any more?
All the while with that g'dam smirk,heh heh, and bob of the head before more of his lies come spewing from his mouth.
June 4th, 2008 at 5:55 amPRESIDENT OBAMA has such a nice ring to it. Maybe even THIS website will admit that now.
Cmon TP, you guys are my favorite, but this one blemish is becoming more and more distracting.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:20 amMaybe TP is waiting for Hillary to make the decision.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:40 amThe American People and the Democratic Party have already made the decision. It's not Hillary's to make anymore.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:48 amThe irony of this is that it is the counterpoint to the MSM's continued touting that May was the least violent month in Iraq since the war started. hardly a peep on how nasty Afghanistan has gotten. I wonder how many Iraq war battle-hardened jihadists are now showing up in Afghanistan and Pakistan to press the new offensive there. Perhaps its their new tactic--seeing as how violent April was in Iraq. Attack in Iraq, retreat and regroup while the the attack is pressed in Afghanistan. As soon as we redirect to Afghanistan, will they return to the offensive again in Iraq? We'll see.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:49 amI was being sarcastic about Hillary's and TP's possible relationship, Ranting Tommy!
June 4th, 2008 at 8:55 amHillary and her puppeteers are now maneuvering for power, and she'll be like the vindictive ex who won't go away.