Report: Troop shortages in Afghanistan linked to Taliban comeback.
Report: Troop shortages in Afghanistan linked to Taliban comeback.
According to statistics provided in a new report from the United States Institute of Peace, the use of air power in Afghanistan by U.S. and NATO allies has increased from 5,000 pounds of munitions per month in 2005 to 168,000 pounds in December, 2007. The result is that “civilian casualties increased by 62 [percent] in 2008, compared to figures from the first six months of 2007.” The report says the increase in air power is a result of a shortage of troops and suggests that the resulting increase in casualties is “a key reason for the Taliban comeback”:
Stabilizing Afghanistan requires the support of the Afghan people. This presents a fundamental dilemma in that stability requires security, and security requires targeting insurgents, which, in turn invariably leads to civilian deaths. These civilian casualties have led to the erosion of civilian support for the counter-insurgency.
Troop levels in Afghanistan have been insufficient given the geographic and demographic scope of the challenge, resulting in increased reliance on air power as a substitute for ground forces.
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Sounds like a Commander-in-Chief we all know dropped the ball.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:07 pm[...]resulting in increased reliance on air power as a substitute for ground forces.
Walking in the Soviet Union’s footsteps in Afghanistan as well, eh?
July 29th, 2008 at 7:08 pmUh, libs, I don’t know if that should be a funding priority, I mean, it would provide a benefit to our national security. Bring our troops home or keep them stuck in Iraq.
/snark off (unfortunately)
July 29th, 2008 at 7:12 pmYou mean the people of Afghanistan don’t like us any more than the Soviets? Who could have guessed such a thing?
July 29th, 2008 at 7:13 pmYA THINK???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
July 29th, 2008 at 7:16 pmI guess Chimpy DECIDED he didn’t like mountain climbing and DECIDED to play in a sandbox instead. All hail the great DECIDER.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:25 pmpete Says:
You mean the people of Afghanistan don’t like us any more than the Soviets? Who could have guessed such a thing?
July 29th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
You think it might have something to do with all those wedding parties we keep bombing by accident?
July 29th, 2008 at 7:41 pmThe phoney-grounded Iraq invasion killed our Afghanistan effort.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:43 pmThe USofA is just the most recent of the Western imperial powers to try and fail at occupying Afghanistan. The Brits failed in the 19th C., the Russians failed in the 20th C. and we will fail in the 21st C. Give it up, USofA, the Americans did not want to be occupied by the Brits after 1775, so why should the Afghanis want to be occupied by foreigners some two and a third centuries later?
July 29th, 2008 at 7:56 pmTo an Afghani, it hardly matters if it’s a red star or a blue star painted on the side of the aircraft dropping bombs on your head.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:59 pmIt’s still a target.
From the current issue of Newsweek:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/148985
The insurgents are closing in on Kabul, not in order to overrun the capital but to terrorize its residents and drive away investors. It’s working.
“Kabul is being transformed into a Baghdad-like Green Zone,” says human-rights activist Ahmed Nadery. “It’s not a pretty picture.”
Shakeela Hashimi, a member of Parliament from the province, … says government control vanishes there at sundown and doesn’t return until the next morning. “The gap is widening further between the government and the community,” she says, blaming mismanagement, rampant corruption and the reluctance of many officials to leave their offices and meet with the people on their own ground—not to mention a stray Coalition airstrike that hit a teacher’s house in July, killing his young son.
We’ve got a serious problem here. Al Qaeda, after costing us billions and precious lives in Iraq, has done what insurgents always do….they melt away from a difficult situation and set up shop in more advantageous circumstances.
The Surge did not defeat Al Qaeda….it made it move to Afghanistan.
Obama see this happening…McCain is still celebrating “Victory”.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:59 pmBadger, Al Qaeda never really left Afghanistan.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:14 pmWayne,
True many Al Qaeda never left Afghanistan and their Pakistani safe havens.
Some did, and they created mayhem and carnage in Iraq for years . If they hadn’t gone over the top…targeting too many innocent Iraqis in markets and mosques… the Iraqi Sunnis might not have turned on them.
And they provoked the Shia, which proved how capable they were at retaliation.
Their goal has not been to hold territory, but to bankrupt America and break it’s Military. Iraq was not the central front in the war on terror, but was one Act in a long tragedy.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:25 pmWidening gap between government and community? Mismanagement, rampant corruption and reluctance of government officials to meet with the regular folk?
Well, that sounds an awful lot like Washington DC…
July 29th, 2008 at 8:26 pmThe Irony here, is that Saddam Hussein…bloodthirsty tyrant that he was…would have kept Al Qaeda out of Iraq with Much Less Bloodshed.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:41 pmThe United States is in danger of collapsing under it’s own weight of empire, no different than the collapse of the Soviet Union, Britain, Rome, and every other empire back down the long path of human history.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:47 pmEach “power” needs to learn that colonialism, imperialism, and “gun boat diplomacy” only result in blood feuds that the foreigners inevitably lose.
One would think that modern Republicriminals, especially those who profess a working knowledge of the Buy-bull, would have learned the lessons offered by Egypt, Persia and Rome.
But, like their Imperial predecessors, they thought they could get away with it indefinitely. Foolishly they have squandered every bit of goodwill our nation accrued between WW2 and 9/11.
Even if we manage to convince our allies we are done with the stupid crap, we’ll never be trusted, or welcomed, as we once were. And much of the world now sees us as butchers.
That’s the legacy of Chimpy and his gang of thugs.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:01 pmWe are propping up an unpopular corrupt government in Afghanistan. The people are going to support the Taliban and our enemy there will more and more be the Afghan people. We should have taken the Taliban up on their offer to turn over Bin Laden if we provided them evidence of his complicity in the 9/11 attacks, and forgot about that military misadventure as well.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:39 pmWell, duh.
And how come it took nearly 7 years to figure this out. We had clues to this dating all the way back to the back-door escape by bin Laden at Tora Bora.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:46 pmI really wish someone in power knew what they were doing. Apparently we have no students of history or sociology running the government. The events of the last 7 years are just completely inexplicable. It didn’t take a genius to see that the series of events set into motion by this administration would be a disaster. It’s disgusting. They have absolutely no regard for the soldiers they command or innocent civilians. Clearly to them, this is just a game of Risk. What other conclusion can you draw? They bought their own arrogant shock and awe BS as if we are somehow invincible. Then on top of it, when it doesn’t go well, they blame those who could see it coming and want a change. Sickening.
And here we are with an idiot candidate running on a stay the course platform bragging about his support for the surge! Honestly, what will it take to convince them that they have messed this up beyond belief and we need to change strategies?
Sorry for the rant, but I needed to vent. Time to listen to some Dylan. Masters of War sounds like a good choice.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:20 pmPentagon spokesperson Geoff Morrell said in today’s Q & A session, the strategic reserve for Central Command isn’t slated for mobilization into Afghanistan given the “unstable nature of the region.” He refused to offer hypotheticals as to how these troops might be used.
Does it have anything to do with the revolving door of Israeli military leaders through the White House, the Pentagon and Capital offices?
http://arisfreedomswitch.blogspot.com/2008/07/central-command-strategic-reserves-to.html
July 29th, 2008 at 10:46 pmBut Afghanis are all brown, they are all our enemies!
Please recognize that this statement is bitter sarcasm. Our country is guilty of war crimes. Our president and vice president are guilty of war crimes. Our soldiers are following the orders of the criminals. Congress has allowed this to happen. We need to tell everyone how guilty they are and demand impeachment. I don’t care if there are 2 days left in their terms–they are evil and they have broken American and international law.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:59 pmThis is why the Pentagon isn’t mobilizing their CentCom reserves to Afghanistan:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/usPoliticsNews/idUKN2938023720080729?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
July 29th, 2008 at 11:07 pmSome of you may be interested in hearing Pentagon spokesperson Geoff Morrell talk about Afghanistan in his Q & A session. Look for the clip titled “Geoff Miller: Pentagon Briefing 29 July 2008.
http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/
July 29th, 2008 at 11:40 pmSo: We need to fight the Taliban, eh? Fighting Muslims in Iraq is not enough for the Empire so in addition to wasting blood and money in Iraq, we will waste it in Afghanistan.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:20 amThe American people trust that Barack Obama will conscientiously address issues related to Afghanistan.
LONG LIVE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!
Speaking of Barack Obama:
Barack Obama is a racial-minority individual and does not like racism:
WORLDWIDE PROLIFERATION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO SCANDALS:
(I) I do solemnly swear by Almighty God that George W. Bush committed hate crimes of epic proportions and with the stench of terrorism which I am not at liberty to mention. Many people know what Bush did. And many people will know what Bush did—even until the end of the world. Bush was absolute evil. Bush is now like a fugitive from justice. Bush is a psychological prisoner. Bush often worries. In any case, Bush will go down in history in infamy.
(II) It is opined that Bill Clinton committed terrifying, racist, hate crimes during his presidency, and I am not free to say anything further about it. Numbers 32:23: ‘Be sure your sins will find you out.’
(III) What if basically all racial-minority people would subscribe to the interpretations that George Herbert Walker Bush committed monstrous, racist, hate crimes while he was the President of the United States? It will eventually come out: it is only a matter of time.
(IV) I know it may be hard to believe. However, Ronald Wilson Reagan committed horrible, racist, hate crimes during his presidency.
Respectfully Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang, J.D. Candidate
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
(I can type 90 words per minute, and there are thousands of copies on the Internet (by March 29, 2009) indicating the contents of (I), (II), (III), and (IV). And there are thousands of copies in very many countries around the world.)
“BAD NEWS FROM THE UNITED STATES: ON THE HATE CRIMES AND ETERNAL INFAMIES OF GEORGE W. BUSH, BILL CLINTON, GEORGE H.W. BUSH, AND RONALD REAGAN” BLOG OF ANDREW YU-JEN WANG
badnewsfromtheunitedstates.blogspot.com
April 4th, 2009 at 8:56 pm_______________
‘If only there could be a ban against invention that bottled up memory like scent & it never faded & it never got stale.’ Off the top of my head, it came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.