Tuesday, September 01, 2009
August Deadliest Month In Afghanistan
August is the most deadliest month in Afghanistan, ever. APee:
An American service member died Friday when his vehicle struck a bomb in eastern Afghanistan, making August the deadliest month for U.S. forces in the nearly eight-year war.
The grim milestone comes as the top U.S. commander prepares to submit his assessment of the conflict — a report expected to trigger intense debate on the Obama administration's strategy in an increasingly unpopular war.
The latest death was reported as Afghan officials announced an 80 percent increase in the number of major fraud allegations submitted after last week's disputed presidential election — a sign of the deep challenges facing the U.S. and its allies in shoring up a legitimate Afghan government capable of withstanding the Taliban insurgency, corruption and drug trafficking.
[...]
American casualties have been rising steadily following President Barack Obama's decision to send 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to combat a resurgent Taliban and train Afghan security forces to assume a greater role in battling the insurgents.
Obama's decision was part of a strategic shift in the U.S. war against international Islamic extremism — moving resources from Iraq, which had been center stage since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion but where violence has declined sharply from levels of two years ago.
A record 62,000 U.S. troops are now in the country, with 4,000 more due before year's end. That compares with about 130,000 in Iraq, most due to leave next year.
Since the fresh troops began arriving in Afghanistan last spring, U.S. deaths have climbed steadily — from 12 in May to more than 40 for the past two months as American forces have taken the fight to the Taliban in areas of the country which have long been under insurgent control.
Afghanistan - where U.S. and Allied Troops made progress under the Bush Admin - is now a war being lost under the Obama Admin. In fact, the Taliban is winning. al-Reuters:
...the new strategy being put into place has to show convincing results before public disenchantment with the war saps Obama's credibility and throws question marks over his judgment. Already, according to public opinion polls in August, a majority of Americans say the war is not worth fighting. Almost two thirds think the United States will eventually withdraw without winning.
There are similar feelings in Britain, which fields the second-largest contingent of combat troops in Afghanistan after the United States. A poll published in London this week showed that 69 percent of those questioned thought British troops should not be fighting in Afghanistan.
In the United States, almost inevitably in a country that never forgot the trauma of the only war it ever lost, 36 years ago, pundits are conjuring up the ghost of Vietnam. A lengthy analysis in the New York Times wondered whether Obama was fated to be another Lyndon B. Johnson, the president who kept escalating the Vietnam war.
The war in Afghanistan is drawing into its ninth year and chances are it will still be going when Obama is gearing up for his campaign for re-election in 2012. According to a study by the RAND institute, a think tank working for the military, counter-insurgency campaigns won by the government have averaged 14 years.
"The insurgent wins if he does not lose," according to the U.S. Army's counter-insurgency manual, "while the counterinsurgent loses if he does not win.["]
[...]
In Afghanistan, the Taliban insurgents not only have been winning by not losing, they have actually been gaining ground. In the words of the top U.S. military officer, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen, the situation in Afghanistan "is serious and is deteriorating."
The anti-war Insane Liberal Clown Posse (ILCP) and the Pillow-Biting Pbama Cultists sure are silent over the mishandling of Afghanistan by their Warmongering Cult Leader Pbama, aren't they?
What are the objectives in Afghanistan for Obama? What are the benchmarks? How is progress - rather, the lack of it - being measured and what is being done about it? When will the Afghanistan government step up to the plate? All these were questions from The Liberals during the W. Bush Admin. Now...we hear none of this from them.
Where is the "War is always wrong. Always," crowd these days? They sure were shrill during the Bush Admin. I wonder what's changed? It sure is a mystery. One of those mysteries ensconced inside an enigma wrapped inside a riddle inside a paradox wrapped and covered by a sausage. Yep...it sure is a mystery.
©2009
Labels: Afghanistan Surge, Cultists, Hitler Lovin' Liberals, ILCP, Liberals Hate The Military, Pbama And His Fascist Pigs, Pbama Must Fail, Pbama Pillow Biters, Pbama Warmonger
You are so right, Obama's abject failure in Afghanistan is costing American lives and lives of our Allies. It's Vietnam all over again. The Russians had their asses handed to them in a decade-long conflict in Afghanistan. What did Fraudy lean from that? Absolutely nothing.
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