Reuters:
NATO and Afghan officials claimed on Monday their forces had killed at least 130 Taliban fighters in a major operation over the past week in an area of Afghanistan's north where militant activity has surged.
Lionel Beehner: Why A Maximalist Af-Pak Policy Will Not Work
It's unbelievable, really. The US military is holding up Iraq as a model for Afghanistan. They'll tell you it took a few years to get right but by golly, Iraq is at peace with itself, with a large armed forces, a democratically elected government, and commerce flourishing. Let's replicate that "success" in Afghanistan.
Joseph A. Palermo: The "Goldilocks Principle" and Afghan War Options
General McChrystal's recommendation for more troops and material has a distinctly Westmorelandian flavor to it. If approved, it could create an additional $40 to$80 billion per annum in war costs.
Jodie Evans: Stop U.S. Meddling; Support Afghan Women at the Table
Women's rights (which are, in fact, human rights) will never rise from a corrupt, fundamentalist government. We need to be supporting the voices of women to nurture change in Afghanistan.
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Back to body counts after all. Is there light at the end of the tunnel, yet?
The headline says another 130 Taliban (Pashtun) were killed. Do we now think we can get out of Afghanistan by killing all of the Taliban?
Between 1/3rd and 1/2 of the Afghan people, a nation of over 30 million people, are Pashtun, and the majority of them are sympathetic to the Taliban. While a terrorist action by anyone is deserving of a strong response, the idea that we should be or are capable of fighting a group that is largely supported by the indigenous people should raise serious warning flags in everyone's thinking on this war. Given that it was not the Taliban who attacked us, and that they were not interested in attacking us, and that after the attacks on the U.S.A. of 9/11 that they offered to turn Osama bin Laden over to a third country for trial, I have to ask, why the Heck did Bush and Cheney get us into this mess?
One can make a strong argument that the economic damage being done to our country by these wars in the Middle East was in fact exactly what OBL was trying to achieve with 9/11. So, why did we fall into the very obvious trap that OBL set for us? Lack of competent leadership combined with the lack of a competent electorate, combined with a very smart enemy? We need a strategy that does not assume that it is our role to kill as many armed Pashtun as possible.
Are the numbers for real ?????
130 dead would be lot of bodies & lot of graves....
This province and this area comes under the control of the German forces. This high level of military action and the number of Taliban casualties clearly demonstrates that Germany, with its newly mandated right wing government, has decided to begin agressive offensive operations and has abandoned its defence only posture.
I wonder what this will mean for the continued involvement of Germany in Afghanistan and more importantly the impact that this will have on a clearly invigorated German Army.
Note that recently a German commander in the area stated as he presented one of his officers involved in a firefight as “the first Oberleutnant since 1945 who led an infantry company in attack”
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First Posted: 11- 9-09 08:53 AM | Updated: 11- 9-09 09:29 AM