Sunday, July 27, 2014

Meanwhile, Back in Afghanistan

In a news report on Taliban advances in Afghanistan, the NewYork Times does not offer opinions. And properly so.

Yet, the picture is grim, and the facts are well worth your attention.

Here is the opening of the Times’s long, and well reported story:
  
MAHMUD RAQI, Afghanistan —Taliban fighters are scoring early gains in several strategic areas near the capital this summer, inflicting heavy casualties and casting new doubt on the ability of Afghan forces to contain the insurgency as the United States moves to complete its withdrawal of combat troops, according to Afghan officials and local elders.

The Taliban have found success beyond their traditional strongholds in the rural south and are now dominating territory near crucial highways and cities that surround Kabul, the capital, in strategic provinces like Kapisa and Nangarhar.

Their advance has gone unreported because most American forces have left the field and officials in Kabul have largely refused to talk about it. The Afghan ministries have not released casualty statistics since an alarming rise in army and police deaths last year.

At a time when an election crisis is threatening the stability of the government, the Taliban’s increasingly aggressive campaign is threatening another crucial facet of the American withdrawal plan, full security by Afghan forces this year.

“They are running a series of tests right now at the military level, seeing how people respond,” one Western official said, describing a Taliban effort to gauge how quickly they could advance. “They are trying to figure out: Can they do it now, or will it have to wait” until after the American withdrawal, the official added, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the coalition has officially ceded security control.

Interviews with local officials and residents in several strategic areas around the country suggest that, given the success of their attacks, the Taliban are growing bolder just two months into the fighting season, at great cost to Afghan military and police forces.

The rest of the story is well worth a read.



2 comments:

Sam L. said...

NYT not editorializing in news article? Color me surprised!

OT, this cartoon:
http://www.gocomics.com/getfuzzy#.U9Zps2OiXi0

samir sardana said...

Y does the US leave a trail of destruction ?

US enters a nation, when it seeks decisive results, and in an emergency or an urgency !

So the 1st thing it needs to do, is to build, breed and maintain, a loyal force, of local military, politicians and bureaucrats

For that, these 3 targets have to ADOPT the ideology, of the US.

Thence, comes in the money to co-opt these 3 targets - by salaries,aid and infra projects - wherein the projects are given to cronies of these 3 targets, to pay off the 3 musketeers ! This is THE GENESIS OF CORRUPTION !

These 3 targets then spread the US ideology, to the masses and some bite - BUT MANY DO NOT - as there is NOT enough money to go around, and that some people, JUST DO NOT WANT ANY IDEOLOGICAL CHANGE - It is the comfort, with the OLD.

Then as time passes the majority are cut off the quasi American elite - and the seeds of permanent war are sown - and that makes the incumbent regime a US puppet.

In a few years,some local or global power supports the masses - and you have TOTAL WAR !

The war is fought by and among locals, with US strat and tech, and some US lives.

The Country is annihilated, and the regime exits and CHAOS resides.

It is the same movie - BUT THAT IS THE WAY THE DIRECTOR WANTED IT ! THE DIRECTOR =US !

The target nation is doomed and will always be a US puppet ,and the regime which exited, is a PERMANENT LONG TERM ASSET of the US,and if all goes well,THE TARGET NATION WILL BE PARTITIONED !

So the US Goals are always MET,albeit at the cost of a few US lives,The Financial Cost is not much !

In Iraq - the OIl offset the cost !

In Afghanistan - it was the 9/11 CAT insurance and the Drugs ! And now,unless the US aids Taliban,the drugs will resume.

Today in Viet - the Viet slit eyes love the Yanki as it is the Yanki alone which can save the Viets from PRC.

And the TRUTH is that the US does NOT CARE ABOUT COLLATERAL DAMAGE.That India's Chabahar and Infra in Afghanistan are blown to smithreens - is of no concern to the US !

But then Y should the US care ? dindooohindoo