In a congressional hearing today, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates implied that the U.S. military had routed the Taliban from Afghanistan. Echoing his recent assessment that the Taliban has “lost” in Afghanistan, Gates said the Taliban has been “thrown out”:But Condi Rice says:
The Taliban no longer occupy any territory in Afghanistan. They were thrown out of Musa Qala a few weeks ago before over Christmas. And the Taliban have had some real setbacks. Probably 50 of their leaders have been killed or captured over the past year, and we know that that’s had an impact on their capability and also on their morale.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she has seen progress in Afghanistan during the past few years, despite a determined Taliban insurgency that has disrupted security and prompted concerns that the NATO-led military campaign is faltering.[snip]
The article goes on to state:
The high-level U.S.-British visit comes in the bloodiest year in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led toppling of the Taliban in 2001. More than 6,500 people - mostly insurgents - died in violence in 2007, according to an Associated Press count of figures provided by local and international officials.We're winning! Because we aren't defeated! Or something...
The Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants have turned to suicide bombings and other tactics that make it more challenging to fight, she said.
"It's not work that's going to be completed overnight," Rice said of the efforts to rebuild the country and fight insurgents at the same time.
And just a question... how can you tell the Taliban are gone/ no longer functional/ lurking/ sending suicide bombers? Do they look any different than any other Afghani person? Do they wear uniforms?
No. The reason we 'won' in Afghanistan is because those warlords who 'supported' the Taliban shifted their 'support' to us because of promises we made. Which we then neglected to fulfill once we began pulling out to go attack the real prize, Iraq. So we now have pissed off warlords who look for someone else to get behind... Osama, al-Qaeda, or the Taliban.
If we had taken care of Afghanistan in the first place, flooded the place with goods and money, roads and infrastructure, we'd have possibly created the 'shining example' of democracy for Asia and the Middle East to admire.
Instead we have those pesky one a day bombs that kill people and sap morale....
2 comments:
Well said! This was is a disgrace to our country and to this time in American history. We don't know who we're fighting, we don't know what victory looks like -- how do we know when we've won!? My brother is scheduled to ship out soon and the whole thing just makes me sick.
Carrie, please thank your brother for his dedication and service. We are indebted to him.
These wars have become bottomless sinkholes for American soldiers and treasury. We fight because not fighting is defeat.
But we will never win unless we use something besides Bush's plan of shocking and awing people into democracy. The ancient art of diplomacy would be nice...
The idea of bringing democracy is not even on the table anymore; it's shattered and lying on the ground.
What we will 'win' is apparently just dying less.
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