Taleban 'seize Afghan district'

[maddezmom]

The Taleban have ousted Afghan security forces from a district headquarters in western Farah province, police say.
Government forces beat a retreat after days of fighting, Farah police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib told the BBC.

He said government personnel had been besieged by militants and support had been unable to reach them.

The Taleban and their allies have fought fierce battles with Afghan and foreign troops this year, in which hundreds of people have been killed.

~snip~

The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press quoted the Taleban as saying they took the Golestan district headquarters "after a brief clash" on Thursday evening.

~snip~
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5349330.stm

[soothsayer]

1. ruh roh

[Stockholm]

2. Not many people

know that there are only 20.000 ISAF soldiers in the whole of Afghanistan. Almost like someone wanted them to fail...

[rodeodance]

4. underestimating the resistance if more like it.

[maddezmom]

5. another link: NATO ambassadors hold more talks on troop shortfall in Afgha

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Ambassadors from the 26 NATO allies were holding more talks Friday on the shortfall of more than 2,000 troops that alliance generals are struggling to muster for the battle with Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan.

Officials at alliance headquarters said no breakthrough was expected before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers next week in New York.


The around 8,000 NATO troops who began moving into southern Afghanistan in July have faced fierce resistance from Taliban fighters prompting the alliance's top commander, Gen. James Jones, to appeal for up to 2,500 extra troops and more planes and helicopters.


Jones says a speedy deployment could help deal a severe blow to the Taliban before the winter sets in and allows the insurgents to retreat into mountain hideouts. However, allies stretched by other international missions and worried by the risk of high casualties have been reluctant to commit their forces.


Two meetings of NATO's military brass in the past few days failed to secure pledges of the required forces.

more;http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/15092006/2/world-nato-ambassadors-hold-talks-troop-shortfall-afghanistan.html

and another from last week.


Afghanistan deadlier for coalition troops than Iraq
NATO soldiers fighting in Afghanistan face a higher risk of being killed than the U.S.-led international forces that invaded Iraq in 2003, a British statistician says.

~snip~


The analysis shows that troops are fighting one of the fiercest campaigns since the Bush administration's 'war on terror' began in 2001," Bird says in an extract from the article that was published early on the magazine's website.

Officials don't give 'true picture' of deaths

More than 18,500 troops from 37 nations make up NATO's deployment in Afghanistan, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which took over control of the coalition forces in the summer from the United States. The United States also has about 15,000 soldiers in the country.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/09/07/soldiers-statistics.html

[Stockholm]

7. What in the world will 2500 additional troops

achieve?

For information, I usually use the website of the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan which was started in the 1980´s in protest against the Soviet invasion and occupation.

http://www.swedishcommittee.org/

They have some information also in English.

[Yupster]

9. The orginial thinking was

that it was important not to have a foreign military presence in Afghanistan because then all Afghans would unite against the foreignors as they had so many other times in their history. Better to keep a small force and keep them away from the population centers to keep the Taliban in the mountains.

That strategy has apparently given way to Plan B. It may very well turn out that Plan A was the better one.

We'll see.

[Roy]

15. Well, maybe not fail, but prolonged as in war on terror. N/T

[marmar]

3. And instead, U.S. forces are in Iraq, creating another Afghanistan...

In the history of great world military disasters, where will the U.S. invasion of Iraq rank?

[ConcernedCanuk]

13. Military disasters? - US's rank in History - "USA nomba ONE" - remember?

.
.
.

ALL empirical nations fail . .

It's a simple concept.

History supports it.

[SpiralHawk]

6. "Mission Accomplished" - Commander AWOL Codpiece

"Poppy crops and opium and herion production in Afghanistant is Way UP, just like the Massive OIL PROFITS. So my corrupt republicon cronies & I are tickled pink. Everything is peachy." - commander AWOL

[varun]

8. But things are going swimmingly in Afghanistan

according to Ann Coulter

:eyes:

[Phredicles]

10. "No one could have anticipated that the Taliban would regroup so strongly"

I'm sure will be hearing this any day now. This bunch sure can't anticipate much.

[LynnTheDem]

11. LIES!!! All LIES!!! Rummy only yesterday said the Taleban are gone

and 50 million people are free!

WHY does the US "media" contradict Rummy & the bush Cabal???!! HOW DARE they!

Rightwingnuts; stupidest MFers ever.

[daleo]

12. NATO forces concentrated for "Operation Medusa"

So, the Taleban ("and their allies" - a vague but telling expression) went to where NATO wasn't.

Guerrilla war is kind of like baseball - hit 'em where they ain't.

[TroubleMan]

14. So bush did a "cut and run" in Afghanistan.

nt.

[Erika]

17. You better believe he did and now it's "someone else's" fault

that Afghanistan is falling apart.

[Erika]

16. The Anbar region in Iraq is also lost

And OBL is free.