S
Sarcastic American!
Guest
YUP, WHAT YOU COMMIT A CRIME IN THE USA, YOU MUST THE PAY THE PRICE.
IT DOES NOT MATTER IF YOU COMMIT THE CRIME IN THE LAST DAY OF YOUR
TERM.
DON'T YOU JUST LOVE IT?
WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aid chief says Taliban control a quarter of Afghanistan at night
01/03/2008 @ 9:19 am
Filed by Mike Aivaz and Muriel Kane
Canadian broadcast sees 'Mission Impossible'
Advertisement
It has been "a bad year in Afghanistan," according to CBC News, with
thousands killed, including hundreds of Afghan police, and large areas
of the country still outside government control. The NATO forces
battling Taliban guerrillas are stretched thin, unable even to guard
key roads, and now some are asking, "Is it Mission Impossible?"
One problem is that NATO has never fought this far from its home bases
in Europe. Another is that Afghanistan is twice the size of Germany,
"with a rugged geography that dwarfs military efforts of any size and
that seems to mock military planning."
Political writer Hugh Graham told CBC that there is only one main road
in Afghanistan, which runs in a circle around the central mountains
and connects the major cities. Most of the fighting has involved that
road and the Taliban supply trails which cross it. "The road is the
Achilles heel," said Graham, "and they can't really hold it. ... They
don't have the numbers of troops."
NATO has only 41,000 troops in Afghanistan, including some from the
US, while the US has another 7000 under separate command. The Afghan
army is also considered to have a reliable core of about 20,000.
Although the Taliban only fields about 15,000 or 20,000 guerrillas and
cannot hold territory, it is able to play havoc through roadside
bombings.
Kevin McCort, who heads CARE Canada, told CBC that "up to a quarter of
the country ... is in this in between context of maybe having
government control during the day but, say, Taliban control at
night. ... At the moment, we're actually starting to contract in some
key areas." Relief supplies are so routinely ambushed and looted that
officials like McCort warn of a humanitarian crisis this winter.
British defense expert Michael Clarke told CBC that NATO's greatest
weakness has been its failure to follow up on its military successes.
NATO politicians play down these complaints, but some of the military
leaders have begun to voice them openly.
"NATO miscalculated from the start," CBC explained, "believing the
Taliban were thoroughly beaten for good back in 2002." As a result,
many of the 37 nations participating in the NATO mission provided
units that were unprepared for a combat role and reluctant to confront
the Taliban when it reemerged in the south of the country two years
ago.
This has largely left the US, British, Canadian, and Dutch forces to
bear the brunt of active combat. NATO has even resorted to hiring
helicopter services from private military contractors because risk-
adverse member nations will not commit their own.
Despite having over 2 million soldiers under arms, the NATO nations
have failed to come up with any reinforcements for an Iraq-like
"surge." Defense analyst Anthony Cordesman of CSIS charges that NATO
members are "allowing the situation to deteriorate" because they are
unwilling to make sacrifices.
Michael Clarke commented that the more strongly the Dutch, Canadians,
and British indicate their determination to keep fighting, it easier
it will continue to be for the Germans, French, and Spanish to avoid
making any greater commitment. "It is astonishing and scandalous that
we have to negotiate in this way with our fellow-allies in NATO," he
said.
"Historically, Afghanistan is the great breaker of armies," CBC
concluded. "Could it also break NATO? That's no longer idle
speculation."
The following video is from CBC's The National, broadcast on January
01, 2007
IT DOES NOT MATTER IF YOU COMMIT THE CRIME IN THE LAST DAY OF YOUR
TERM.
DON'T YOU JUST LOVE IT?
WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Aid chief says Taliban control a quarter of Afghanistan at night
01/03/2008 @ 9:19 am
Filed by Mike Aivaz and Muriel Kane
Canadian broadcast sees 'Mission Impossible'
Advertisement
It has been "a bad year in Afghanistan," according to CBC News, with
thousands killed, including hundreds of Afghan police, and large areas
of the country still outside government control. The NATO forces
battling Taliban guerrillas are stretched thin, unable even to guard
key roads, and now some are asking, "Is it Mission Impossible?"
One problem is that NATO has never fought this far from its home bases
in Europe. Another is that Afghanistan is twice the size of Germany,
"with a rugged geography that dwarfs military efforts of any size and
that seems to mock military planning."
Political writer Hugh Graham told CBC that there is only one main road
in Afghanistan, which runs in a circle around the central mountains
and connects the major cities. Most of the fighting has involved that
road and the Taliban supply trails which cross it. "The road is the
Achilles heel," said Graham, "and they can't really hold it. ... They
don't have the numbers of troops."
NATO has only 41,000 troops in Afghanistan, including some from the
US, while the US has another 7000 under separate command. The Afghan
army is also considered to have a reliable core of about 20,000.
Although the Taliban only fields about 15,000 or 20,000 guerrillas and
cannot hold territory, it is able to play havoc through roadside
bombings.
Kevin McCort, who heads CARE Canada, told CBC that "up to a quarter of
the country ... is in this in between context of maybe having
government control during the day but, say, Taliban control at
night. ... At the moment, we're actually starting to contract in some
key areas." Relief supplies are so routinely ambushed and looted that
officials like McCort warn of a humanitarian crisis this winter.
British defense expert Michael Clarke told CBC that NATO's greatest
weakness has been its failure to follow up on its military successes.
NATO politicians play down these complaints, but some of the military
leaders have begun to voice them openly.
"NATO miscalculated from the start," CBC explained, "believing the
Taliban were thoroughly beaten for good back in 2002." As a result,
many of the 37 nations participating in the NATO mission provided
units that were unprepared for a combat role and reluctant to confront
the Taliban when it reemerged in the south of the country two years
ago.
This has largely left the US, British, Canadian, and Dutch forces to
bear the brunt of active combat. NATO has even resorted to hiring
helicopter services from private military contractors because risk-
adverse member nations will not commit their own.
Despite having over 2 million soldiers under arms, the NATO nations
have failed to come up with any reinforcements for an Iraq-like
"surge." Defense analyst Anthony Cordesman of CSIS charges that NATO
members are "allowing the situation to deteriorate" because they are
unwilling to make sacrifices.
Michael Clarke commented that the more strongly the Dutch, Canadians,
and British indicate their determination to keep fighting, it easier
it will continue to be for the Germans, French, and Spanish to avoid
making any greater commitment. "It is astonishing and scandalous that
we have to negotiate in this way with our fellow-allies in NATO," he
said.
"Historically, Afghanistan is the great breaker of armies," CBC
concluded. "Could it also break NATO? That's no longer idle
speculation."
The following video is from CBC's The National, broadcast on January
01, 2007