NATO sees spike in Afghanistan violence

[cal04]

Taliban militants have launched 78 suicide attacks across Afghanistan this year, killing close to 200 people, NATO said Sunday. Violence has increased sharply across Afghanistan the last several months, and the Taliban has acknowledged adopting the suicide bombings and remote-controlled attacks commonly used by insurgents in Iraq.

Seth Jones, an analyst for the U.S.-based RAND Corp., said there had been an "extraordinary change" in the lethality of attacks in Afghanistan in 2006, indicating that militants are using "more sophisticated" techniques.

"There have been more suicide attacks in Afghanistan in 2006 than in the entire history of the country combined," Jones said. "That is one reason that the fatality numbers are so large — the suicide attack."

NATO said 142 Afghan civilians, 40 Afghan security forces and 13 international troops have died in suicide attacks since January.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061008/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan

[whistle]

1. The whole region is out of control thanks to PNAC and Dick Cheney's

...quest for war!

[populistdriven]

2. England knew 1 year ago we were in serious trouble in Afghanistan

So why is this new(s) to the US?

[DavidDvorkin]

3. Deliberate use of the misleading word "spike"

The headline writers do that consistently when talking about violence levels in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"Spike" implies it's an anomalous, sudden rise and it will fall again just as quickly. What we're seeing in both places, instead, is a steady rise overall that may not fall off until the occupying troops leave or are forced out. And it may continue to rise for quite a while after that.

[TomInTib]

4. NATO chief warns of Afghan tipping point

By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writers

KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO's top commander in Afghanistan said Sunday the country was at a tipping point and warned Afghans would likely switch their allegiance to resurgent Taliban militants if there are no visible improvements in people's lives in the next six months.

Gen. David Richards, a British officer who commands NATO's 32,000 troops here, warned in an interview with The Associated Press that if life doesn't get better over the winter, most Afghans could switch sides.

"They will say, 'We do not want the Taliban but then we would rather have that austere and unpleasant life that that might involve than another five years of fighting,'" Richards said.

Afghanistan is going through its worst bout of violence since the U.S.-led invasion removed the former Taliban regime from power five years ago. The Taliban has made a comeback in the south and east of the country and is seriously threatening Western attempts to stabilize the country after almost three decades of war.

"If we collectively ... do not exploit this winter to start achieving concrete and visible improvement," then some 70 percent of Afghans could switch sides, Richards told The Associated Press.

more on our wonderful adventure:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061008/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan

[peacebird]

5. but Afghanistan is already a model democracy, and a shining symbol

of success in bush's global war on terror
:sarcasm:

they can't talk about that imploding until AFTER Novembers elections....

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Recommended.

[Barrett808]

7. k & r

[Igel]

13. I keep reading this, and I can't tell if the military guys are

idiots, or if the reporters and their editors are idiots.

I doubt the Tadjiks, Turkic folk, and Hazara are clamoring--or anywhere *near* to clamoring--for the return of the Taliban. "The country" is a significant portion of the country, but not the entirety of it, and is far, far too simplistic. Rather like just saying "Iraq is an Arab country."

Taliban = Pakhtun, pretty much entirely--a few notable exceptions, notable because they're exceptions. Pakhtun-dominated pockets of territory are scattered about the country, even away from the Pakhtun majority S and SE. We hear about attacks all over the country, but a simple ethnographic map shows that pretty much every attack that I've seen mentioned in the last 3 years is in, or directly adjacent to, Pakhtun areas. Occasional skirmishes between warlords occur here and there, but that's a different matter.

They're the traditional rulers of the country; it's dishonorable to be reduced to just one among many. They're from a particular conservative school of Islam, and harshly tribal. And while people say that they're not really following the teachings of Islam, people also act as though the claims that they're following Islam are sacred, and refuse to actually take them on where it counts: where they recruit. Western fools, and secular cowards.

[bemildred]

14. Why choose?

They can all be idiots.

[FVZA_Colonel]

8. NATO chief warns of Afghan tipping point

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061008/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan



NATO chief warns of Afghan tipping point
By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writers

KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO's top commander in Afghanistan said Sunday the country was at a tipping point and warned Afghans would likely switch their allegiance to resurgent Taliban militants if there are no visible improvements in people's lives in the next six months.

Gen. David Richards, a British officer who commands NATO's 32,000 troops here, warned in an interview with The Associated Press that if life doesn't get better over the winter, most Afghans could switch sides.

"They will say, 'We do not want the Taliban but then we would rather have that austere and unpleasant life that that might involve than another five years of fighting,'" Richards said.

Afghanistan is going through its worst bout of violence since the U.S.-led invasion removed the former Taliban regime from power five years ago. The Taliban has made a comeback in the south and east of the country and is seriously threatening Western attempts to stabilize the country after almost three decades of war.

[NanceGreggs]

9. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about!

Ann Coulter announced just last week that things are going SWIMMINGLY in Afghanistan!!!!!

:sarcasm:

[theoldman]

10. What everyone seems to forget is that the Taliban were the

lessor of two evils. The other guys were far worse and that is why most of the people in Afghanistan supported the Taliban. I guess that occupiers such as the Russians and Americans are even further down the list.

[bemildred]

11. The imperishable "critical six months" still lies ahead.

I think it's much too late and this fellow doesn't want to face facts.

[bahrbearian]

12. No wonder Chimpy wanted NATO to take control

He can blame it on Old Europe

[Moderator]

15. K

[rodeodance]

16. General: Afghans may soon back Taliban

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061008/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan;_ylt=AgiVGEjXx76Bxez1qBKC3Zqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OTB1amhuBHNlYwNtdHM-

General: Afghans may soon back Taliban

By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writers 54 minutes ago

KABUL, Afghanistan -
NATO's top commander in
Afghanistan warned on Sunday that a majority of Afghans would likely switch their allegiance to resurgent Taliban militants if their lives show no visible improvements in the next six months.
ADVERTISEMENT

Gen. David Richards, a British officer who commands NATO's 32,000 troops here, told The Associated Press that he would like to have about 2,500 additional troops to form a reserve battalion to help speed up reconstruction and development efforts.

He said the south of the country, where NATO troops have fought their most intense battles this year, has been "broadly stabilized," which gives the alliance an opportunity to launch projects there. If it doesn't, he estimates about 70 percent of Afghans could switch their allegiance from NATO to the Taliban.

"They will say, 'We do not want the Taliban but then we would rather have that austere and unpleasant life that that might involve than another five years of fighting,'" Richards said in an interview.

"We have created an opportunity," following the intense fighting that left over 500 militants dead in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, he said. "If we do not take advantage of this, then you can pour an additional 10,000 troops next year and we would not succeed because we would have lost by then the consent of the people."

[AIJ Alom]

17. But Iraq is so much more important, I ,mean they may not have Bin Laden

but they were a card carrying member of the "Axis of Evil". Besides things are going swimmingly in Afghanistan.

[Erika]

19. Yeah, Coultergeist assured the base that everything in

Afghanistan is going swimmingly well.

All of these GOP pundits should be tried for treason for lying to the American people about "our wars".

[last1standing]

18. Another complete failure for the repubs.

Instead of going in with the necessary troops and a plan to rebuild the Afghani infrastructure, the murdering repubs sent in a token troop who basically provided support to "the norther alliance" which was just as bad as the Taliban only more corrupt. Four years later living conditions in Afghanistan are worse than when we went in, the Taliban already controls most of the country, opium production has hit record highs, and people are still under the yoke of theocrats.

Every member of this administration should be tried, convicted, and imprisoned for life.

[Straight Shooter]

20. "Every member ... should be tried, convicted, and imprisoned for life."

You're far too generous with your mercy, but I agree with your conclusion. :thumbsup:

[Doctor_J]

21. Smirk loses TWO wars

Iran will make three, unless he's impeached before he can start that debacle.

[CHIMO]

22. Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords and the Propaganda of Silence

Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords and the Propaganda of Silence


JAMES INGALLS: Yeah, Amy. This really illustrates the scope of our debate we have, which -- the debate is over which warlord armies to support in the U.S.: the Northern Alliance warlords that we brought back to power to topple the Taliban or the Taliban. So it's the question of one or the other. It's never a question of what do the Afghan people want.

And the popularity of the Taliban now is rising, because of U.S. actions. And some analysts are essentially saying that the Taliban, the original Taliban, no longer exist in Afghanistan, as they used to be. What's happening is a new wave of anti-U.S. sentiment is fomenting in Afghanistan, because of U.S. actions; because of the bombings; because of the torture, the death in custodies that are so well-known; because of U.S. actions in Iraq. New soldiers, new foot soldiers are rising from out of the population, because the people feel like they're occupied by a foreign force unjustly.

70% of the population in southern and eastern Afghanistan is on the fence. They basically -- they're waiting to see who wins the war -- NATO or the Taliban -- before they decide who they're going to back. And that's a very telling statistic. It basically equates -- it says that in the eyes of the population, NATO, the U.S.-run operation and the Taliban are more or less the same thing. So we've become the new warlords in Afghanistan.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/06/1350253

[TheFarseer]

23. They can't have that short of memories

I can't imagine anything worse than having the Taliban in charge of my country. I would take Bush or even Saddam any day of the week over those fricking wackos. We need those 130,000 troops in Iraq in Afghanistan kicking the crap out of those evil assholes.

[fujiyama]

24. I remember when someone asked me

whether I supported the war in Iraq before it started and my response was "if Afghanistan is any indication of how this administration conducts the aftermath of an invasion, hell no".

I then said we should spend more resources there, to which the other guy (clueless supporter of the war) "Isn't Afghanistan a democracy now?".

[oblivious]

25. NATO commander: "Surging suicide blasts indicate defeat of Taliban"

Reminds me of Rumsfeld.

Suicide blasts indicate defeat of Taliban: ISAF
KABUL, Oct 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A NATO-led ISAF commander in Kabul Monday branded surging suicide attacks in the city as defeat of the militants in south and eastern parts of the country.

Speaking at a news conference here Brig Gen Frank LDBOT said they could not prevent such attacks. He said they had made joint plans with Kabul police and national intelligence to decrease the number of such attacks. "Taliban and Gulbudin Hekmatyar men were conducting suicide blasts," he added.

They used different techniques to control disruptive activities, he said. He said their forces prevented two explosions in Kabul city, however he would not give further details on the incident. Nine suicide attacks have so far occurred in the Kabul city in the last six months.
http://www.pajhwak.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=25743

[cal04]

26. NATO claims fewer Taliban attacks

NATO says the number of attacks by Taliban guerrillas in their heartland in southern Afghanistan has fallen significantly since its big military operation against the guerrillas.

NATO estimates it killed about 700 rebels in the two-week Operation Medusa north-west of Kandahar city that ended on September 18.

"Although many challenges remain - and we do not underestimate the problems - there has been a significant decline in violence," NATO spokesman Mark Laity said.

Southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province is considered the bastion of the Taliban.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1762761.htm