Afghanistan: Killing Peace

[unhappycamper]

Afghanistan: Killing Peace
by Conn Hallinan
Published on Thursday, January 13, 2011 by Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF)

In spite of a White House report that “progress” is being made in Afghanistan, by virtually any measure the war has significantly deteriorated since the Obama administration surged troops into Kandahar and Helmand provinces. This past year has been the deadliest on record for U.S. and coalition troops. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, security has worsened throughout the country. Civilian casualties are on the rise. U.S. allies are falling away, and the central government in Kabul has never been so isolated. Polls in Afghanistan, the United States, and Europe reflect growing opposition to the nine-year conflict.

So why is the White House pursuing a strategy that is almost certain to accelerate a descent into chaos and runs counter to the administration’s stated goal of a diplomatic solution to the war?

It's not an easy question to answer, in part because the major actors are hardly being straight with the public.

For instance, while U.S. commander Maj. Gen. David Petraeus says his strategy of counterinsurgency is making headway, the military abandoned that approach long ago. Instead it has ramped up the air war, replacing the campaign to win “hearts and minds” with “night raids” aimed at assassinating or capturing Taliban leaders and supporters.

“Night raids” have more than tripled, from an average of five per night to 17, directed at destroying “shadow governments” the Taliban have established in virtually every province in the country. Over the past three months, U.S. and NATO forces claim they have killed or captured 360 “insurgent leaders,” 960 “low-level leaders,” and some 2,400 fighters.



unhappycamper comment: To date one thousand four hundred fifty five American soldiers have died in this ongoing occupation --> http://icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx

[xchrom]

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