"US Fears Upsurge in Taleban Violence"

[TexasLawyer]

From Arab News-- Saudi Arabia

All the other bad news out of the Middle East has eclipsed news of ongoing problems in Afghanistan.


Sunday, 27, February, 2005 (18, Muharram, 1426)

US Fears Upsurge in Taleban Violence
Agencies

KABUL, 27 February 2005 — The US military is bracing for a fresh surge in militant violence in Afghanistan, a spokesman said yesterday, two days after more than 22 rebels and Afghan troops died in a fresh attacks. Taleban officials have rebuffed a US-backed amnesty program and vowed to go on the offensive as the weather improves after a particularly harsh winter. Ten militants were killed and a US soldier injured in clashes on Thursday in southern Afghanistan.

“We can look at history and see that historically, attacks have increased as winter subsides,” Maj. Steve Wollman, a spokesman for the US military, told a press briefing. “I think we can expect more attacks ... coalition forces remain vigilant and prepared to deal with these threats.”

About 1,100 people, including militants, civilians, aid workers, foreign and Afghan troops, have died over the past 18 months largely in south and southeastern Afghanistan, mostly in Taleban-linked violence. But rebel activity has eased over the winter, and US-led forces operating in the south and southeast have kept up the pressure on Afghanistan’s vanquished rulers following their failure to disrupt an historic presidential election in October. Taleban officials early this week said winter had limited their activity and said once the cold weather ended and snow in their mountains hideouts melted, they would step up their attacks.

Local officials had also reported nine Afghan troops killed in a separate clash, but the Interior Ministry yesterday disputed that account, saying in a press release that the nine dead were armed men with no connection to any Afghan security forces. The ministry speculated the clash in Helmand province might have been a feud between drug gangs, and said an investigation is under way.

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&category=World

[SHRED]

1. Of course

Do the American people really think it is "over" in Afghanistan?
Suckers!
Sadly, the opium money, and who controls it, is going to reek havoc on that nation.

[randr]

2. It took OBL

over 10 years to exact his revenge for papa B's incursion into SA.
How long will we be subject to retaliation for the idiot son's madness?

[LynnTheDem]

3. "The Taliban is no longer in existence," lied bush.

When he's wrong, he's wrong...and he's ALWAYS wrong.

[Ms. Clio]

6. "Eviscerated," is what I remember the liars proudly proclaiming

Right about the time that drunken fool Hitchens was crowing about the magnificent victory.

[LynnTheDem]

7. bush's actual quote; "Taliban is no longer in existence"

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=37066

What a stupid little liar of a moran bush is. But even more stupid are the rightwingnuts who actually believe him.

[Ms. Clio]

8. But I'm pretty sure somebody also used the word "eviscerated"

I remember it distinctly, because it seemed like such a grotesque thing to say. Rummy, perhaps? It sure sounds like a word that ghastly ghoul would use.

Or maybe it was a reference to al-Qaida.

Either way, they certainly are liars.

Edited to add: It was General Richard Myers.

"Rumsfeld appeared to back away from an earlier claim by Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the Taliban military infrastructure had been "eviscerated,"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0110210074oct21,1,5661332.story?ctrack=3&cset=true

[TexasLawyer]

9. The Taliban's getting rich off drug sales

Concerns Grow Over Taliban Resurgence, Opium
by Jim Lobe (Jan. 2004)

<snip>

Not only has drug money become a steady source of income for the Taliban and assorted warlords who still challenge the central government's authority, but it is having a growing impact on the country's economy as a whole.

The United Nations currently estimates that Afghanistan's annual opium production now accounts for 75 percent of the world's total output and nearly one-half of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). "Some in the government say Afghanistan risks becoming a narco-state (and) ... really needs to be tackled more vigorously," Brahimi said Tuesday.

In addition to undermining the central government, "it is already distorting the delivery of aid," he added, noting that farmers earn as much as 12 dollars a day to cultivate opium, while the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is only offering between three and six dollars a day to its Afghan employees.

"Along with growing insecurity, the drug trade is the single biggest obstacle to a stable Afghanistan," according to Dennis Kux and Harpinder Athwal, two members of a Council on Foreign Relations-Asia Society task force that traveled to Afghanistan last month.

But a major crackdown against the drug trade, particularly in Pashtun areas where the Taliban thrives, could backfire by spreading discontent, according to some US analysts – an assessment that helps explain the current "hands-off policy" observed by US forces.


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http://www.lewrockwell.com/ips/lobe49.html

[Mountainman]

4. I heard a bit of wing nut radio today. They said the war in Afghanistan

was over and won and now we are in the rebuilding stage. The talk show host was saying that Rush was right about that.


They must have gotten a talking point memo from Rove.

[Guckert]

5. I thought they were on the run, cowering with fear??? guess NOT!!!

I guess Bush got another one wrong. that makes 1,385 in a row.

[Disturbed]

10. The Forgotten War

The U.S. is doubeling it's troops numbers in Afghanistan. The Bush Junta has said many times that the Taliban no longer existed and that Afghanistan is now a Democracy. Most Amerikans believe the Big Lies.

Now there are rumors of a Four Front War. Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Syria.

It is time that someone or group conduct a Regime Change in Amerika. I predict that the Bush Junta will have a mass "accident" if they try to open to more fronts. Why? The Amerikan Oligarchy will not allow Amerika to be destroyed. China and Russia combined can destroy Amerika economicly.

[fooj]

11. Oh no. They must be mistaken. Shrub said we've eliminated the Taliban!

LOL.