U.S. Says Taliban Waning in Afghanistan

[Rose Siding]

snip>
Brig. Gen. Greg Champion, a deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force 76, said in a telephone interview Friday from his headquarters at Bagram airfield that the recent increase in insurgent violence was due mainly to a more aggressive approach by American and Afghan forces.

"We have not taken a posture of waiting" for the Taliban to begin their usual spring offensive, he said. Instead, U.S. and Afghan forces have been "going on our own offensive."
...
Champion said the militants are comprised of more than just the Taliban. They also include smaller elements like the Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin, or HIG, an Islamic extremist group founded by Gulbuddin Hikmatyrar, an Afghan who ran terrorist training camps in the 1990s.

The HIG operates mainly in eastern Afghanistan along and across the Pakistan border.
...
In an indication of the military's optimistic view, Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, said last week that an Army battalion of several hundred soldiers that was to deploy to Afghanistan this summer has been called off. Instead the unit will be on call in the United States in case of an emergency.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-afghanistan-outlook,0,3117570.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[Inland]

1. Bad news is, now even moderate muslims want to destroy US.

Win some, lose some!

[wellst0nev0ter]

2. Are Talking PROGRESS Here

Just like Rumsfailed hailed the PROGRESS we were making in Eye-Rack the first summer since it's obvious the Ba'athist dead-enders were stepping up their attack due to American success?

Firt the Iranian "yellowcake" now this. If the administration doesn't think much of the American public, I don't really blame them.

[Roland99]

3. Only took 3 1/2 years?

Will be interesting to see what happens in the next 6-9 months. I've been reading of more attacks over there lately. Plus, the tales of the abuses at Bagram, Guantanamo, etc. are getting more airtime and sentiments toward the U.S. just ain't what it used to be.

[LynnTheDem]

8. And we're into year 5, and the US deaths are climbing each year.

News

Period Total
+ 2005 29
+ 2004 52
+ 2003 46
+ 2002 43
+ 2001 12
Total 182

http://icasualties.org/oef/

No OBL. 2003 record opium crop. 2004 beat 2003. Warlords back. Taleban back. Afghanis hate our guts now. Oil pipeline = pipedream. More US troops dying each year. Afghanis are worse off now than before bush. Women are especially worse off. Clerics are warning they'll call for jihad.

And even bush-puppet Karzai is pissed off at us.

DARN GOOD PROGRESS!

:eyes:

[gratuitous]

11. The richest, most militarized nation on the planet

Went into the poorest nation and in only three and a half years has nearly brought the Taliban to its knees. If you're not too picky about all the ongoing death and destruction.

And next year, we'll be spending more on armaments than the entire rest of the world combined. U! S! A! U! S! A!

[unhappycamper]

4. bad = good, war = peace, up = down, right = wrong,

waning = gaining?

[LynnTheDem]

5. mmm...Sorry but I don't THINK so! WOW that's a WHOPPER!

:wow:

Today; A Bomb Explodes in Southern Afghanistan, Killing a U.S. Soldier and Wounding Two

05/20/05 AP: Six Afghans killed in second attack in two days on employees of U.S.-funded project

05/19/05 Afghan woman TV presenter shot dead

Six Afghans killed in ambush in troubled south

Taliban Militants Kill Five Afghans

05/16/05 Xinhuanet: 2 soldiers killed in blast in S. Afghanistan

05/16/05 AP: Rocket hits Kabul hospital; no casualties

Afghan clerics warn of jihad

Former Afghan PM, warlord rejects amnesty, dialogue offer

Karzai warns heavy-handed US troops as riots spread

Want more? There's more.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. They misspelled "winning"

[leQ]

7. is this part of the big propaganda push being seen elsewhere?

by all accounts, all those 'anonymous' military sources are giving us the impression that we've won the war.

[Frederik]

9. U.S. Says Viet Cong Waning in Vietnam

[Frances]

10. Didn't I just read that 2 Talibanis

are running for office in Afghanistan? Wouldn't it be ironic if the Taliban won control in a democratic election (I know the U.S. will not allow that to happen & I certainly wouldn't want them to win)?