more Americans killed in Who-gives-a-stan than any year since 2001

[welshTerrier2]

We're all understandably focussed on New Orleans ... just as "big mo and little Cindy" were finally about to put an end to the insanity in Iraq, the hurricane catastrophe and the callous incompetence of bush's non-response distracted our attention ...

but people are still dying in Iraq, both Americans and Iraqis ... the political process has broken down and so has the hope that a new Constitution would help resolve some of the obstacles on the road to peace and stability ... things are getting worse and worse in Iraq and still we are building a $1 billion embassy and permanent military bases ... big oil's greed is not going to be dissuaded by bush's failed policies ... BIG OIL can only win in Iraq; they can't lose ... they are not the ones risking their lives or paying out hundreds of billions of dollars for the war ... this is a system where Americans die, and pay, and Big Oil walks off with record profits ...

and amidst all this bad news, we seem to no longer pay any attention at all to the fact that we are still engaged in a war in Afghanistan ... the poppies are still growing and the Taliban is creeping back in ... but whether we pay attention or not, the US just suffered its 51st casualty this year ... that's more casualties this year than in any year since 2001 ... when will we ever learn that we can't fight everybody all at the same time?

source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1774295,00.html

“This is the front line in the war on terror,” said Lieutenant Mark Bush, a 25-year-old member of Kelts platoon. Bush said the Day Chopan district in the north of Zabul, for which he was responsible, had suffered more violent attacks than anywhere else in Afghanistan. It was also one of the most conservative areas, where a mere 90 of the 4,500 women eligible to vote had registered. <skip>

The base used to be a police headquarters and is as austere as it is isolated. It has no running water and all waste has to be burnt. Rocket attacks are a regular event. Defence is a matter of damage limitation.

A western security source said he believed the local Taliban were being trained and assisted by militants from Chechnya, Uzbekistan and other central Asian countries. The Day Chopan area is so dangerous that almost all supplies are flown in by helicopter from Kandahar. The helicopters fly in twos — a Chinook to carry supplies and an Apache to protect it from ground attack.

When it comes to taking on the Taliban, however, the American soldiers have no alternative but to venture beyond their base, sometimes with fatal consequences.