Isurgents apparently turning up the heat during Gulf Desaster

[Jeffersons Ghost]

Three different news stories I posted today make me believe that insurgents are on the offensive in Afghanistan. It was predictable. Any worthy enemy will kick you when you're down. Expect unrivaled losses in Afghanistan in upcoming months, as media focuses on the Gulf Environmental Catastrophe.

Here are the stories, complete with links:

As Afghan Fighting Expands, U.S. Medics Plunge In

By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: June 12, 2010

MARJA, Afghanistan — The Marine had been shot in the skull. He was up ahead, at the edge of a field, where the rest of his patrol was fighting. A Black Hawk medevac helicopter flew above treetops toward him, banked and hovered dangerously before landing nearby.

Several Marines carried the man aboard. His head was bandaged, his body limp. Sgt. Ian J. Bugh, the flight medic, began the rhythms of CPR as the helicopter lifted over gunfire and zigzagged away. Could this man be saved?

Nearly nine years into the Afghan war, with the number of troops here climbing toward 100,000, the pace for air crews that retrieve the wounded has become pitched. In each month this year, more American troops in Afghanistan have been killed than in any of the same months of any previous year. Many of those fighting on the ground, facing ambushes and powerful hidden bombs, say that as the Obama administration’s military buildup pushes more troops into Taliban strongholds, the losses could soon rival those during the worst periods in Iraq.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8547643

Pakistani agents 'funding and training Afghan Taliban'

Pakistani intelligence gives funding, training and sanctuary to the Afghan Taliban on a scale much larger than previously thought, a report says.

Taliban field commanders interviewed for the report suggested that ISI intelligence agents even attend Taliban supreme council meetings.

Support for the Afghan Taliban was "official ISI policy", the London School of Economics (LSE) authors suggest.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8547613

U.S. Military Intelligence Puts Focus on Afghan Graft
By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: June 12, 2010

WASHINGTON — The military’s intelligence network in Afghanistan, designed for identifying and tracking terrorists and insurgents, is increasingly focused on uncovering corruption that is rampant across Afghanistan’s government, security forces and contractors, according to senior American officials.

Military intelligence officers in Afghanistan are scouring seized documents and interrogating captured fighters and facilitators — but not just to learn about insurgent networks that plan attacks, plant roadside explosives and send out suicide bombers.

They are also looking for insights on how to combat a widespread perversion of authority by Afghan power brokers, which senior officials describe as “a plague” on the American-backed effort to build an effective and competent government and win the support of the Afghan people.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8547369

[Jeffersons Ghost]

1. as if the timely stories aren't enough, the accurate observation is worth a kick

:kick:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. ...

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. ...

[geckosfeet]

4. I would say that the 'Isurgents' have an unexpected ally.

'Gods gift to a hungry fox'.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

10. a fat hungry fox watching the chicken coop and reporting how many chickens are covered with oil?

[geckosfeet]

13. MMmm. The insurgents are benefitting (not sure how) from the distraction of the

ongoing criminally negligent disaster in the gulf.

[pinboy3niner]

5. They were going to "kick" anyway, with the push into Taliban strongholds

The crisis in the Gulf just means OEF news will go largely unnoticed by the American public. The news media will continue to cover it, but Faux News will soon be claiming that the biased liberal media ignored it. Same old, same old...

[Jeffersons Ghost]

11. "same old, same old" is true... I think they'll kick harder with citizens "down" over the gulf

[lunatica]

6. In Afghanistan we are the occupying enemy

And Karzai is our puppet.

We just happen to be the current enemy. The Taliban will never, ever go away. Not ever. They won't skulk away or hide in caves afraid of our superior military might. They grew up steeped in war. It's a daily fact in their lives and even in those few instances of peace they then turn their war on their own citizens, mainly on their women because warlike aggression is their mindset. Our military presence there will never change that. It will only reinforce their extreme theocratic views.

And the fact they want to get their hands on the nuclear weapons of Pakistan and we don't want them to because there's little doubt that they'll use them against us means we're stuck there. If there were some way to destroy Pakistan's nuclear capability then we could leave. But other than that we're there for as long as they want to kill us. That will be a very, very long time. Rumsfeld was so enamored or our military might that it never occurred to him that he could be wrong. There were more unknown unknowns than even he anticipated.

Small children growing up in the US today will be fighting that war.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

12. you make lots of good points. thanks for your post

[unhappycamper]

7. Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar sez:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=8543091

"The presence of foreign troops is the fundamental reason for the continued fighting. Foreign troops should leave Afghanistan. Moreover, the interference of neighboring countries and other powerful forces should stop, because their competition is the cause of this chaos."

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. And, the good news from the lost war in Afghanistan is.........

......................................

[Toasterlad]

9. I Knew It Was Only a Matter of Time Before Steve Jobs Got Into the Counter-Revolutionary Biz.

Still, I don't think the iSurgents are going to be as popular as the iPhone...or even the iPad.