Afghanistan Six Years After The Invasion

Expanding Its Bagram Base, U.S. Settles In For A Longer Stay Than Originally Envisioned

(AP)  Six years after the first U.S. bombs began falling on Afghanistan's Taliban government and its al Qaeda guests, America is planning for a long stay.

Originally envisioned as a temporary home for invading U.S. forces, the sprawling American base at Bagram, a former Soviet outpost in the shadow of the towering Hindu Kush mountains, is growing in size by nearly a third.

Today the U.S. has about 25,000 troops in the country, and other NATO nations contribute another 25,000, more than three times the number of international troops in the country four years ago, when the Taliban appeared defeated.

The Islamic militia has come roaring back since then, and 2007 has been the battle's bloodiest year yet.

Barnett R. Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan at New York University, said U.S. leaders in Washington "utterly failed" to understand what was needed to consolidate that original Taliban rout, which started with airstrikes on Oct. 7, 2001, less than a month after the Sept. 11 attacks in Washington and New York.

"The Bush administration did not see Afghanistan as a long-term commitment, and its leaders deceived themselves into thinking they had won an irreversible victory. They did not consider Afghanistan important and always intended to focus on Iraq," he said.

"Now the U.S. and international community have fallen way behind, and the Taliban are winning strategically, even if we defeat them in every tactical engagement," he added.

At Bagram, new barracks will help accommodate the record number of U.S. troops in the country.

"We've grown in our commitment to Afghanistan by putting another brigade (of troops) here, and with that we know that we're going to have an enduring presence," said Army Col. Jonathan Ives. "So this is going to become a long-term base for us, whether that means five years, 10 years — we don't know."

Insurgents have launched more than 100 suicide attacks this year, an unprecedented pace, including a bombing in Kabul on Saturday against a U.S. convoy that killed an American soldier and four Afghan civilians — the third suicide blast in Kabul in a week.

Separately on Saturday, two Afghan civilians were killed in Kunar province after speeding toward a checkpoint without stopping, NATO said. A "suspicious" man was also shot and killed in Paktia province after being asked to halt, it said.

More than 5,100 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency related violence so far this year, according to an Associated Press count based on figures from Afghan and Western officials. That far outpaces last year's violence, when the AP count topped 4,000 for the entire year.

Some 87 U.S. troops have also died so far this year, also a record pace. About 90 U.S. soldiers were killed in all of last year.

Wide areas of the south — in Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces — are controlled by the Taliban, and the fighting is migrating north, into Ghazni province — where 23 South Koreans were kidnapped in July — and Wardak, right next door to Kabul, the capital.

Osama bin Laden, whose presence here was a trigger for the U.S.-led attack, is still at large, possibly hiding in the mountains along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

And Afghan farmers this year grew a record amount of opium poppy, prompting officials to draw up plans to use the military in drug interdiction missions against traffickers.

Rubin said Washington ignored how difficult the fight would be and wanted to prevent U.S. forces from being tied down in nation-building exercises as in the Balkans.

"Since 2005, U.S. generals have told me (former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld) was drumming his fingers on the table trying to find out when he could take the troops out," Rubin said. "Now the administration has completely reversed itself, but of course without ever admitting it was wrong and still without a strategy that has a serious chance of success."

Still, U.S. commanders point out that military operations have killed more than 50 mid- and high-level Taliban commanders this year, causing at least a temporary disruption in the militants' abilities. The Afghan army participated in its first jointly planned and executed operation, in Ghazni province, earlier this summer.

Originally, Pentagon planners thought Bagram would be a "temporary" camp, Ives said, but an increased U.S. commitment to Afghanistan means Bagram needs to grow.

"Where we designed a base around 3,000 (troops), it quickly moved to 7,000 and now we're housing about 13,000, so just in a very short period of time you've grown not necessarily exponentially but you've definitely doubled just about every two years," Ives said.

A new runway accommodates heavier C-5 cargo planes and Boeing 747s. New soldiers' barracks — safer and more comfortable than the wooden structures that dot Bagram — are being built. And more workers are flowing in. Two years ago, some 1,500 Afghans worked in support roles at Bagram; today 5,000 walk through its front gates daily.

Six years after CIA agents and Special Forces soldiers helped the Northern Alliance swoop down from their northern stronghold toward Taliban-controlled Kabul, President Hamid Karzai is increasingly asking that Taliban militants join the government through peace talks. And the U.N. has said an increasing number of fighters want peace.

But the Taliban and factional warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the militant group Hezb-i-Islami, have rejected those offers, saying international troops must first leave the country.

Although the Taliban seems to have an endless recruiting base in the ethnic Pashtun heartland in southern and eastern Afghanistan and the Pakistan border region, some fighters are laying down their arms and joining the government.

Officials in Ghazni province on Saturday said some 50 militants from Andar District — a Taliban stronghold where some of the Korean hostages were held — will join the government's reconciliation process.

But the U.S. will mentor Afghanistan's military for years to come, Ives said. He said America's military and aid commitments to Afghanistan are "speaking volumes."

"Our commitment to them is really saying we will be here until you have the security and stability that allows you to be a developing country on your own, and if that's 10 years then it's 10 years," he said. "But I think the thing is we're looking to help them as much as we can."

[inventagod]

Suppose George Bu$h is dead wrong.
Imagine that Cheney is a con artist.
Could they both be robbing the treasury blind?
Have the NeoCons been conned?

[tucano2]

Bring ''em home to guard our southern border and build an effective fence of bones left by would-be invaders of the homeland.

[prinzowhales]

This front of the Stupid People''s War is being waged for drugs and oil. Prior to our invasion, the US gave the Talibani regime $43 million for their efforts against heroin production and the Iranians were pleased that efforts were being made against the influx of drugs into the Islamic Republic from its ''Mexico''--AFghanistan.

At the Berlin conference between the Afghanis and the Oil companies, the Taliban were offered ''a carpet of gold'' if they accepted the oil company proposals, or ''a carpet of bombs'' if they didn''t prior to 9-11.
Troops and supplies were pre-positioned for the attack and the Indian press said, again prior to 9-11, that war would come in the fall.

Now Unocal''s man, Karzai, is at the helm of the Kabul regime and opium production is breaking all records thanks to the war lords associated with Karzai.

Oil and Heroin--that is why we are bleeding in Afghanistan.

[drummer94]

If loony-toon wouldn''t have let greed and revenge muddle-up his perceptions, this would not be news. It would have been over long ago.

[macusweil]

It hasn''t come out yet but Bush and the neo.cons have lost this invasion too..

By taking our eye off the ball to invade Iraq not only did Bin Laden escape but also we lost the window of opportunity to win in Afghanistan. By next year most if not all of our NATO allies will withdraw their troops and the country will most likely revert into the hands of the Taliban.

[hungry1968]

"Afghanistan Six Years After The Invasion
Expanding Its Bagram Base, U.S. Settles In For A Longer Stay Than Originally Envisioned"



How is this possible? There was never any intention to leave Afghanistan or Iraq. The PNAC mandate says that we need to expand our global military presence - Bush MUST fulfill his obligation to the PNAC.

[klifton2-2009]

Stop complaining what Bush did and what he will be doing. The man is incapable of understanding the consequences of his actions or anything for that matter. Hold him and his buddies, particularly Cheney and Rumsfeld, accountable and impeach them. They are nothing more than a bunch of criminals who gain legitimacy by the impotency of the American public. What a national disgrace and a global disaster.

[danstoned]

Note the Afghans in the background of photo, happy as can be, stoned on their own number one ag products of hashish, opium, heroin. This pic goes to show how low the Fascist GOPigs in the USA will go for a photo-op.

[hungry1968]

The Islamic militia has come roaring back since then, and 2007 has been the battle''s bloodiest year yet.

Barnett R. Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan at New York University, said U.S. leaders in Washington "utterly failed" to understand what was needed to consolidate that original Taliban rout, which started with airstrikes on Oct. 7, 2001, less than a month after the Sept. 11 attacks in Washington and New York.

"The Bush administration did not see Afghanistan as a long-term commitment, and its leaders deceived themselves into thinking they had won an irreversible victory. They did not consider Afghanistan important and always intended to focus on Iraq," he said.

"Now the U.S. and international community have fallen way behind, and the Taliban are winning strategically, even if we defeat them in every tactical engagement," he added.




It''s too bad that Bush "cut and ran" from the war on terror instead of hunting down and killing / capturing those that attacked us. Pretty soon al Qaeda will be back at full strength, poised to strike us again, and our troops will still be mired down in an un-winnable war. What a disaster! Bush should turn himself in to Interpol for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

[usayesterday]

"Barnett R. Rubin, an expert on Afghanistan at New York University, said U.S. leaders in Washington "utterly failed" to understand what was needed to consolidate that original Taliban rout, which started with airstrikes on Oct. 7, 2001..."
.........

Well, no *****!

Apparently the Bush Administration only knows how to bomb something into temporary submission, but that only gives the "enemy" a rallying cry to resurface even stronger than before.

It is proven in Iraq as well.

And sadly, it will be proven once again, (soon), in Iran when Bush begins the bombing campaign in that country.

[zootallures2]

America''s military and aid commitments to Afghanistan are "speaking volumes."

Yea, volumes of natural gas.

[lochlan-2009]

"Afghanistan Six Years After The Invasion
Expanding Its Bagram Base, U.S. Settles In For A Longer Stay Than Originally Envisioned" - Couldn''t see that coming from a mile off...
We have to protect our natural gas pipeline, and these nasty damned people from the country we invaded keep attacking our military for stealing their land and killing their families (after we protected them from Russia when they were doing the same thing) all for the sake of some greedy businessmen with their puppet string politicians from the U.S. government who want to sell natural gas to Chindia. The excuse given... to catch a guy who as Bush says:
"I don''t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don''t care. It''s not that important. It''s not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02

"I am truly not that concerned about him."
- G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden''s whereabouts,
3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)

"A "suspicious" man was also shot and killed in Paktia province after being asked to halt" - Kind of sounds like Holywood''s description of Germany during the Nazi''s.


Last question, is Osama bin Laden the president of Afghanistan?

[formrusmcsgt]

"Now the administration has completely reversed itself, but of course without ever admitting it was wrong and still without a strategy that has a serious chance of success."

The crux of the problem.

[famulla-2009]

Sir
I do not think you are right. The dope is flourishing more then when Americans went there. The war lords are the drug lords.
What is more they will not want to leave the economy of their own making to slip out of their hands

I thank you.
Firozali A.Mulla MBA PhD
P.O.Box 6044
Dar-Es-Salaam
Tanzania
East Africa