KABUL, Afghanistan, June 21, 2008
Afghan Fatalities Rise; Deadlier Than Iraq
Surge In Violence Makes Country Deadlier For Foreign Troops
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Corruption Plagues Afghanistan
Hopes for socioeconomic progress have been diminished in Afghanistan, as U.S.-led coalition forces witnessed their deadliest month in the war-torn region. Mark Phillips reports from London.
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An Afghan soldier stands guard at a check point, as the Arghandab district is seen in the back ground after it was recaptured from the Taliban militants in Kandahar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday June 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
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The U.S. administration has already highlighted the statistic to lobby its NATO allies - with limited success - to commit more forces to Afghanistan - a conflict likely to test the West's stomach for a long, grinding war.
Marvin Weinbaum, a former State Department official and now an Afghan expert at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said the rising casualties would sharpen the focus on Afghanistan in the U.S. presidential race.
"What's being brought home is the nature of the conflict. It's in the true fashion of a guerrilla operation and we're not prepared for it," Weinbaum said Saturday.
The Taliban's tactics have been changing - fewer direct confrontations with coalition forces and more roadside bombs, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips.
A bold attack on a prison in which 350 Taliban fighters were freed earlier this month was another sign of the insurgency's growing confidence.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai says the insurgency is being organized out of border regions of Pakistan and is threatening to carry the fight back.
"Afghanistan has the right of self-defense when they cross the territory from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and kill coalition troops. It exactly gives us the right to go back and do the same," he said.
Violence continues unabated, despite the more than 60,000 foreign troops in the country and fresh pledges of financial aid to Karzai's struggling government.
Last year, more than 8,000 people were killed in insurgency-related attacks - the most since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion - and violence has claimed more than 1,700 lives so far this year.
In Saturday's deadliest incident, a roadside bomb hit a coalition convoy west of the southern city of Kandahar, killing four troops and wounding two others.
Coalition spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Fanning said gunmen opened fire on the damaged vehicles and three Afghans were also hurt.
He declined to release the nationality of the troops, who were involved in training Afghan forces.
To the east, a Polish soldier from the separate NATO-led force died when a bomb hit his patrol after midnight in the Dila district of Paktika province. Jacek Poplawski, a Polish military spokesman in Warsaw, said four other soldiers were wounded.
The bombings capped a bloody week.
NATO and Afghan troops backed by warplanes on Wednesday attacked up to 400 Taliban militants who had seized the strategic Arghandab valley, within striking distance of Kandahar.
Lt. Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi, chief of operations for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said Afghan troops had counted the bodies of 94 insurgents and were holding 29 suspects.
About three-quarters of the militants were foreigners, and villagers said they heard them speaking Arabic and Urdu - the main language of Pakistan, Karimi told reporters in Kabul.
A total of 31 foreign troops have died this month, including four British soldiers, four American troops and another member of the U.S.-led coalition killed earlier this week, according to an Associated Press tally.
In Iraq, where violence has decreased in recent months, 19 have died, though the 200 killed there so far this year is double Afghanistan's total.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 285 CommentsExcerpt from George Bush''s big fat diary of lies
George Bush, the Precedent of the Knighted Steaks
Posted by SgtRDS-E4 at 10:09 PM : Jun 21, 2008
Good post!
Yeah, I was happy to see the Taliban defeated and on the run.
Unfortunately Halliburton''s not into camel dung and poppy.
That''s why Bush decided to invade Iraq.
And why we lost the war in Afghanistan.
I predict President John McCain will decide to pull out our troops from Afghanistan in late 2009 and focus the country''s efforts in Iraq.
It''s part of Halliburton''s master plan for the region.
And why President McCain?
The neocons will pull out all the stops in November.
The swiftboat veterans for lies will emerge shortly.
Harold Ford ads will also begin to run in the summer.
We might have a slam dunk invasion of Iran in October!
And if all else fails, steal the elections once again in November!
Let them try. The only real way to stop Barack is an assassins bullet and the secret service knows it and is capable of stopping Cheney and his cronies from pulling it off. If something happens to barack you can be sure it''ll be passed off as racial, but that Di*cky Boy Cheney and his kind will be the monsters that would really be behind it.
As for stealing the election, by the time November rolls around the only way they can steal the election is to be so blatant that even just the average citizen will be so outraged that they''ll riot in the streets. If there is even a hint that the GOP stole this election there will be armed insurrection and revolution in the streets. Some Americans may not want Barack, but no real American wants his or her vote taken away. they won''t stand for it and I''ll be proud to be one of the first to shed blood and spill blood if that happens. After Novemeber one of two things will have happened. The people''s voice will have been heard in an honest election or it will be heard through gunfire in the streets.
-We have never really been in danger of attacks over our nation. If everything was correct, the hollywood senario has been successful. And we have been duped all the way by the Monkey Liar935Bush. www.zeitgeistmovie.com
-My best regards!
-We have never really been in danger of attacks over our nation. If everything was correct, the hollywood senario has been successful. And we have been duped all the way by the Monkey Liar935Bush. www.zeitgeistmovie.com
-My best regards!
Asked about the search for bin Laden, Bush once casually commented that he did not spend a lot of thing thinking about the fugitive.
Bush thought obsessively, however, about how to shovel more assets into his Iraq debacle.
The result? Seven years of misdirected policy has produced higher US casualties and a stalemated war. The Taliban is resurgent, and the prospect of a massive effort against the Taliban all but out of the question.
Asked about the search for bin Laden, Bush once casually commented that he did not spend a lot of time thinking about the fugitive.
Bush thought obsessively, however, about how to shovel more assets into his Iraq debacle.
The result? Seven years of misdirected policy has produced higher US casualties and a stalemated war. The Taliban is resurgent, and the prospect of a massive effort against the Taliban all but out of the question.
Posted by downsteamjim at 08:24 AM : Jun 22, 2008
This from a Bootlicker who actually BELIEVED Saddam attacked us on 9/11!! That''s all that needs to be said about this post! These poor fools didn''t have a clue then and they still don''t. Sieg Heil Bush
**sarcasm off now**
Posted by Demongirl60 at 07:18 AM : Jun 22, 2008
+ report abuse
Ummm! Maybe because that''s their cousin or uncle? ROFLMAO It''s NO DIFFERENT than the situation we found ourselves in during the early 60''s. It''s a problem that ONLY the folks in the Middle East can solve and THEY must be willing to fight for it themselves... we can NOT "Give" our system to them... WE can not force them at gun point to honor the seperation of Church and State, which in the end is the ANSWER to the whole problem. By the way the Taliban is NOT in Iraq. Sieg Heil Bush
Posted by jamesm12341 at 09:08 AM : Jun 22, 2008
Great input there jwind11--well thought out, intelligent and to the point---idiot, you are
insignificant.
Posted by jamesm12341 at
You call Mcvet a coward? What branch of the military did you serve in jwind1? huh? Come on tell us==coward.
Just try forming a third or multi-party political system in America and see how the government and the corporate controlled media will pound on the movement and kill it at all costs.
Alas we live in an oligarchy called democracy. Its a place where classism abounds and the rich are slowing driving the working rabble into subjugation. There are many who feel that democracy is a four letter word.
Posted by jamesm12341 at 09:42 AM : Jun 22, 2008
Your blather sounds like someone who has been over -psychoanalyzed and institutionalized.
You are a transparent angry person and how''s this?
The WORLD will be better once Bush is out of office and Cindy McCain? I bet she''s butt ugly without makeup..
Obama gave three different stances on Venezuela in two days
Obama pissed off a whole nation by calling them typical white people
Obama pissed off rural people by basically calling them ignorant
Obama pissed off half the country by insinuating everybody the criticizes him are racists
Obama lied about his ancestors, his stances on half the issues, his associates and mentors, his legislative prowess which is NIL
Obama promoted public financing, then killed his own stance by being greedy
Obama pissed off half the voters by buying the nomination and threatening his opponent into backing him or else
Obama''''''''s grumpass wife hasn''''''''t done anything for anybody but herself, says she''''''''s never been proud of her country, and calls America mean...what the hell?
Obama''''s just pissed because McCain suggested a solution before he got to it...I mean that''''s what his oil and energy people PAID him to do...
I mean how many passes are Obama supporters going to give this idiot before they wake up!!!???
OR, it is a footnote to those now silent, far left idiots that claimed the surge would never work. More people are being murdered in Illinois than service men/women are dying in Iraq.
Civilian casualities are WAY down in Iraq. The Iraquis people have joined us in ridding their country of insurgents which have been targeting them. Now, they are able to create a just government for themselves.
And Obama wants to throw away what 4000 of or brave men and women have given their all for.
This man is NOT qualified to be a leader of our country. He makes decisions based upon polls rather than what is the correct course of action.
It takes a brave man to lead, not just anyone.
If the US wants to pull out of Iraq and let them settle their differences, then my vote is to pull out of Afghanistan and let these people settle their own differences!
You can''t have it both ways! It''s ridiculous!
May God protect and watch over him.
Squeeze here, and it swells there.
Geurillas always operate most where defenses are weakest.
Posted by mcdad27 at 10:23 AM : Jun 22, 2008
It is not your son''e fault he was ordered into a boondoogle.
Same thing happened to me in Vietnam.
Those of us who see insanity in this mess are not ungrateful for your son''s service.
What the US should do is involve the neighboring Arab countries in settling Afghanistan and Iraq, as opposed to the high and mighty "we''ll do it our way" approach that has been maintained for the last 6 1/2 years now.
Arabs can and should settle their own differences without being dictated to by the west.
It''s more than obvious that the neocon strategy is a dead failure if, after 6 1/2 years in Afghanistan now, we''re still at square one.
It completely amazes me that there are those who see no advance with the strategy, year after year, and say "let''s keep doing it forever even though it obviously doesn''t work"....
Insanity.
Bush is counting the days to get away from you losers.
You got better government and better soldiers that you''ll ever deserve.
Posted by bhoogren at 10:44 AM : Jun 22, 2008
Warriors, yes.
But 74% of the counry completely disagrees with you abut Bush....not to mention most of the free world, BTW.
Things are relative in the world. For example: What is being rich ?
Bill Gates ? There are Millions of people in India that are certain you and I are rich beyond belief.
Ever hear of the saying The enemy of my enemy is my friend. It has been described as an Arabic proverb. And, while not always the most efficatious way to approach a problem, it is one route.
This is how the Taliban became first our friend, then our enemy. Their evilness was relatively small when compared to the USSR. Once that issue was gone, the Taliban''s evilness got out of hand and provided a training ground for Al Qaeda.
So now they pay the price, so we can be safe.
Does this little history lesson not ring bells for you ?
Posted by bhoogren at 10:47 AM : Jun 22, 2008
I can see why you''re so bitter.
Even you realize that neoconism is now merely the fringe movement it so richly deserves to be.
Good post.
But, I would add, the US has a history of backing despots for short term convenience and always has to pay the piper after the fact for that expediency.
Posted by downsteamjim at 10:54 AM : Jun 22, 2008
I assume that you refer to those who don''t see war as the preferred way to settle differences.
They have finally gotten to the point where they understand that it is people from the outside that want to terrorize them. Yes, there is a potential for civil war, but it will stand a much better chance of not happening, if the insurgents are kept out of Iraq.
The Iraquis are finally accepting that we are not there to hurt them, but to protect them. They are starting to realize the insurgents almost always want to hurt them to get the civil war unrest going. It is only thru this unrest that the insurgents can operate freely.
The insurgents, al qaeda, taliban, or what ever you want to call them are all the same - jihadists trying to gain popularity thru power. In this case, they are unwelcome and their numbers swell where ever they can operate.
It is simply easier to operate in Afganistan now than in Iraq.
But 74% of the counry completely disagrees with you abut Bush....not to mention most of the free world, BTW.
Posted by formrusmcsgt
.. .. ..
"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
This was a quote from President Clinton during a presentation at the Pentagon defending a decision to conduct military strikes against Iraq.
Posted by formrusmcsgt
It would seem so, formrusmcsgt.
I''m not sure at the time we saw any alternative.
In the case of the Taliban I think it seemed the correct thing to do to put USSR in a bad place.
I wonder how we could have supported the Taliban and not have the problem we have today. It would be good to learn from these mistakes.
Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998
This is a quote from Albright during an appearance at Ohio State University by Albright, who was Secretary of State for Bill Clinton.
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