Record number of Taliban attacks and civilian casulties in Afghanistan

“We do not support the [counter-insurgency] perspective that this constitutes ‘things getting worse before they get better’, but rather see it as being consistent with the five-year trend of things just getting worse.” That’s the verdict of a report from the respected think tank the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office, which monitors trends in violence in […]

The War in Afghanistan meets the avenging angel of Afghan history

The bottom line is that the United States and NATO stand defeated in Afghanistan. The Taliban-led insurgency continues to grow. The once southern-Afghanistan-based insurgency spread across the nation; the Taliban and its allies struck in Kabul at their pleasure; and the large military/social-work operation to clear insurgents from Marjah District in Helmand Province—framed as the […]

McChrystal Math

The until-recent U.S. military commander in Kabul, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, defined “insurgent math” in Afghanistan: “For each innocent you kill, you make 10 enemies.”

The effect of firing Stanley McChrystal on the Afghanistan withdrawal

President Obama may have saved his reputation as commander-in-chief by firing Stanley McChrystal, but he deepened his Afghan quagmire by choosing David Petraeus as the replacement. A measure by Rep. Jim McGovern, which requires an exit strategy including a withdrawal timeline, awaits House action after the Senate killed an identical bill by Sen. Russ Feingold […]

Thoughts on Osama bin Laden by a Marine combat veteran

Former Marine Colonel Bob Pappas has been saying for years that bin Laden died at Tora Bora. And that Senator Kerry’s claim that bin Laden escaped was a lie. Furthermore:  Bin Laden always denied any ties to 9/11 and, in fact, has never been charged in relation to 9/11.  He not only denied involvement, but […]

Excerpts of Michael Moore’s Open Letter to President Obama

Do you really want to be the new “war president”? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. I know you know that there are LESS than a hundred al-Qaeda left […]

Admiral Mullen announces Afghanistan spending strategy

Last week, Admiral Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced that the Pentagon will seek additional war funds for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in 2010. While he did not give a firm dollar amount, the New York Times reported that defense budget analysts are kicking around the number of $50 billion. The […]

U.S. and NATO Military partners with Afghan Warlords

The New York Times revealed that the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has long been on the payroll of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. But this is only the tip of a much bigger iceberg of heavy dependence by U.S. and NATO counterinsurgency forces on Afghan warlords. U.S. and other NATO military contingents operating […]

500,000 troops needed in Afghanistan over five years

Embedded in General Stanley McChrystal’s classified assessment of the war in Afghanistan is his conclusion that a successful counterinsurgency strategy will require 500,000 troops over five years. This bombshell was dropped by NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC’s Morning Joe: “The numbers are really pretty horrifying. What they say, embedded in this report by McChrystal, […]

$250 billion Afghan War failure

Washington has spent some $250 billion in Afghanistan since 2001. Each time the U.S. sent more troops and bombed more villages, Afghan resistance sharply intensified and Taliban expanded its control, today over 55% of the country. American and NATO generals running the Afghan war amazingly warn they risk being beaten by Taliban tribesmen in spite […]