As NATO Rebrands Kandahar Invasion, Residents Express Concern
Having spent months touting its upcoming Kandahar “offensive” to the world as the centerpiece of their 2010 plans for the ongoing Afghan War, NATO has decided that “offensive” doesn’t sound very good, and has reported decided to rebrand the invasion as a “process” or conversely a “series of efforts.”The Kandahar Process. It sounds like a chemical process.
Or maybe a reverse Philosopher's Stone which turns gold into lead.
As for the Kandahar Series of Efforts - nope. Won't fly.
“More foreign troops means more attacks and more dead civilians,” noted Khan Mohammed, a car dealer in Kandahar, adding that NATO should “open their eyes and realize they can’t beat the Taliban through military means.”Will somebody take this guy and make him King, please? He seems to have a firm grip on the situation.
And, after nearly a year under McChrystal's command, every month from July 2009 onward (he took command in mid-June 2009) had more casualties than any other of the same months since the beginning of this "war". How, in anybody's reckoning, does this look like success?
As I write this, the casualty count for 2010 is 185, almost as many as all of 2006 at 191. Numbers have been going up exponentially year after year.
And, of course, there's this to look forward to.
Attacks signal end of poppy harvest in Afghanistan
Once the crop's in, the guns and bombs come out.
Hey Filo, have you gone here?
ReplyDeleteI go there a lot. They have a great take on the region, and beyond.
http://hadalzone.blogspot.com/
I am now of the thinking that Kandahar is a head fake. They can not possibly be putting all their marbles into this circle of disaster.
Now they came out and said that the Afghans will be heading the attack. And that the West will basically be security, and back up. Ya, right.
We will know more after Karzai leaves D.C. next week. He like to tip his hat. LOL.
The attack has been delayed only as a sop to Karzai. After they have softened him up in Washington next week the spinning will start and then the bombing.
ReplyDeleteTony:
ReplyDeleteI am not so sure any more. A full out attack on Kandahar would be one of the greatest blunders in military history.
Nothing fits into place.
How long would it take to move troops from Kandahar to Waziristan?
With all the "Times Square" chatter. It sounds like the West is telling Pakistan "let us in, or we will knock the gate down".
I just had a look at the latest on hadalzone by James Gundun. It's really good.
ReplyDeleteI heard that Karzai was going to be visiting DC. Apparently Obama has told his aides "not to be distracted by Karzai" or something similar. I'm not really sure what that's supposed to mean.
I don't know whether there is no plan, whether there is a plan and they're pretending there is no plan, whether it doesn't really matter whether there's a plan or not because it isn't going to work, or what.
Meanwhile, distractions are piling up all over the place. The ramping up of the importance of the Times Square bomb failure so they have an excuse to pummel Pakistan even more than they already are, the non-existent Iran nukes so that an attack by Israel will seem justified, the supposed North Korean torpedo that sank a South Korean warship...who can believe any of this.
Like the single assassination that started WW1 or the Gulf of Tonkin non-incident, they seem like excuses for a bloodbath.
And what's with Eric Holder deciding that the Miranda rights aren't for "terrorists"? The Attorney General? What's in the water in DC that drives men (and women) mad once they've been there for more than a couple of months?
As susual, there's more questions than answers.
William Hague and the tame UK press are softening the British media and people up to accept that Kandahar is a hive of 'terror'. A sinister sign so early in the new life of Obama's new British lapdogs. I go with your earlier forecast, RZ. Karzai stopped NATO attacking earlier as the civilian killings became daily and the tribal leaders hounded him. If NATO/ISAF can get a clear month with no civilian massacres reported (which is not to say that they won't have happened), they will attack by night and then spin it as a 'mission accomplished' story a few days in. June latest in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe CIA drone attacks are increasing on a daily basis. This can only mean more civilian deaths.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if they are trying to Balkanize Afghanistan. I still think they want to get their hands on Free Baluchistan.
If that is all the west can get out of all this then they would be more than happy.
I still believe Baluchistan is the key to all of this.
Control Baluchistan, control Gwadar. This would be a major choke point in their hat.
Problem is that China is already heavily invested in Gwadar.
They won't confront China of course. And it's noticeable that they never face up to anyone with a credible administration/government or any real power. Iraq - weak and chaotic. Afghanistan, weak, divided and chaotic. Easy targets, so they thought. Someone should have told them about the national and cultural pride of the people in these countries. They will never defeat that even with their 'smart' weapons and Playstation soldiers.
ReplyDelete