Taliban takes 10 Afghan villages

[medeak]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0AB43678-9AF6-40F1-A279-2FB612E28518.htm


Taliban seizes Afghan villages



Taliban fighters have taken control of 10 villages in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province in Afghanistan, and have said they plan to march towards Kandahar city.

Mohammad Farooq, a government official in Arghandab, said on Monday that around 500 Taliban fighters moved into the area and took over the villages.


Haji Ikramullah Khan, a tribal leader from the region warned that the fighters could use the cover of the district's grape and pomegranate orchards to mount an attack on Kandahar itself.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. or 2 says BBC

or none says the government, but I don't believe them much

[medeak]

3. heard three this am

exactly...who to believe?

[Rick Myers]

2. Mission Accomplished!!!

[Disturbed]

5. CNN.com - Bush: Afghanistan is a victory over terrorism

- Jun 15, 2004
President Bush on Tuesday claimed victory in the war on terrorism in Afghanistan and announced what he called five new initiatives to strengthen the links

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/15/karzai/index.html

[B.S. Lewis]

11. yeah

I guess things aren't going swimmingly anymore :(

[Quantess]

18. Ann Coulter, anyone?

Like anyone appreciates what that harpie has to say?

[gateley]

4. Okay. So Biden asked Bush for $150,000 not too long ago

to get more troops to Afghanistan, give the troops there a break, get some better equipment, and was told that we DIDN'T HAVE THE MONEY.

So instead, we have a jail break, over a thousand prisoners are on the loose, and I'm assuming it's pretty chaotic now.

Another great policy call by Bushco.

[medeak]

6. do you know where I can find a link for that?

really want to spread that one around!

[gateley]

7. I'll find one for you --

But the editorial comments about the prison break were mine, not Biden's - just so you know. :7

[gateley]

8. Ha! First link I found on Google was my post here!

I'm trying to remember if I saw/heard him say it on an interview or if I read it. I'm thinking I heard it because I seem to remember Joe sounding pissed and disgusted.

I'll check the vids, too -- I agree, this is good stuff.

[gateley]

9. Here's one reference to it -- (from CNN interview with Wofl Blitzer.)

and it was $1.5 billion over three years for Pakistan and Afghanistan. (I was THINKING 1.5 bill when I typed 150,000 :eyes:)

snip

"And he said, they would be different. He is telling you what he needs in Iraq. Let me read Admiral Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he said: "Having forces in Iraq at the level they are will not allow us to fill the needs we have in Afghanistan."

snip

"We're told we don't have the money to spend $1.5 billion in Pakistan over the next years because we need it in Iraq.

Just imagine, if they just picked up $1.5 billion of what we need to deal with Pakistan and, in turn, Al Qaida, where it lives, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, it would be a big difference."

snip

http://biden.senate.gov/press/transcripts/transcript/?id=436d681c-31c5-4fa8-a92d-8aebea56b8a0


Lugar was also a guest - the entire transcript is worth reading as they are bringing the point home that our needs elsewhere aren't being met due to Bush's (and McCain's) love affair with Iraq.



I know there's another one I'm thinking of, so I'll keep looking.

[Tutonic]

10. Biden called this correct regarding the Taliban two years ago!!!!

He has been the lone man crying in the forest about the need to go back in and eradicate the Taliban. But G.W. couldn't do that--after all Pervez Musharref the rogue dictator (posing as a democratically elected leader) didn't want the U.S. presence (except monetary and military armaments) in Pakistan. Musharref was working overtime with war lords--sort of like that guy that G.W. and Cheney toppled in Iraq--Hussein. Now the Taliban has tired of Musharrefs demands and they intend to rid their country of Pervez through force. All that American money and weaponry is now in the hands of the Taliban. Hew W, hows that surge working for you and McCain.

[gateley]

13. He sure knows his stuff -

I remember when he brought up Pakistan in a primary debate -- it was from nowhere and I think everybody was going 'huh?". I

And welcome to DU, Tutonic! :hi:

[medeak]

14. welcome to DU!

Indeed...we need resources like you! ;-)

[medeak]

12. that's what I found as well..

thank you!

[Disturbed]

15. Afghanistan has $Billions in Natural Gas under the ground.

The Afghanistan Failure
By MIKE WHITNEY

Afghanistan is a tragic example of American foreign policy run amok. The promises of liberation and reconstruction have only generated more suffering and death." Operation Enduring Freedom" was nothing more than a marketing ploy designed to project American military power into the region and secure long-coveted pipeline routes. It has created a situation that is more unstable than before. A recent report from Kim Sengupta confirms this; "The UK Independent has learned that an all-party group of MPs from the Foreign Affairs Committee has returned from a visit to the country shocked and alarmed by what they witnessed. They warn that urgent action must be taken to save Afghanistan from plunging further into chaos because of Western neglect."

This is the reality of the Afghanistan campaign; a nation teetering towards anarchy because it fit nicely into the global designs of a handful of fanatics in Washington. It is a reality that has been scrupulously omitted from the establishment press because it doesn't exemplify the virtue of American warmongering. A faithful rendering of the facts of the Afghanistan war would convince the American people that it was a cruel and cynical misadventure that never should have taken place. Nearly, three years after the end of major hostilities, the country is still more fractured and unsettled than ever. Large swaths of the country are engaged in an unreported war and the drug trade is fueling even greater instability. The Taliban have been replaced by the equally misogynist warlords who rule with an iron fist and have a similar disregard for basic human rights.

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney06022004.html

So far, Afghanistan has been a major failure. Not many people are interested in that country and it's sad situation.

[medeak]

17. people 60 yrs old

don't recall anything but being at war there...as everyone wanting to prostitute oil pipelines ect... hopeless.

[deaniac21]

16. I hope the pomegranates aren't harmed.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Ah lovely, so everything is peachy keen in Afghanistan

oh wait... prison break out and now a major offensive!