Bombs Away: Afghan Air War Peaks With 1,000 Strikes in October

[douglas9]

The U.S. and its allies have unleashed a massive air campaign in Afghanistan, launching missiles and bombs from the sky at a rate rarely seen since the war’s earliest days. In October alone, NATO planes fired their weapons on 1,000 separate missions, U.S. Air Force statistics provided to Danger Room show. Since Gen. David Petraeus took command of the war effort in late June, coalition aircraft have flown 2,600 attack sorties. That’s 50% more than they did during the same period in 2009. Not surprisingly, civilian casualties are on the rise, as well.

NATO officials say the increase in air attacks is simply a natural outgrowth of a more aggressive campaign to push militants out of their strongholds in southern Afghanistan. “Simply put, our air strikes have increased because our operations have increased. We’ve made a concentrated effort in the south to clear out the insurgency and therefore have increased our number of troops on the ground and aircraft to support them in this effort,” Lt. Nicole Schwegman, a NATO spokesperson, tells Danger Room.

On the other hand, some outside observers believe the strikes are part of an attempt to soften up the insurgency before negotiations with them begin in earnest. But one thing is clear: it’s a strategy Petraeus has used before. Once he took over the Iraq war effort, air strikes jumped nearly sevenfold.

Next month, the Obama administration is set to review the strategy for the Afghanistan campaign. Petraeus’ newly-aggressive approach will almost certainly part of that examination. It’s a dramatic reversal from Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s strategy, which drastically restricted the use of air power — even when troops came under fire.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/11/bombs-away-afghan-air-war-peaks-with-1000-strikes-in-october/

[Hannah Bell]

1. isn't everyone dead yet? you'd think they would be by now.

[ixion]

2. Hurray for Freedom and Liberty! Oh wait...

Nevermind. :puke:

[thunder rising]

3. It's easier to take if you think of it as only 32 a day ... isn't it?

[rug]

4. I find it easier to think of as one air strike every 45 minutes.

For a solid month.

[meow mix]

5. yeah... but its bombs of hope and change. they should be happy

much better than the last bombs

[Occulus]

8. The explosions represent the fiercest of advocacy. n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Maybe that is a new mining technique?

[era veteran]

7. Fuck this war, declare victory and leave

If the Taliban comes back and provides sanctuary to the Al Qaeda we can go back in and fuck them up and leave again. The only way to win there is kill everybody. That's how the Romans built empire. Hopefully we have passed that.

[undeterred]

9. And to think John Nichols encouraged us to choose Obama over Hillary Clinton

in the 2008 primary because he was more likely to end the wars. Because of that great speech he gave a long long time ago.

[Catherina]

10. I feel so used. Hillary was right. All Obama had was a speech.

How could I have been so fooled?

[Rex]

11. We bring hope and change with bullets and bombs.

Where have you been?

[ConsAreLiars]

12. How irrational a dumbass stupid and bought-out corporate jackass plaything can a Pres be?

OK, the 3rd generation hitlerist monkey king selected by the SCOTUS gets all time awards for being a fratboy stupid jackass. No one will ever compete. "One Of Us" the five chanted.;

Current practice seems to be more of the same as advised by the same old advisors. No change. Just more of the same kill em, steal and occupy and grab and uber alles corporatist tactics.