User: AntiConformist911 |
Afghanistan debate: Sarah Palin's stupid attacks on Obama/Biden Recently Sarah Palin's been attacking Barack Obama for a careless formulation in which he implied that all America is doing in Afghanistan is bombing villages and killing civilians. It's an incredibly cynical line of attack, particularly when Palin (hilariously) claims this "disqualifies" Obama from being commander in chief. (Of course what Obama meant was that an overreliance on air strikes--due in part to a shortage of ground troops--is causing a tragic and strategically counterproductive level of civilian casualties.) Here's the question someone should ask Palin: Does she have any idea why Obama brought this up in the first place? I doubt it. Maybe someone should send her this: Like clockwork, each of these friendly fire incidents brings about angry demonstrations in the streets, with crowds chanting, Death to the government — down with the foreign troops! The latest tinder in the fire was the killing of some 90 civilians, mostly women and children, on Aug. 22 in Azizabad in Herat Province. (While the Pentagon has taken issue with the reported death count, the Afghan government and United Nations stand by the villagers claims.)... The growing disillusionment caused by civilian casualties is also driving old friends away from NATO and American forces. In an interview some months ago, a man who worked alongside American forces in 2001 in Urozgan Province to protect Hamid Karzai, now the Afghan president, posed a staggering question: You speak English, and interact with foreigners, so can you swear by the Almighty and tell me if the foreigners are on the side of the Taliban, or of the Afghan people? He was hardly the exception: many average Afghans find it hard to believe that America, with its tremendous military power, is having so much trouble defeating tattered bands of Taliban warriors and dont understand why it cant avoid continuous civilian casualties. http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/10/05/palin-s-stupid-attack-on-obama.aspx One of the interesting points of contention in last night's vice presidential debate between Delaware Senator Joe Biden and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was on the topic of whether an Iraq-style surge would work in Afghanistan. Earlier in the day, Army General David McKiernan (or, as he's sometimes known in Alaska, "McClellan"), commander of NATO's International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) had both called for an infusion of additional troops and equipment "as quickly as possible" and said that "no Iraq-style 'surge' of forces will end the conflict." Palin saw this as a call for a surge-esque activity: "The surge principles, not the exact strategy, but the surge principles that have worked in Iraq need to be implemented in Afghanistan, also. And that, perhaps, would be a difference with the Bush administration." Biden pounced: "The fact is that...our commanding general in Afghanistan said the surge principle in Iraq will not work in Afghanistan, not Joe Biden, our commanding general in Afghanistan. He said we need more troops. We need government-building. We need to spend more money on the infrastructure in Afghanistan...Barack and I and Chuck Hagel and Dick Lugar have been calling for more money to help in Afghanistan, more troops in Afghanistan, John McCain was saying two years ago quote, 'The reason we don't read about Afghanistan anymore in the paper, it's succeeded.'" As Ann Scott Tyson reported in yesterday's WaPo, McKiernan said "Afghanistan is not Iraq" but "a far more complex environment than I ever found in Iraq." Additionally, he very much wants to avoid a particular tactic that was crucial to -- although many would say incidental to or even separate from -- the surge in Iraq: "I don't want the military to be engaging the tribes," he said. Given Afghanistan's complicated system of rival tribes and ethnic groups and the recent history of civil war, allying with the wrong tribe risks rekindling internecine conflict, he said. "It wouldn't take much to go back to a civil war." Julian Barnes, writing for LAT, adds that McKiernan is desperate more more troops and materiel. He's called for an additional three combat brigades and additional helicopters but isn't likely to get more than one brigade any time soon. "We are in a tough counterinsurgency fight, we are in a higher level of violence this year than we were this time last year," McKiernan declared. http://www.acus.org/new_atlanticist/surging-afghanistan Tags: Eugene Robinson Countdown with Keith olbermann Afghanistan Pakistan Barack Obama Joe Biden john Mccain Sarah Palin Iraq war speech interview debate oil Iran foreign policy experience bush |
User: AlJazeeraEnglish |
India and Pakistan vie for trade in Afghanistan - 09 Oct 08 Seven years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, foreign countries continue to wrestle for influence in the country. In some border areas like Khost province, Pakistani currency is used and the roads are built by Indian contractors. It seems that when it comes to business, political rivalries are put aside. Dan Nolan reports. Tags: pakistan afghanistan india trade business dan nolan aljazeera |
User: Capit |
Canadian Ambushed in Afghanistan, video by Scott Kesterson Troops from Alpha Company, 2nd Platoon, "Red Devils" from Edmonton, Canada are ambushed as they conducted battle damage assessment in the village on July 15, 2006 in Sangin, Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan Copyright: Scott Kesterson http://www.beloblog.com/KGW_Blogs/afghanistan/ http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=87949 Tags: Canada Afghanistan Canadian Forces Army CF Firefight Scott Kesterson |
User: ZWkenner |
Artillery Afghanistan sniper artillery in afghanistan Tags: artillery afghanistan war sniper zwkenner |
User: journeymanpictures |
The New Great Game - Afghanistan July 2008 The war for Afghanistan is increasingly being staged from across the Pakistani border. Although Pakistan's government claims to support the US, it is reluctant to take on the Taliban in tribal areas. Tags: Afghanistan Taliban Pakistan Army Journeyman Pictures |
User: arockett |
Vacationing in Afghanistan (thefullmonte.com) After months working in Kabul Afghanistan we-- two young American filmmakers-- traveled into the hills for a Vacation. In the dramatic beauty of the landscape, we found an open, generous and humerous people. Our short video captures a simple story never told in the news headlines. Filmmakers: Aaron Rockett and John Monte Tags: afghanistan donkey ride Buddha Bamiyan Bamian tourist journey travel war zone documentary humor laughs terrorism |
User: lookhearsee |
British Marines Ambushed in Afghanistan ITN's Bill Neely reports during a firefight in Afghanistan. (March 27) Tags: British Marines Ambush Afghanistan firefight taliban islamic terror UK |
User: SKKyuu |
Navy Seals in Afghanistan Shows that war in Afghanistan goes on...It doesnt have a deadline for ending.They talk about Iraq a lot , but they´ve(the press)forgotten about Afghanistan.People are still dieing.Specially the soldiers. Tags: Military Navy Seals Afghanistan |
User: gettyimages |
Afghanistan: Battle in Helmand Province Getty Images photographer John Moore was embedded with British forces in Southern Afghanistan in 2007. Tags: Afghanistan Helmand War Battle Taliban British Forces |
User: itn |
Prince Harry shooting Taliban in Afghanistan Footage has been released of Prince Harry fighting on the front line in Afghanistan. . Tags: prince harry royal uk afghanistan taleban fighting shooting machine gun army soldier soldiers desert combat |