Taliban

Attack on US Embassy in Kabul

Mark Noonan24 Comments

From the Wall Street Journal:

Insurgents staged a series of attacks across Kabul on Tuesday, with rocket-propelled grenades, gunfire and suicide bombers targeting the U.S. Embassy, in one of the most brazen Taliban assaults on the Afghan capital.

A spokesman for Kabul police said the Taliban first struck the U.S. and other embassies, then launched assaults at several other targets in the city, including suicide-bomber attacks on a traffic-control office and on a high school. A school bus also was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, wounding several young children. Police rushed to the scene to unload bloodied children from the damaged bus…

Savages to the end – and  the reason why, no matter how long and hard the fight is, we can’t withdraw…not until at least a semblance of stability is built in to the Afghan regime.  We can’t set a time limit on this – though we can, as time goes on, likely use ever fewer US troops as the Afghan forces become more capable.

Trust me on this, I’m tired of it, too – and I bet the troops are even more tired of it.  But to quit is to turn the people of Afghanistan over to beasts in human skin.  We can’t, with honor, do that.

The Enemy Strikes Hard in Afghanistan

Mark Noonan22 Comments

From the AP:

A military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy SEALs unit that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, along with seven Afghan commandos. It was the deadliest single incident for American forces in the decade-long war.

The Taliban claimed they downed the helicopter with rocket fire while it was taking part in a raid on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak late Friday. It said wreckage of the craft was strewn at the scene. A senior U.S. administration official in Washington said the craft was apparently shot down by insurgents. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the crash is still being investigated…

Hopefully the reaction will be to go very hard after the Taliban unit responsible for this…we dare not let them think they have scored a victory; make them pay a price all out of proportion to our losses.

This is a good time to remind ourselves that while we sit fat, dumb and happy, young men and women are still laying it all on the line for us.  What is our budget debate or debt downgrade or the 2012 election compared to what the armed forces are doing, day after day, with little thanks or note from us?  We have allowed ourselves to be too distracted … and I hope President Obama gets a grip on the Afghan campaign, and brings it back to the forefront of public consciousness.  It is time to win this campaign and then come home…whatever it takes, do it, and let’s have done with these savages in the Taliban.