AP IMPACT: Troops already outnumber Taliban 12-1
BRUSSELS – There are already more than 100,000 international troops in Afghanistan working with 200,000 Afghan security forces and police. It adds up to a 12-1 numerical advantage over Taliban rebels, but it hasn't led to anything close to victory.
London — THE highly decorated general sat opposite his commander in chief and explained the problems his army faced fighting in the hills around Kabul: “There is no piece of land in Afghanistan that has not been occupied by one of our soldiers at some time or another,” he said. “Nevertheless much of the territory stays in the hands of the terrorists. We control the provincial centers, but we cannot maintain political control over the territory we seize.
Diplos Get Their Own Armored Vehicles, War Zone Survival Gear
As part of a push to create a cadre of muddy-boots diplomats ready to serve in conflict zones, the State Department is buying a fleet of fully armored vehicles — along with range of communications, first-aid gear and protective kit. The new equipment is supposed to help government civilians work where they are most needed: outside the protective bubble of the embassy.
Phi Beta Iota: The US Government is out of touch with both reality and strategy. This idiocy will continue until Vice President Joe Biden prevails on President Obama to bring in some heavy hitters like General Tony Zinni and a hand-full of others to rescue Leon Panetta from his clandestine mink-lined cell at CIA, educate the young man ostensibly in charge of the Office of Budget and Management (OMB), and generally get Brzezinski, Emanual, and Axelrod put back in their boxes. Meanwhile, Iraq is a festering cancer that will explode if we continue lip service operations there.
