International News : Afghanistan- Pentagon Admits US "Losing Ground and Slipping Backwards"

Afghanistan- Pentagon Admits US "Losing Ground and Slipping Backwards"

Compiled by Janet Eaton - According to a new Pentagon report, Taliban militants have regrouped after their initial fall from power and "coalesced into a resilient insurgency." The report paints a grim picture of the conflict, concluding that Afghanistan's security conditions have deteriorated sharply while the fledgling national government in Kabul remains incapable of extending its reach throughout the country or taking effective counternarcotics measures.



The turnaround poses a dilemma for the Bush administration, which had counted Afghanistan as the pinnacle of its success in the war on terror. US commanders say they need more forces, but they can only be provided through withdrawing troops from Iraq. US combat fatalities in Afghanistan are increasing. The country is now more dangerous for American forces than Iraq. "The Taliban is likely to maintain or even increase the scope and pace of its terrorist attacks and bombings in 2008," the report concluded.         ---  "Pentagon admits US 'losing ground and  slipping backwards' in Afghanistan war", Wall St. Journal, June 28th

See also:

1) PIPELINE POLITICS Wars About Oil, Not Democracy Compiled By Janet M Eaton June 22 As energy economist John Foster, author of the CCPA report "A Pipeline Through a Troubled Land: Afghanistan, Canada, and the New Great Energy Game asks: Do we want our troops to protect pipelines? ... the impact of the proposed multibillion-dollar pipeline in areas of Afghanistan under Canadian purview has never been seriously debated.".....the security issues remain daunting and the Canadian military could - wittingly or not - become embroiled in a "new great game" over energy security that is playing out in the region.
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article/235930201-pipeline-politics-wars-
about-oil-not-democracy-compiled-by-janet-m-eaton

2) Ear to the ground in Afghanistan.
Former journalist (Sarah Chayes-Manager of Kandahar co-op )  not afraid to share opinions about local politics: That´s why she carries a rifle. By SCOTT TAYLOR On Target Mon. Jun 16 - 6:03 AM

´If the Afghan government is a criminal enterprise and Canada´s stated mission is to support the government of Afghanistan, then what the hell are you achieving?´
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/1062255.html

3) Conversations in Kabul on Military Intervention and Political Reconciliation by Ernie Regehr , Project Ploughshares, June 2008 Brief Overview  fyi Janet The conclusions about international security forces that emerged out of at least this brief set of conversations with engaged Afghans can be summarized as follows:

1.  International (or national) forces cannot reliably and consistently produce security at the village level in the country´s main conflict zones to support the level of reconstruction and
development desperately needed.

2. International forces are nevertheless instrumental in preventing all-out civil war between the Taliban/Pashtun and the Northern Alliance/minority ethnic groups.

3. While public confidence in the international military presence is severely tested, and probably declining, the international community through the UN and ISAF still does create space for constructive political or governance development and reconciliation.
http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/Briefings/brf082.pdf