Killing Us In The Press

The Associated Press had a reporter at the suicide car bomber along the Jalalabad road, just east of Kabul Monday. That’s the road we always took from Kabul, turning right at the big Toyota sign before Camp Phoenix, to head north to Bagram. It’s a bumpy road, that is paved from time to time but is mostly worn out. We used to fly down the road, always wondering if/when the insurgents would figure out what an easy target out soft-skinned SUVs would be for a well-placed bomb. The Taliban got their say in, claiming to the AP that the attacker was a militant from Khost. Some of our security folks were hit, one seriously. It’s a busy road for the locals, no doubt that an Afghan teen was killed.
The Afghan police were pissed off that the U.S. security would not let them into the site. Sad fact is, that we claim to be growing their police force, but when it’s something serious – move over Hadji, let the pros handle this.
Add this current attack, which was not as significant militarily as it is a PR coup for the bad guys, to the suicide bomber that killed 23 people outside Bagram last month when Dick Cheney was “within earshot,” – the Taliban are effectively waging their communication strategy. They are not killing us in numbers, they are killing us in the press.

LINK -
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1600462,00.html