What's in the Polls?

Here is an interesting resource for polls on public opinion for the war against insurgents in Afghanistan:
http://www.pollingreport.com/afghan.htm

Frying Grunts For Killing Civilians

Bob Burns from the Associated Press reported today that the military found Marines involved in a March 4 shooting spree in Afghanistan to have used excessive force. Now the case goes to NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) for investigation. So someone is getting screwed over this.
These Marines were part of a brand new special operations unit. They had been hit by a suicide car bomber somewhere in Nangahar. Then they started shooting at who they thought were insurgents. Apparently, many of the dead and wounded were actually civilians. So the military has now said that their response to the threat was overkill.
And the people in the area must now have some serious anger toward the U.S. military - not good for the hearts and minds mission to sway them away from supporting the insurgency and toward their new "democracy."
War sucks and innocent people always are hurt and killed. It’s an awful fact that does not go away with the punishment of these Marines. (Those guys will also come home one day as veterans and have to live with the fact that they pulled the trigger on innocent people.)
This was a bad thing, no matter how you cut it.
The special operations Marine company was ordered to leave Afghanistan after the incident. Now they will look for some heads to roll. It will keep up appearance and attempt to save face.
It’s easy for some officer to pass judgment from a clean office stateside – but only those guys know what really went down. They did relieve the commander, which points toward poor leadership as a cause for what appears to be a lack of fire discipline.

But that will not address the larger issue – that our guys in Eastern Afghanistan are attacked regularly and this is a real fight we have on our hands. Or that there’s no plan or exit strategy for Afghanistan – the forgotten front, as the press has called it. Because the mission in Afghanistan is overshadowed by the absolute hell of Iraq – this may barely make the headlines.

Another Good American Falls Without Notice

On Sunday, the “NATO” headquarters on the island of Kabul announced that a soldier was killed in a roadside bomb. No location or nationality. Another soldier was injured in the blast. But without specific information on this casualty – no newspaper or network in the US can give this attack in Afghanistan much play. (It’s hard enough to capture the news on a Sunday – especially when we lost at least 10 troops in Iraq this weekend – which makes the US headlines.)
On Monday, the U.S. DoD released his name, hometown and unit. He was Pfc. Conor G. Masterson, 21, of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., a soldier assigned to 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment. These are soldiers who normally play to role of the opposing force in training at the Combat Maneuver Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany.
Who was this good American?

PIONEER PRESS, MINN.:
http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_5630542

In the DoD release, they simply say that Masterson was killed in “Eastern Afghanistan” – no specifics – by and IED that hit his vehicle. Here they are again, dribbling out very unspecific information about the loss of a good American serving his country in a largely forgotten fight in Afghanistan.
If Mastersons’ death was lost in the news cycle, how can we differentiate this loss with the unfortunate vehicle accident that killed a Dutch soldier sergeant in Uruzgan Friday or the six Canadians killed by a roadside bomb this weekend?

And today, (April 10) the AP reports that two troops were killed and 14 wounded in a rocket attack along the Kabul/Kandahar highway in Zabul. And Afghan Army officer was quoted, but there is no mention of which nation in the “coalition” the troops belong to.

Afghanistan is not "turning" bad – it’s been bad. It’s continuing to be a difficult slog against the Taliban and other anti-Western insurgents. But why try to hide that news from the US public? ? The Canadians have some good coverage of their fallen troops in Afghanistan, but our go largely unnoticed. I have my ideas on why we are doing this….what are yours?

Also, a sidebar – the Afghan government has banned Al-Jazeera from local TV. So this so-called “democracy” we helped start in Afghanistan does not support opposing views of a free fourth estate. Al-Jaz is not my favorite news outlet, but they have their place – in fact, they have millions of viewers worldwide. Clamping down on them only makes them more intriguing to those who have doubts about the U.S.-back Afghan government. It’s the U.S. military that has had trouble with Al-Jazeera’s reporting slant in the past. The odd thing is that the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture are blocking the English version of Al-Jaz – not many Afghans are fluent in our tongue.

Afghan Political Opposition. How's that going to work?

Ah, the march of democracy…apparently the "old gang" in Afghanistan is challenging President Hamid Karzai politically now through the Afghans fledgling democracy the U.S. propped up after we kicked out the Taliban.
The AP reports that former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, some former mujahedeen leaders and some old Commies have formed the National Front, a political opposition to Karzai. Many of these guys held power in the past and also crippled Afghanistan in the post- Communist/pre-Taliban era in the early 1990’s. And now they are back, joining the political fray with name recognition, persuasive abilities and power over may of Afghanistan’s regions and people.
They want more power for the Afghan parliament and direct elections for provincial governors – rather than Karzai-appointed governors. They see their political opposition as a the path toward peace against the insurgency.
Karzai only holds power because the U.S. wants him to. He lives and moves under heavy security. Educated Afghans from Kabul who I am still friends with tell me that there has been open frustrations with Karzai for a long time in the Afghan capital.
So who are these guys?
One apparently is the vice president, Ahmed Zia Masoud, a former Northern Alliance leader – who helped us kick out the Taliban. Others include power heavy figures like Dostum the Uzbek and Ismail Khan of Herat. They also have Mustafa Zahir, grandson of Zahir Shah, Afghanistan's last king.These men have a lot of influence. And using their new found form of democracy, they could sway elections in their favor.
How does that sit for the U.S. and its NATO allies? At some point, there will have to be another president other than Karzai – c’mon that is democracy, right?

But here’s the what if…could our support of Afghan democracy backfire in the same way that Hamas now has legitimate power in Palestine? Can the powerful men who once ran Afghanistan and nearly destroyed it – again hold legitimate power through elections?

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE (AP):
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/03/asia/AS-POL-Afghan-Political-Group.php

DO WE STILL HAVE TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN?

Why is there NO MENTION of withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan in the House and Senate funding bills? Politicians are forcing Iraq to the forefront of the Democratic political movement against the Administration – when we are hiding our 30,000 troops in Afghanistan behind the NATO flag. The US mission is just as hazardous – our troops are enduring this operation – fighting and dying in Afghanistan against an elusive enemy – but there are no plans to create a time line for their withdrawal. If we continue an open-ended mission in Afghanistan, largely hidden from public view – then how will we measure success in Afghanistan? Most of all, what is the plan to wrap up that part of the war?

How is the US mission hidden behind NATO, you ask? Great example….NATO released that two soldiers died Wednesday in a traffic accident. They don’t give names, units or nationalities. They don’t even say where it happened, because the reporters in Afghanistan can decipher from the location which country the troops may be from. They release no details – why even issue a statement then?
By the time the investigation is complete and the country of origin – which could be the U.S. – release the names and units – the new cycle has passed. No one is really paying attention to the US mission in Afghanistan anyways – so this news becomes a mere blip on the radar. By the way – they guys in Afghanistan do not give a shit about who got kicked off on Idol last night!

Finally, the Taliban are demanding a prisoner exchange the release of four kidnapped Afghan health workers. This comes less than two weeks after the Afghan government released five Taliban prisoners to secure the release of an Italian reporter, Daniele Mastrogiacomo. Some will say – that’s why you never negotiate with terrorists – then they see it works and will kidnap more people for prisoner swaps. There is a culture of kidnap and ransom among the people in the Middle East and Asia - which they see as a successful way to negotiate – look at Iran snatching the Brits and how that is playing out…

Magazine Covers Say It All

There's a blog out there that compares covers of TIME and Newsweek with their international editions. Everyone else can see Afghanistan for what it's really become - but not Americans.
I'm not sure who Beagley is - but he hits the nail on the head for this post. Check it out.

LINK to Beagley's blog:
http://beagley.livejournal.com/130026.html

Taliban tactics, are they effective?

March 21 was Nawroz - the Afghan New Year
So, the Taliban are kicking off this Spring with some brutal tactics. They cut off the head of an Afghan truck driver in Zabul, along the main road from Kabul to Kandahar. The poor dude was one of hundreds of Afghans trying to make a buck by running supplies in these ancient “jingle trucks” to and from U.S. and NATO bases. Long supply lines plagued every army in Afghanistan since the time of Alexander. Unlike Iraq, U.S. forces do not provide convoy escorts for the jingle trucks as they make their long journey from the nearest deep water port in Karachi – where much of our supplies are offloaded. These guys travel along major routes and into the remote valleys where our troops have forward operating bases, (FOBs). Last week, insurgents in the Nuristan/Kunar region cut the ears and noses off three drivers supplying a US base. And apparently, the driver of an Italian journalist was beheaded in Helmand.
What does all this brutality mean? It has shock value in the Western press. It must also leave an impression on average Afghans. Educated Afghans – like those I know from Kabul – consider these acts just as barbaric as we do. Others, in the uneducated illiterate population may see this as just punishment for those assisting the infidels – just punishment carried out by holy warriors – a concept quite far from Western comprehension.
Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo gave Agence France Press and interesting glimpse into the insurgency when he described the warrior monks who held him captive.
He told of a near obsession with their weapons, “using them, cleaning them, revering them."
The insurgents, or Taliban, who captured him spent two hours a day cleaning their weapons. US infantry are also experts handling weapons, and I’ve seen some obsessive cleaners among them. But they are also addicted to Western trappings – Ipods, video games, DVDs and Internet chats with family back home. Getting their tour done and going home alive and in one piece is the focus.
Mastrogiacomo said the Taliban are between 20 and 25 years old, poor young boys, without culture or human, sexual, emotional or romantic experience. They are always on the move, only visit their families once in 40 days – but most of all have no salary, they live to fight for their cause. That’s powerful, when US troops fight to keep themselves and their buddies safe for their yearlong tour so they can go home.

Link to Story on Mastrogiacomo's release/ prisoner exchange
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/world/europe/22italy.html?em&ex=1174708800&en=6c5876ab328111c4&ei=5087%0A