According to a new report by an independent think tank in Afghanistan, "Islamo-Fascists"—including Taliban and al Qaeda forces—are close to retaking Kabul and effectively winning the Global War on Terror—the war launched by the United States in 2001 as payback for the attacks of September 11.
Meanwhile, neo-conservatives, chickenhawks, and right-wing fanatics are gearing up for victory celebrations because violence is slightly down a thousand miles away—in an unrelated Arab country’s civil war.
From Reuters:
The conflict in Afghanistan has reached "crisis proportions," with the resurgent Taliban present in more than half the country and closing in on Kabul, a report said on Wednesday.
If NATO, the lead force operating in Afghanistan, is to have any impact against the insurgency, troop numbers will have to be doubled to at least 80,000, the report said.
"The Taliban has shown itself to be a truly resurgent force," the Senlis Council, an independent think-tank with a permanent presence in Afghanistan, wrote in a study entitled "Stumbling into Chaos: Afghanistan on the brink."
"Its ability to establish a presence throughout the country is now proven beyond doubt," it said. "The insurgency now controls vast swaths of unchallenged territory including rural areas, some district centers, and important road arteries."
Senlis said its research had established that the Taliban, driven out of Afghanistan by the U.S. invasion in late 2001, had rebuilt a permanent presence in 54 percent of the country and was finding it easy to recruit new followers.
It was also increasingly using Iraq-style tactics, such as roadside and suicide bombs, to powerful effect, and had built a stable network of financial support, funding its operations with the proceeds from Afghanistan's booming opium trade.
"It is a sad indictment of the current state of Afghanistan that the question now appears to be not if the Taliban will return to Kabul, but when," the report said.
"Their oft-stated aim of reaching the city in 2008 appears more viable than ever."
This news comes five and a half weeks before the close of the deadliest year in Afghanistan for U.S. forces.
While the Real Global War on Terror (RGWOT) is falling apart due to the Bush administration’s irrational preoccupation with Iraq, neo-cons and chickenhawks around the country have begun unfurling the "Mission Accomplished" banner once again—this time, seemingly, because only 30 Americans were killed in the first three weeks of this month.
For instance, chickenhawk Michael Reagan writes with breathtaking ignorance:
Just what kind of blinders and ear plugs are these people wearing? Don’t they realize that some of the most vehement foes of the war in Iraq such as The New York Times and The Washington Post are reporting that the surge is working and we are winning the war against al-Qaida and the other insurgents?
Or take Ralph Peters writing this week for the New York Post:
The situation in Iraq has improved so rapidly that Democrats now shun the topic as thoroughly as they shun our troops when the cameras aren't around.
Yes, Iraq could still slip back into reverse gear. And no, we're not going to get a perfect outcome. But the positive indicators are now so strong that the left's defeatist lies are losing traction among the American people.
You mean positive indicators like this from yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald?
The Taliban has a permanent presence in more than half of Afghanistan and the country is in serious danger of falling completely into its hands, according to a report by an independent think tank with long experience in the area.
Peters rambles on about Iraq:
Attacks of every kind are down by at least half—in some cases by more than three-quarters. A wounded country's struggling back to health. And our mortal enemies, al Qaeda's terrorists, have suffered a defeat from which they may never fully recover: They've lost street cred.
Really? Then why are Osama bin Laden and Ayman az-Zawahiri--the perpetrators of 9/11--still putting out tapes from Afghanistan and/or Pakistan? He goes on:
Our dead and wounded have not bled in vain.
What happened? How did this startling turnabout come to pass? Why does the good news continue to compound?
This kind of bullshit astounds me when I hear it. Why does the good news continue to compound? Maybe Peters should direct that question to the families of these guys.
Or maybe he could explain it to the rest of us who have friends in Afghanistan and/or who’ve read the Senlis report straight out of Kabul. Because unless you support Islamo-Fascism, this is not good news:
The Taliban are the de facto governing authority in significant portions of territory in the south and east, and are starting to control parts of the local economy and key infrastructure such as roads and energy supply. The insurgency also exercises a significant amount of psychological control, gaining more and more political legitimacy in the minds of the Afghan people who have a long history of shifting alliances and regime change.
The neo-cons and chickenhawks are all talk. They speak of wanting to fight "Islamo-Fascism," but when it presents itself, they are nowhere to be found. Why aren’t Kagan, Kristol, and the rest of the Weekly Standard crowd concerned with Afghanistan? Aren’t they afraid of al Qaeda and another 9/11? Where is Commander Guy in all this? I thought he was going after the "terrorist killers."
Perhaps not. Maybe, in reality, this is about something other than "Islamo-Fascism" and 9/11. And that’s why, come 2008, these people must no longer be allowed to hold positions of power or real influence in this country. They have driven us into the ditch and they simply do not know enough about the Middle East, Islam, terrorism, or war. We need professionals in charge of our foreign policy and we must work to make that happen.
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