News Of Afghanistan
20 dead in an attack on government offices in Kabul, plus eight dead in the Taliban suicide squad, with fears others may be on the loose. Quick Afghan reader kicks off with IHT on Kabuli feelings of vulnerability:
… with a heave, the men dumped each body on the concrete forecourt. Several corpses landed face down. Quickly the men grabbed those corpses and threw them on their backs, face up.
It was meant as a sign of deep disrespect to the Taliban gunmen. But it also seemed to be a way to let the hundred or so Afghan soldiers, police and intelligence officers gathered in the forecourt gaze for a moment at the guerrillas who had penetrated deep into the sanctums of the Afghan government, just a few hundred meters from the gates of the presidential palace.
The suicide bombers killed at least 20 people and wounded 57 in coordinated attacks that demonstrated the ease with which the insurgents can penetrate even Afghanistan’s heavily fortified capital.
At the Justice Ministry, five Taliban guerrillas armed with explosives and Kalashnikov rifles killed two guards, stormed the building, and took control of several floors for about an hour. Frightened employees, including the justice minister, barricaded themselves in their offices while the armed men stalked the halls for victims. They shot 10 people to death before being killed. Other victims were killed in the explosion of suicide devices.
Each time an attacker’s body was brought to the courtyard and dumped, the security men crowded around and pushed each other out of the way to find a sightline to stare at the bodies.
One guard, Abdul Raheem, toting his collapsible-stock Kalashnikov rifle, moved close in and exclaimed, “That’s the one I shot.”
The security men brought the next body out. Raheem pushed the men in front of him out of the way.
“Let me see the other donkey,” he said.
Abu Muqawama, “So is Karzai not the mayor of Kabul anymore?”
I’m sure that’s what the Taliban wants everyone to think. Doesn’t exactly sound like Tet, though. Abu Muq would like Obama to get on with it. NYT informs that Obama is mulling options.
VOA with advice from the last Russian to cross the bridge out of Afghanistan on Feb. 15, 1989. Force won’t do it, you need to cut a deal, says Boris Gromov. I dunno. Russians are good at starting trouble. I wouldn’t look to them for advice on how to end it. Interesting read more for what it says about Russians in Afghanistan as a point of contrast rather than what it says about Afghans or NATO.
David Kilcullen at Small Wars Journal on the task ahead in Afghanistan, looks a lot like he is dismissing the limited effort, limited expectations approach being put forward by Gates, and pushing for the kind of time, effort and money Obama does not appear to be interested in.
Petraeus sounds like he’s up for it, if he can get the political backing. “It will get harder before it gets easier.”
The Captain’s Journal rounds up and discusses Kilcullen, a Kilcullen commenter and some other bleak views. Captains Journal also links to and discusses what he is calling one of the most important things to come out of Afghanistan lately, an unclassified Marine Corps look at Taliban tactics, via Yon.
Topics: Afghanistan, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:40 pm Comments (1) on Wednesday, February 11, 2009
One Response to “News Of Afghanistan”
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February 12th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Here’s the post I left on Abu Muqawama:
Not to worry, people. The Taliban are just acting out their emotions because they fear the effects of our new President’s intense and fearsome charisma. A timeout and some therapy should do wonders. Don’t believe me? You can read all about it here:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/02/11/gentler_approach_challenges_anti_us_regimes_analysts_say/?page=1