Afghan violence soars, insurgency expanding: U.S.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Violence in Afghanistan hit an all-time high in recent months as Western troops battled an increasingly sophisticated insurgency expanding across the country, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

Nine years after the arrival of foreign forces, the Pentagon said all types of violent incidents in Afghanistan had increased from April through the end of September, up 300 percent from 2007, except for the use of roadside bombs.

The White House will reveal in coming weeks its review of the war a year after President Barack Obama unveiled a new strategy for the flagging, unpopular campaign in Afghanistan.

Even as the Pentagon's latest congressionally mandated report painted a grim picture of the situation in Afghanistan, where corruption undermines the fight against the Taliban and only halting, uneven improvements to Afghans' lives have been achieved, U.S. officials said there were signs of progress.

Increased troop levels have bolstered security in some areas in the past six weeks, a period not captured in the twice-annual report, officials said, and foreign troops have managed to push Taliban violence back from cities and towns.

"But this progress is fragile -- this is a very tough fight," a senior State Department official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
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Can we call it a "Quagmire" yet? So much for talking to fake Taliban reps...

[Valin]

Shades of Iraq 2006

[kevindavis]

Shades of Iraq 2006

 

True, but guess who was the President in 2006..