By YOCHI J. DREAZEN in Kabul and PETER SPIEGEL,Wall Street Journal
Obama’s Plan is to escalate violence in Afghanistan
The Taliban have gained the upper hand in Afghanistan,the top American commander there said,forcing the U.S. to change its strategy in the eight-year-old conflict by increasing the number of troops in heavily populated areas like the volatile southern city of Kandahar,the insurgency’s spiritual home.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that means U.S. casualties,already running at record levels,will remain high for months to come.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal,the commander offered a preview of the strategic assessment he is to deliver to Washington later this month,saying the troop shifts are designed to better protect Afghan civilians from rising levels of Taliban violence and intimidation. The coming redeployments are the clearest manifestation to date of Gen. McChrystal’s strategy for Afghanistan,which puts a premium on safeguarding the Afghan population rather than hunting down militants.
Gen. McChrystal said the Taliban are moving beyond their traditional strongholds in southern Afghanistan to threaten formerly stable areas in the north and west.
The militants are mounting sophisticated attacks that combine roadside bombs with ambushes by small teams of heavily armed militants,causing significant numbers of U.S. fatalities,he said. July was the bloodiest month of the war for American and British forces,and 12 more American troops have already been killed in August.
If you voted for Obama for the hope of war to end you were sadly taken as a fool. We are waging a war with terrorists people!! Does anyone in this country still remember 9/11??? They killed our mothers our fathers our brothers and sisters!!!! It is a war on terror…that they eniciated!!! The spending will continue on the war….that is just common sence. That is just the thing though,common sence isen’t that common is it?!?!? Well now you have the Dems running the country. What do they do?? They spend money on social programs,and lots of it I might add. So now you have a war that is not going away,and out of controll spending,and bail outs on everything under the sun. The only thing that is a gurantee in America is Life Liberty,and The Persuit of Happiness. Not health insurance,not an education,not someone to pick you up every time you fail. Come on people…..You are all so in the trance of all of the Presidents slick words you cant wake up and smell the coffee. Well folks the coffee is brewed,and the pot is burning!!!! Will that wake you????