Speaking in a telephone interview today, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen conceded that the Taliban “seem to be stronger now than we had expected when the international operation started back in 2001.”
Rasmussen vowed however that the war could continue and predicted that some progress would be seen at some point later this year, citing the escalating number of international troops in the nation.
Rasmussen has spent months since taking office pressing for additional troops in NATO, though his pressure has met with serious opposition in some war weary member nations.
But Rasmussen’s confidence comes at a time when there are growing doubts in the largest contributor to the war effort, the United States, over whether the “new” McChrystal Plan has changed anything at all, or if it is just the same failed policy with more troops.
The MJs are being guided by the lord of Jinn Man and everything that exsists what did he expect?
NATO found the Serbs tougher than expected even after repeated bombing of civilians. Sound familiar? Except they knew how to shoot back, were taking out enemy missles with cheap microwave ovens, and had the wits and the means to broadcast what was going on in real time. So NATO needed someone to back stab them and found the poor Russian bear ready to be bribed. Things have changed much as far as NATO's play book is concerned but I'd keep my eye out for the traitor ready to be bought.
You are one of the few that has bothered to find out just how badly NATO was pummeled by Serb Anti Aircraft defenses. Microwaves and even full scale models of Mig-29s that the Serbs used as decoys to sucker US aircraft in to attacking on the ground where the Serbs would dispatch them with either a shoulder launched Igla or Strela SAM.
All in all the Serbs destroyed or shot down over 200 American Aircraft and did enough damage to other NATO/US Aircraft that they had to be junked. We lost tens of pilots which they lie about to this day and the US Air Force at Aviano Air Base had to stand down for six months to lick it's wounds after being mauled by both Serb Air Defenses and some pretty good Serb Mig 29 and MIG 21 pilots.
The Serbs also did a ground attack on an Apache base we set up in Albania and destroyed about a dozen Apache AH64s on the ground and then another ground attack mission on our NATO air base in Bosnia that destroyed a number of our aircraft on the ground. The Pentagon won't soon forget the cost of that fiasco in Kosovo.
Ha Ha Ha hahahahahahaahahahahaahaha!!!! Talk about your Kool-aid.
Serbs got their butts kick big time. I think Nato lost one plane. Yeah, you the man!! Hahahahahahaahhahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
Sorry, Jeff. I have to disagree on some points. When the Serbs did pull out of Kosovo they literally left with ALL their armor intact. Nato was stunned by how little actual damage they did. Not to mention aircraft that flew out of that airbase with the underground hangers the Russians took before the British/Natio could get their hands on it. The Brits were pissed but the Russkies told them to back off and then the planes rolled out and took off. As far as what the commenter above describes I can't verify, but there were reports of a counter attack on a NATO base in Albania and even I myself saw photos of a downed Apache from news agency and not Serb propaganda that Nato said was brought down because it struck "power lines". I found that to be odd because all the photos in all directions I saw no power lines.. .hell.. there we're not even any damn trees! For that matter there were also no interviews with the "surviving" pilots because I doubt that they did. It looked pretty shot up. But the damage WAS done to civilians, even Albanians getting shot to up by Nato aircraft. The usual "my bad" that the US and NATO pulls out of its collective ass every time they kill non-combatants. The dates and geography have changed but the game plan is still the same: kill the innocent. Terrorists? I'm sure we can all agree that the US, UK. NATO, Israel etc. are lying bastards. I'm not even going to put the Serbian government into the role of an angel but their people were demonized by our media and the same swine from then are at the levers of power today… Clinton, Holbrooke etc.
I think the missing points are: One, What were they expecting? and two, how strong all the Taliban? Certainly nothing compared to US and NATO forces. These statements are just to drum-up the support for war. To tell their respective 'joe the public' that they are fighting a strong force, just in case Mr. Joe is beginning to worry about why we are still there and what are we doing there for so many years.
First, "Taliban" is now an anachronism. The old Taliban are just part of a general insurgency that is beginning to gather steam.
Second, the insurgency is rhizomatic, which is essentially impossible to suppress. In fact, Afghanistan–though Deleuze and Guattari did not see it–is almost the archetype of rhizome.
Third, NATO is terminally ill-fit to the terrain and has impossible logistics problems.
Fourth, NATO has already lost. The only question is how dramatic will be the final exit. On the surface it looks like McChrsytal is going out with a whimper, but he is so incompetent he may in the end engineer a dramatic bang that will not be pleasant for either the US or NATO.
At Last,Hopefully this is true notNATO just seeking sympathy (making money reasons) hope Taliban Slowly destroys the Money making people, put me in Charge of the World I”ll really show the true color of this world the color of Peace Green, Blue, and White don’t take a college educated or clean looking people in suits to run the world, this is how I look at the world everybody’s butt smells the same
The Serbs also scored Stealth that went immediately to Russia, in effect obsoleting a trillion dollar weapons system designed for first nuclear strikes and making it fit to operate only against Third World radar.
Most important the Yugoslav Military was essentially untouched–and what is left still is.
Thus NATO concentrated on high altitude attacks on civilians and infrastructure.This even led to some Spanish pilots refusing missions, as you will recall.
The Yugoslav War marks the real death of NATO, which is now a corpse wandering around Afghanistan looking for proper burial, which it will get eventually.
As for the Russians–did they sell out really–or rather weren't they right to council bending like a reed and biding time?
Though it is true that NATO did not defeat Yugoslavia militarily, it is also true, especially given the political situation, that over a very long war the Yugoslavs could only have fought to a draw and an expensive one at that.
In some ways, despite the territorial thefts, which will never be final, the Serbs are stronger now and gestating. Most important, they know who their real enemies are.
corr:counsel
The Yugoslav campaign is where I finally "snapped" and realized that it was all a lie. I used to sit transfixed by all the "air power" shows on the Toob about Gulf 1 and how we had "smart weapons" etc. etc. etc.. As if a shock wave was "smart"! There was a time I believed everything the GOP told me and I "knew" I was right.. Yeah, well, people grow up and have their eyes opened when their purported leaders lie on everything and won't even stop spending money on an illegal and unjust operation so they can say they, "support the troops" What lying bilge. It was from that point forward I treated both political parties as two sides to the same corrupt coin. A one-party bi-factional state. Oh, they may make mewling noises about this or that but then they coo and cuddle about "bi-partisanship". I'd be happier if they reinstated dueling and we could see them kill each other off on occasion. Now THAT I'd go for! Call it true term-inal limits.
Over 2000 years of history confirm Afghanistan's reputation as being 'The Graveyard of Soldiers and the Graveyard of Empires' – and – NATO is finding that the Taliban are stronger than expected? Obviously NOT a single general in NATO has ever read a History book – NO 'invader' has ever won a war in Afghanistan.
'Insurgents'? – how about the locals beating back the 'invaders'?