At least 10 NATO troops were killed today, including seven US servicemen, in a series of attacks across Afghanistan. The nationalities of the other soldiers was not immediately apparent from NATO announcements. The casualties were in addition to five other troops killed over the weekend.
Five of the US troops were killed in a roadside bomb in Eastern Afghanistan, while one died in an IED bombing in the south and another died of small arms fire in Kandahar Province.
The attacks come as the Karzai government scrambles in an attempt to move forward with a reconciliation plan with the Taliban, though at this point there appears to be little momentum behind the push.
The attacks also make today one of the deadliest yet of 2010, as the war passes the 104 month mark, making it the longest war in American history.
Seven more American service personnel killed. What are they dying for? Let's see here, America has been in the Afghaniscam for going on 9 (that's nine) years. Nine years and counting. Geez, one might get the impression that Imperial Amerika is getting "her" ass kicked. By rag-tag Talebanners. Hmmm, the Talebanners may very well be rag-tag but and however, they certainly seem up to the task of sticking it to our boots-on-the-ground. Anyone hear if "admiral" Tom Ricks gots anything to say?
Those same 'rag-tag' guerrillas beat the Soviet army not long ago. In fact, they haven't lost a war on their home turf in recorded memory. Since they beat Britain when they ruled the world, and beat the Soviets when they were number 2, and now seem to be beating the current number 1, I'm not real sure I'd denigrate them very much.
I'm thinking the Taliban might be ranked # 1 in the world when the next polls come out.
I think you are right, protobone, this is Afghaniscam. We are there and could easily conduct a military victory, however brutal; yet, why are we there in the first place? The country holds no strategic advantage to the United States, does it? I agree that the human rights abuse are terrible with the Taliban, but when we accidentally kill civilians, then their human rights are permanently abrogated… dead means no rights whatsoever. Billions a month, and this to bolster a subversive economy, the US Military or Halliburton.
I used a term "rag-tag talebanners" as a serio-comedic metaphor for how the Taleban is portrayed by American mainstream infomedia concerns. The Taleban are one formidable fighting insurgency. To MPC, I'm not certain that America would stomach the "brutality" necessary to win in Afghaniscam. Ergo, it's Afghaniscam. A scam run on the American people and a murderous quagmire that must be endured by the Afghan people. Afghanistan- the land where they've been kicking the 'conquistadors asses' for centuries. America's "adventure" in Afghaniscam is one comprehensive failure. For the whiz-bang military genius that commands the military and for the servile and lickspittle political leadership that profits mightily by the charade. Get out of Afghanistan and do it now.
could be a replay of operation BAIT , politically preparing the collective nationalistic brain tissue for more ratched up atrocieties and collatoral tactics of civilian assinations, thareby perpetuating it self and loco motioning the perpetual state of WAR ( of which thare is no SHE-BREW translation or he-jew atidote)along the zionistic model,if ya really want my honest opinion,well do ya,punk,,,JOKING,its all going perfectly along small little plans,thats right , its all part of the plan
They are dying so that girls can go to school. Never mind they don't learn anything here even they do go to school.
Especially since we are laying off the teachers here to pay for the war over there.
They are dying to make gay marriage legal!
They are dying to prevent the Afghan children
from being exposed to second hand cigarette smoke!
(insert your liberal cause for war here)
At least I can understand the typical imperial causes
for war; they have something we want and we are going to
take it. Sure I understand how you might hide your
imperial ambitions behind bs like freedom, liberty etc.
But I am totally amazed that there are people who
actually want to kill other people fora a (misguided) missionary
vision.
Just announced here in OZ, 2 of the dead were Australian Military. We, like every other invading country should not be there.
How about Japanese Imperial forces playing samurai head polo with the aussie population?
Then "war" through an American military becomes a righteous thing for the sake of your personal ass. Canadians pleaded with us to fight and sacrifice for mommy Britain and France. All other wars were "bad" and would get a visiting president rounds of righteous demonstrations. Funny how that works. You know how Europeans failed to rant and whine about the Kosovo war. Kosovo is Europe and Europeans pick n choose the piety.
The only reason that the US entered ww11 (3 years late I may add) is because of Pearl Harbour being attacked by the Japanese. Otherwise you would have sat on your collective fat butts and done nothing! FM!
Yeah, like in vietnam; first the Japanese, then the French, and as ususal the Yanks came in to mop up the rest. Didn't quite work out did it?
True. I particularly do not understand why Australian troops are there. The country is not in NATO.
Yeah, but they had a right-wing PM who loved Bush for years.
Unfortunate but true.
The reasons given to us, is that we cannot, under any circumstances leave and let the Taliban reform and start up training camps again and train a new generation of terrorists.
That argument means of course that the coalition will be in Afghanistan for ever and never leave. But that could never happen. Could it?
Thanks israhell.
How come the only country in the world that doesn't have troops fighting in Israel's wars in the region is Israel? Auzzies yes, US yes, NATO yes, but Israel gets out of it? I thought they were supposed to be our great ally? What good is an ally that stays home and lets you fight for them? That sounds more like a con game than an ally.
If we let them handle their own mess in Afghanistan and Iraq, maybe they wouldn't have the time to be machine gunning down unarmed people with shots to the back of the head. That sounds win-win for everyone but Israel, and who cares about that at this point.
Maybe we let Israel attack Iran, then sit back and laugh and say "Gotcha … now you get to have fun with your own war for a change …. bye, bye"
it makes happy whenever i read such news.
Wajid
Me too. But I want it to end, but it never stops does it.
Notice that its the guerrillas attacking. They aren't hiding and running, they are seeking out the NATO troops and attacking.
Karsai can't hold peace conference without it being shelled. The British cabinet minster who tried to visit the big NATO base at Kanduhar airport found himself not only shelled but under attack from rebels storming the perimeter. The Bagram airbase has been attacked. The US has had to pull back from its mountain bases into the city, and those bases have been taken over by the guerrillas.
The only success they've had is in taking a fictional city, and even then NATO/US forces can't control it.
And note very carefully how the US propaganda is now re-branding this a NATO war. They wouldn't be doing this if they were expecting great victories soon. If that was the case, it would be pure red white and blue over there. The fact that everything now says its a NATO war means they think bad news is coming.
Folks, we ain't winning.
Three more US soldiers also killed in Helmand June 6. That is in addition to 18 dead in Helmand in May.
There was a good article a few days ago that the Taliban are quickly adapting to US IED countermeasures and equipment.
Universal desire to be FREE and INDEPENDENT is unbeatable, regardless of the technological superiority of the barbarians. History is the best teacher.
On the other hand permanent wars are great for the robbery class which gets richer as they control the weapons manufacturing and in so doing provide “jobs and opportunities” for the masses.
The US is a predatory Capitalist warfare state.
The US is Communism for the rich, Capitalism for the poor.
The US is from each according to need, to according to greed.
I can,t understand why the Americans are killing and being killed just for prestige as super power. Our Prophet said a tree when it is full of fruits will be bowing down and in the same a person or country if they accept their mistakes is greater than to deny
To a large extent it is the US continuing in the rut of the old British Imperialism.
But there are incontrovertible economic factors which Vladimir Lenin had down pat:
phttp://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/
Does that mean Lenin was a prophet? No, it means he knew Marxist economic analysis and his predatory Capitalist world empires inside out.
The Right Wing goes into hysterics if one mentions either Marx or Lenin naturally. But also notice how quiet they are about David Ricardo, who was a Classic British Liberal who much too honestly gave away the game.
The fact is that though Marxist economic analysis is far from complete (Marx really did not grasp Japan, for example) the idea that one can do any valid economics without acknowledging Ricardo's and Marx's contributions is an absurd joke, as are all economics based on "value" as strictly a function of market price in "money".
DavidSpero writes:
" This has nothing to do with girls or schools. That's just one of their lame excuses. It's about military power and money, and secondarily maybe about oil and natural gas."
Very succinctly put. It's about power and profit for the military and their corporate suppliers, for the newly bulked-up mercenary corps, for Congress, and then for the oil oligarchy.
With the Soviets gone the whole warfare culture needed a program for its continued growth and justification. The new plan: assembly line wars: Afghanistan to start things off, then on to the back burner to make way for the high-profit, high-throughput, "rich target environment", Iraq, (keep Afghanistan simmering on a low heat. Allow the Taliban to regroup so that next time round they'll prove worthy, more capable profit-generating adversaries.). Prepare to expand into a whole new Pakistani "Area of Operation". Bring new, exciting, and of course highly profitable next generation war-fighting (war-generating?) technologies (drones) on line. Transition smoothly from a declining profit-center (Iraq) to the new and improved, up-graded, joint venture AfPak enterprise. Meanwhile, invest in the future, prepare the ground for the next new top-of-the-line profit center: Iran.
Ahhhh! Times are good for for the merchants of death. Springtime for Hitler!
Gianfranco Sanguinetti isolated the key role of "terror" decades ago in his essay "Terrorism and the State":
http://www.notbored.org/on-terrorism.html
At least one person saw a complete MS of his "Remedy For Everything", but like Sanguinetti after he was expelled from France it has disappeared.
Debord's relations with Sanguinetti are fascinating exactly because they were not personal.
Debord expressed dislike of the style of "Terror and the State", which was deliberately blustery and baroque.
Were there other reasons? One gets a hint now and then but it was certainly not because he thought Sanguinetti's analysis was invalid. Just the reverse.
Debord was an unrestricted genius and Sanguinetti was more pedestrian. But at times it occurs that Sanguinetti may have been a complete invention, whether of Debord himself or the Situationists.