LEAVING AFGHANISTAN?….From the New York Times today:
The fact that American troops are pulling out of southern Afghanistan in the coming months, and handing matters over to NATO peacekeepers, who have repeatedly stated that they are not going to fight terrorists, has given a lift to the insurgents, and increased the fears of Afghans.
Generally speaking, the U.S. provides the combat troops in Afghanistan and NATO provides peacekeepers. Like it or not, that’s the way it is.
It’s also the case, as the Times points out, that security in Afghanistan is still pretty dicey. Michael Yon agrees:
The media is not up-playing the danger in Afghanistan but seems to be grossly missing it. Unfortunately, I predict NATO and other forces will lose increasing numbers of soldiers in Afghanistan. The place is bad. Really bad. And it?s getting worse. Yesterday an Indian engineer was murdered. They cut off his head. Also, yesterday, the car bomb in the photo above exploded close by some employees of a friend. I was close by two bombings in just six days in Lashkar Gah, a place they used to call ?safe.?
Afghanistan is a place where the U.S. military presence is almost universally regarded as a good thing, a genuine bulwark against the resurgence of the Taliban. And yet we’re pulling out of the most dangerous areas. Meanwhile, in Iraq, a place where the U.S. military presence is arguably just making things worse, we’re refusing to even discuss the possibility of troop withdrawals.
Wake me up when this is all over, OK?
