In Pictures: The Neglected War In Afghanistan

Watch the trailer here:

• Taxi to the Dark Side

Fotografie

I will have no harvest. How will I pay back my loan?

Dana Rohrabacher (R - CA).with the Taliban, 1980s

82nd Airborne Collage

In Pictures: The Neglected War In Afghanistan
Huffington Post | January 23, 2008

In the years since the initial invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the nation's attention has steadily turned away from a mission that the Bush administration billed as vital to defeating Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Late last year, senior administration officials told the New York Times that they were conducting a top-to-bottom review of the mission in Afghanistan, believing that the effort "has begun to drift."

The Huffington Post looks at the issues that are causing alarm inside the corridors of the Pentagon and the administration, and where the mission in Afghanistan is faltering.

wilmer valderrama
that 70s show

Explosion Kills US Troop in MRAP Armoured Vehicle
Baghdad, Iraq: MRAP First Casualty

January 23, 2008

Pentagon has Ordered 15,000+ MRAP Vehicles
In 2007, the Pentagon recognised the MRAP's importance and placed a $22.4 billion order for 15,400 examples. As well as in Iraq, about 500 MRAPs also serve in Afghanistan.
Up 10 ten troops can be accommodated onboard the vehicle, which weighs approximately 18 tons and is around 12 feet in height.
Source – Armed Forces International’s US Correspondent




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The MRAP is not Resistance proof

Eric Verlo, January 23rd, 2008

It’s the critical difference between water-resistance and water-proof. Remember those watches? You could wear them near the water.

Chris Santory and Deryk Schlessinger Afghanistan 2007

McCain quick to declare victory in Iraq. Petraeus says, 6 months

Petraeus:

'I Need Another Six Months To Determine Whether ‘We’ve Reached A Turning Point'

In the past few months, conservatives such as Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) have been quick to declare victory in Iraq. In November, McCain said that “we’ve succeeded militarily.” A day later, Lieberman declared that “we are winning” because “we have made progress” in “one of the most remarkable turnarounds in modern military history.”

Gen. David Petraeus, however, appeared on NBC this morning and rebutted the declarations of mission accomplished and said that he’ll need at least another Friedman Unit before he can make a judgment:

Massacre of Afghan Children in Helmand Province

HERAT, Afghanistan February 4, 2008

The people there were shocked to see gunners from the airplanes

were targeting fleeing children.

CITIZEN JOURNALIST | Muhammadzi village Afghanistan

The elders in the village asked, “can’t the Americans tell the difference between armed fighters and little children running to safety?”

SEE THIS VIDEO: Muhammadzi village Afghanistan
(http://novakeo.com/?p=1252)

A routine maneuver is for USA and NATO troops to bomb sleeping villages at
1 to 2 AM.
The video is rough quality and raw. Important to see it from the villagers POV.
Your tax money.

US-NATO Massacre of Afghan Children in Helmand Province Afghanistan

January 20, 2008

Afghan civilians–27 children were massacred by the US jets and helicopters/AC130 Gunship in Helmand Afghanistan. The people there were shocked to see gunners from the airplanes were targeting fleeing children. The elders in the village asked, “can’t the Americans tell the difference between armed fighters and little children running to safety?”

Are they Taliban?

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"One American was killed on Dec. 9 by an improvised explosive device.
Twelve men were wounded, from shrapnel and gunfire. The U.S. forces
were supported by fighter aircraft during the battle." Jason Straziuso AP

killed: Corporal Tanner J. O’Leary
May the eagle take you on your journey

U.S. troops recuperating from battle for Musa Qala
By Les Neuhaus, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, December 11, 2007
BAGRAM, Afghanistan — American troops wounded in the battle for a southern Afghan town this week are recuperating at a military hospital and telling of heavy fighting in the city.

Operation Zafar involves British, American and Afghan troops and seeks to take back the town of Musa Qala, known as the last sizeable Taliban-controlled town in Afghanistan.

Musa Qal'eh, Afghanistan
U.S. troops recuperating from battle for Musa Qala

'Taxi to the Dark Side'

Musa Qal'eh, Afghanistan

"The people there were shocked
to see

gunners from the airplanes
were targeting fleeing children."

The MILITARY claims:

“They understand that you can’t come in here and blow up all the buildings
and kill everyone in front of you...."

“They understand.......price for entry to get in here to do what’s important,
which is earn the consent of the people toward the government...."

By Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 21, 2008 9:10:09 EST

Jason Straziuso included one sentence, "The U.S. forces were supported by fighter aircraft during the battle." to represent bombings. He is irresponsible to omit the true terror and carnage of these bombings, they bring the worst fear, damage and tragedy. Straziuso puts the civilian deaths at three. A very romanticized version of Musa Qa'leh, Helmand Province Afghanistan, December 2007, with lots of omissions.

PARATROOPERS- VS- THE TALIBAN
Posted in 82ND AIRBORNE DIV., freedom watch, military, paratrooper, special forces, terrorists on January 21, 2008 by paratrooper

excerpts
MUSA QALA, Afghanistan — Chinook helicopters dropped Capt. Don Canterna’s company of soldiers on the dusty outskirts of Musa Qala as evening fell. Loaded down with weapons, food, and water, his men walked through the night.

Musa Qala

For the 600 paratroopers who air assaulted into northern Helmand province — the world’s largest opium poppy growing region — the Dec. 8 sunrise ambush was the first volley in what battalion commander Lt. Col. Brian Mennes said was almost 72 hours of continuous fighting.

On Dec. 11, after U.S. troops had closed in on Musa Qala’s outskirts, Afghan soldiers poured into town, allowing NATO and Afghan officials to say the country’s fledgling army had retaken the Taliban-held enclave, a major symbolic victory.

But American troops still stationed in Musa Qala more than a month after the battle said they in fact did the majority of the fighting, and some chafed a bit that U.S., NATO and Afghan officials downplayed their role.

“We didn’t get credit for it, but it was a good mission,” said Capt. Jesse Smith, a 26-year-old medic from Lorton, Va. “Taking Musa Qala was the Afghans. Securing the perimeter of Musa Qala was the Americans.”

One American was killed on Dec. 9 by an improvised explosive device. Twelve men were wounded, from shrapnel and gunfire. The U.S. forces were supported by fighter aircraft during the battle.

Star Telegram
http://www.star-telegram.com/466/story/421678.html
[] []

December 18, 2007
Use of Air Strikes in Afghan Conflict 'Rising Sharply'

In Afghanistan, It's About Air Power, Too

chart

Siege: Musa Qala Afghanistan

British 'success' under siege in Afghanistan

Britain’s key weapon in Afghanistan: THE BRIBE
In allegedly trying to buy off a local Taliban leader, British officials have shown a haughty and colonial disregard for the Afghan government.
666 USA 82nd AIRBORNE
Chris . John . Deryk Schlessinger in AFGANISTAN 2007

The Massacre of Musa Qala December 16, 2007

Afghanistan

Detention Center in Afghanistan

Massacre of Afghan Children in Helmand Province

Intrigue takes Afghanistan to the brink
February 6,2008

Laura-lie returns to the scene of the crime

Laura Schlessinger is in good company at Wendy "slut" McCaw's vanity press and global joke, the Santa Barbara News-Press.
Twice now, a Judge has pronounced Wendy hacks as embellishing prevaricators (scuzzy liars). Neither Editorial Page Editor Travis K. Armstrong or Associate Editor Scott Steepleton have 1% of Scuzzy Schlessinger's reputation yet. With 30 some years of experience Scuzzy is the News-Press' star prevaricator.


She's back..... Aired January 9, 2008 CNN LARRY KING LIVE
The Latest on the Race for the Presidency; Interview With Dr. Laura TRANSCRIPTS

Deja Vu: Larry King Live 2006

For some reason MISSING from TMZ is the article and photo published last May:

Did Dr. Laura's Son Have a Deathwish?

Now isn't that special?

What's up with TMZ?
[ found Deathwish?. Deryk Schlessinger ]
The Schlessingers do have connections at the

Department of Defense.








"The 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan shuttered the pages on Friday. The Pentagon managed to immediately cleanse all evidence of the MySpace pages, including whatever copies and cached versions were kept by Google and the Internet Archive."
Wonkette

Dr. Laura's Cretin Son Having Fun Torturing People In Afghanistan
So like the Roman Empire fell away, Let me tell you we are going the same way

Not everyone can get the Army to say "the enemy" could be to blame. At the same time destroy "the enemy" evidence on Rupert Murdoch's MySpace. Schlessinger just happens to be a mouthpiece/hitman for Rupert.

Laura Schlessinger has more important matters to attend, like advice to parents and jumping on the "Dr" to Britney Spears bandwagon.
Before "Dr" Phil there was "Dr" Laura! The following is a worthy article on these charlatan types. Not for the rabid Laura Loons. It's written by an authentic professional.

"Much of the public confusion on this point is due to the TV personality's use of the title 'Doctor'. Like Laura Schlessinger, the conservative radio pundit with a Ph.D. in physiology who calls herself.... "Dr. Laura," anyone with a doctoral degree......" Karen Franklin, Ph.D.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

"Dr. Phil" controversy highlights public confusion over psychology

Afghanistan 1/7/08

Pul-e-Charkhi prison on the eastern outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan

NATO Lacks a Coherent Strategy for Afghanistan 1/7/08

Foiling U.S. Plan, Prison Expands in Afghanistan 1/7/08

Bagram: photos, more

Keeping the Prisons Tight Posted by Joshua Foust on January 7th, 2008

The news that the Bagram U.S. torture center is still operating at full capacity, and even expanding, instead of the not-really-constructed ANA facility, doesn’t bode well for the rule of law in Afghanistan. Bagram is far more spartan and less friendly than the much-heralded Guantanamo prison; yet it has received a fraction of the attention (which is unfortunately normal when it comes to Afghanistan).

They better get their act together: Mullah Naqibullah, one of the Taliban’s top commanders, has escaped from prison and given several interviews to reporters. He claims he escaped by bribing security officials—not impossible, but also quite probably calculated to undercut confidence in the Kabul government and the security forces. But it does underscore the structural problems facing Afghanistan’s internal security—the same problems that are delaying Bagram’s replacement by an Afghan-run facility.