HI Michael :)
hmmmm interesting... but not agreeing with the Intel Briefs we are
getting from the Troops Oregon has deployed forward to Afghanistan. Sorry
for OpSec reasons won't say how many or where they are or what their
mission is :) Too many of 'em are former students and/or good friends!
Art "learning about wills real fast!" Bahrs
P.S. Make sure people know where to get a copy of your will!!! especially
if you are a aging parent!!!!!!! Mom passed last week... took till
Yesterday to find the will!
=======================================================
Art Bahrs, CISSP Information Security The Regence Group
(503) 225-4992 FAX (503) 220-3806
"Michael
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05/03/2006
12:01 PM
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Seems like the Taliban take over again.
Why are US troops not in Afghanistan but instead in Iraq?
Only George&friends do know.
Should have asked the Russian how hard it is to fight there or the CIA.
They could have answered that question.
Isn't that UBL/OBL is supposed to be but nobody looks for him?
Taliban Steps Up Attacks in Afghanistan By PAUL GARWOOD, AP Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban militants and their allies have launched an
intensified campaign against thousands of
NATO troops deploying to southern Afghanistan, where the multinational
force is taking over from U.S. soldiers.
Whether ambushing Afghan police from mountain passes or detonating bombs
on
lonely highways, remnants of the ousted Islamic regime have stepped up
attacks, causing havoc and insecurity across a cluster of provinces.
Military officials and analysts said Wednesday the Taliban threat is the
No. 1 challenge facing more than 7,000 U.S., Canadian, British and Dutch
troops that by September will be fighting under the NATO flag in four
southern provinces.
"This is counterinsurgency warfare (and) there will be casualties on both
sides," said British Col. Chris Vernon, chief of staff for NATO forces
operating in southern Afghanistan. "This is not the north or west of the
country. This is a counterinsurgency war zone."
Taliban chiefs like Mullah Omar hail from southern Afghanistan. Its deser
ts
and mountain ranges provide good cover for militants hiding or planning f
or
attacks. Protecting opium poppy fields — and the illicit funds they ear
n —
is another reason to fight.
Mountains running through the northern districts of the neighboring Helma
nd
and Kandahar provinces, and Zabul and Uruzgan to the north offer
sanctuaries for militants, Vernon said. The porous Pakistani border runs
along the southern and eastern edge of the provinces, providing another
base where militants replenish funds and weapons before sneaking back in
to
launch attacks.
Ordinary Afghans and foreign analysts are critical that militants can sti
ll
pose such a threat, more than four years after the late 2001 U.S.-led
invasion that ousted the Taliban government for harboring Osama bin Laden
and his al-Qaida terrorists, blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.
"The situation would have been a lot easier if we got troops down there
four years ago," said Joanna Nathan, the Kabul-based senior analyst for t
he
International Crisis Group. "Security has gotten much worse. Four years a
go
they would have been welcomed, but things have been allowed to fester."
NATO officials believe the militancy will subside in regions such as
Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan once foreign forces consolidate their
presence. Only 1,000 British troops are in Helmand, where no coalition
forces have been before, but that number will rise to 2,500 by July.
Another 1,500 Dutch troops are due to boost security in Uruzgan by August
or September. They are part of an expansion of a NATO-led security force,
which is gradually assuming command of all foreign troops in Afghanistan.
"Helmand has been a free zone for the Taliban and the narco-traffickers,
but now as coalition-UK capability moves in there, things will improve,"
Vernon said. "But it is going to take a good year or so to get that sorte
d."
Extremists are also launching attacks to protect their massive opium popp
y
plantations from coalition and government efforts to eradicate the crops,
which produce 90 percent of the world's opium and heroin.
Tribal disputes, criminal rivalries and anti-Western militants crossing
from sanctuaries in Pakistan are also fanning the violence.
Afghanistan has 27,000 new soldiers and another 60,000 lesser-equipped
police, many of whom are based in the south. But they still aren't enough
to counter strengthening Taliban forces and the more violent tactics, suc
h
as suicide attackers and roadside bombs.
"We are afraid when we increase our security presence in the community, w
e
become targets for these terrorists," a Kandahar-based Afghan army
commander said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of th
e
issue.
Despite the brazen nature of the Taliban attacks, many of the reported
casualties have been on the militant side.
At least 30 militants died in a bold attack in late March on a remote
coalition forward operating base in Kandahar. One Canadian soldier was al
so
killed.
Canadian forces killed 20 militants planning an ambush in Helmand
province's Sangin district the past weekend. Four Taliban militants were
killed Wednesday by police in another foiled Helmand ambush.
But Taliban militants have still been able to inflict casualties, killing
four Canadian soldiers April 22 in a village north of Kandahar city.
Militants also kidnapped and beheaded an Indian engineer this week in Zab
ul
province, where some 1,500 U.S. soldiers are based.
"We are seeing small cells of never more than 15 to 20 fighting men,
occasionally up to 30, operating with local leaders dispersed across the
south without great coherence," said Vernon. "This makes them difficult t
o
track."
Key to NATO efforts is its three-pronged approach to supporting security,
reconstruction and improved governance.
"If we can get these three lines together, eventually the people will say
that they would rather have us than the Taliban," he said.
Kandahar clothing shopkeeper Haji Din Mohammed, 45, said Afghans are
desperate for increased coalition support to confront the growing Taliban
influence in southern villages and towns. Militants demand housekeepers
give them food and shelter at night.
"Outside of the city, everywhere you can easily find the Taliban," Mohamm
ed
said. "The government and coalition forces promised us security and an
improved economy, but instead the security is bad. I can't go to my nearb
y
village after 5 p.m."
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