How can anyone still defend the Bush administration. They destroyed our standing in the world and left a world more dangerous than the one they found. Many members of this administration should be trading cigarettes for their lives in a maximum security prison. The mess these criminals left behind will be with us for a generation. We must as Americans demand they be held accountable and must look under every rock for the truth no matter what that truth tells us. Its time for the Obama Administration to make an example of these crooks.
The production of opium in Afghanistan has "soared to frightening record levels," according to a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released in Kabul Monday.
Production levels of opium, from which the class A drug heroin is manufactured, are expected to reach 8,200 tons in 2007, up from 6,100 tons in 2006.
The amount of land used for the production of opium has also increased to 193,000 hectares from 165,000 in 2006, the report said.
Afghanistan is now responsible for 93 per cent of global opium production, according to the UNODC.
The Taliban once considered the production of opium a sin but they have realized that the drug trade is a great source of income to continue their terrorist activities. This is what happens when you don't complete the job you started. When the Bush administration decided to start a war with Iraq, they left Afghanistan to twist in the wind.
Unfortunately the winds are blowing towards the United States and include the bumper crop of heroin which will surely make it onto our streets and turn even more of our citizens into addicts. Another fine job by the Bush Administration. Can you think of anything they have done right? I surely can't.
The apparent collapse of the deal in the restive South Waziristan area followed the scrapping of a similar deal in neighboring North Waziristan in July, and comes as there are escalating tensions in both areas. On Sunday, the Pakistani military reported killing 15 insurgent fighters near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan.
Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, had focused on the peace deals as a way to combat rising extremism in his country without relying on military force. But the cease-fires had come under intense scrutiny from critics who said they amounted to capitulation to the fighters.
The collapse of the South Waziristan deal intensifies pressure on Musharraf, who is struggling to remain in office, to come up with a new strategy.
There is bascially a war within Pakistan between these Islamic fighters and those loyal to Pervez Musharraf. There have been numerous assisination attempts on Musharraf and should one be successful you will be looking at a Pakistani government very hostile to United States interests with nuclear capabilities. That is the worst nightmare of the American government.
The question should be how did we get here? The simple answer is the war in Iraq. Had we not removed most of our military from Afghanistan this precarious position in Pakistan may very well have been avoided.
More than one out of four soldiers who committed suicide did so while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to a report scheduled to be released Thursday. Iraq was the most common deployment location for U.S. soldiers who either attempted suicide or committed suicide.
The report, which The Associated Press obtained ahead of its public release, said the 99 confirmed suicides among active duty soldiers compared to 88 in 2005 and was the highest raw number since the 102 suicides reported in 1991, the year of the Persian Gulf War, when there were more soldiers on active duty.
This is the result of constant and extended tours. How can anyone think that seeing all the death and destruction that our soldiers see on a daily basis would not have severe psychological consequences?
The psychological welfare of these men were never considered when the President CHOSE war. The treatment of these men is a national disgrace whether it is the lack of body armor or the cuts in veterans funding. How can anyone really say with a straight face that the Republicans support the troops.
Hundreds of U.S.-led troops have launched an offensive against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan, while a bomb attack near the capital killed three German nationals, officials said Wednesday.
The offensive involving ground troops and airstrikes in Tora Bora region of eastern Nangarhar province is targeting "hundreds of foreign fighters" who are using dug-in fighting positions, said coalition spokeswoman Capt. Vanessa Bowman.
We really need to wonder why this and why now? According to reports the Taliban recently have abandoned training camps in the region and some have speculated it is because of an imminent attack on western interests.
Could the Democratic approval of the domestic spying bill been the result of some sort of intelligence that something may happen? If they were given intelligence that an attack was highly possible, they would not have wanted to be seen as inhibiting any effort to stop an attack.
During the AFL-CIO debate Joe Biden, Chris Dodd and Hillary Clinton all jumped on Barack Obama for his statement that if we knew where al-Qaeda leaders were within Pakistan that the United States would go into Pakistan without the approval of the Musharraf government. had it been any other country but Pakistan I would have agreed with his assertion.
Political turmoil in Pakistan deepened Thursday when the government raised the possibility that embattled President Gen. Pervez Musharraf might impose a state of emergency, drawing condemnation that doing so would be a desperate bid to hold onto power.
Tariq Azim, the minister for state information, said a state of emergency could not be ruled out because of "external and internal threats" and deteriorating security in Pakistan's volatile northwest near the Afghan border.
Azim also said talk from the United States about the possibility of U.S. military action against al-Qaida in Pakistan "has started alarm bells ringing and has upset the Pakistani public." He mentioned Democratic presidential hopeful Barak Obama by name as an example of someone who made such comments, saying his recent remarks were one reason the government was debating a state of emergency.
Most feel the real reason for a state of emergency would be to try to consolidate powers for Mr. Musharraf who would use the emergency declaration to quell political enemies after his unsuccessful attempt to remove the country's chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry who was likely to rule on Musharraf's bid for a new five year term.
It was not immediately clear how Musharraf might gain politically from a state of emergency, but it would give him sweeping powers, including the ability to restrict people's freedom to move, rally, and engage in political activities and assert their fundamental rights through the courts.
As we see all this political turmoil within Pakistan we must remember that it was the War in Iraq which diverted all attention away from the hunt for al-Qaeda that has allowed al-Qaeda to emerge even stronger and pose a grave threat to the dictatorial government of Pervez Musharraf. The problem for the United States, which supports this dictatorial rule, is that if this government is overthrown we most likely would be looking at a new government that supports the Taliban and al-Qaeda and has nuclear capabilities. The Bush foreign policy has made the world a much more dangerous place. We had the opportunity to fundamentally change Afghanistan and we failed. What we accomplished is destabilizing two countries, Iraq and Pakistan and leaving another, Afghanistan to twist in the wind.
A US presidential spokesman said there would be no "quid pro quo" over the 21 captives, after a news conference near Washington between the two leaders.
Two South Koreans from the abducted group have been killed by the Taleban, who demand a prisoner swap.
The Korean hostages were seized on 19 July from a bus in Ghazni province.
Following talks at Camp David, Maryland, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "Both leaders agreed that in negotiations for the release, there should be no quid pro quo for the hostages.
"The Taleban are brutal and should not be emboldened by this."
I actually agree that you do not negotiate with people like the Taliban but Bush needs to ask himself what part diverting troops from Afghanistan played in this hostage crisis.
Had we kept the troops in Afghanistan there is a good chance that the Taliban would have been completely crushed by now. There is also the likelihood that we would have caught Osama Bin laden. What we are left with is two countries in disarray where violence is a daily occurrence and daily life a living hell.
It is this disarray and violence that threatens to spread to Pakistan and create a catastrophe that would stun the world.
The spokesman, Zabiyullah Mujahed, said Taleban were recovering after Nato had infiltrated the group and killed some of its leaders.
But more people were volunteering to carry out suicide bombings, he said.
This is the result of a failed policy that thought a war in Iraq was more important than actually destroying the group that attacked us on 9/11. Now the world has lost respect for the United States and would be less willing to help us stabilize Afghanistan.
Correspondents say that the south of the country has this year seen the worst violence since the Taleban were ousted from power in 2001 by an international coalition.
During the 2004 election John Kerry pointed out the situation in Afghanistan when he said that we had taken our eye off the ball. The media proceeded to trash him instead of doing their job and validating what he was saying. This led to his defeat and the current mess in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Taliban military commander who led the "graduation ceremony" for 300 suicide bombers was one of five men released from an Afghanistan prison earlier this year in exchange for a kidnapped Italian Journalist.
The Government of Afghanistan would never have released this man without the express consent of our government.
Remember that when the first bombing happens in NYC, Montreal, Berlin or London. Our policies have made us more vulnerable to attack. The War in Iraq took the focus away from a mad man like this and Osama Bin Laden so that our oil companies could get their hands on the reserves of Iraq. This is criminal, truly criminal.
If there is another attack on United States soil will people rally around the President or will they rightly blame him for letting Osama and his henchmen go?
Wow the United States has seen some real success from its military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan but alas first place was not achieved. There is always next year.
Taliban fighters seized Miya Nishin district in Kandahar province late Monday, provincial police chief Esmatullah Alizai said. Authorities were planning to retake the remote area.
In neighboring Uruzgan province's Chora district — home to more than 100,000 people — fighting continued between NATO and Afghan forces and militants who attacked police posts in the province's main town on Saturday. Some officials reported dozens of civilian casualties.
This is the result of the Bush Administration deciding that a war with Iraq was more important than actually destroying the group that was responsible for 9/11.
How this fact can be lost in the media discussions is unfathomable. The people of Afghanistan put their faith in the United States to liberate them and make their lives better. The one problem for the Afghan people was that they were not awash in oil reserves.
We are now losing two wars and draining our treasury with no end in sight. The effects of the Bush Administration will be felt around the world for the next decade and may forever tarnish the good name of the United States.
Sunday's attack is the deadliest by insurgents since the fall of the Taliban. In September 2002, 30 people were killed and 167 wounded in a Kabul car bombing. In February, a suicide bomber detonated explosives himself outside the main U.S. base at Bagram Air Field, killing 23 people, during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney.
We must all remember that the increased violence in Afghanistan is the result of the War in Iraq and our redeployment of troops from Afghanistan to Iraq.
Did no one in the White House envision this result for Afghanistan? How can anything this adminstration say be taken seriously when everything they have touched has led to even greater disaster? The War in Iraq has been a recruitment tool for terrorists for the next generation. We promised the people of Afghanistan a better life when we removed the Taliban yet the Taliban is now back in control of whole areas of the country.
How can anyone respect our military might when we can not control two third world countries? Our foreign policy has been a complete disaster and has made us less safe as a result.
It seems President Bush can't handle being the decider. He is looking for a war czar to take over the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He must need to concentrate more on other things like bicycle riding. Maybe even he finally realizes how incompetent he truly is, unfortunately no one wants the job.
The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation.
At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have declined to be considered for the position, the sources said, underscoring the administration's difficulty in enlisting its top recruits to join the team after five years of warfare that have taxed the United States and its military.
"The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going," said retired Marine Gen. John J. "Jack" Sheehan, a former top NATO commander who was among those rejecting the job. Sheehan said he believes that Vice President Cheney and his hawkish allies remain more powerful within the administration than pragmatists looking for a way out of Iraq. "So rather than go over there, develop an ulcer and eventually leave, I said, 'No, thanks,' " he said.
