Archives » Thursday, September 11, 2008
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David Botti
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Sep 11, 2008 12:39 PM
It used to be that the term "forgotten" was often applied to the war in
Afghanistan, at least in comparison to the stream of news coming out of
Iraq during the past few years. Now, as Iraq quiets, troop shifts to
Afghanistan are planned for the near future, and the media once again
devotes more column inches to that conflict, word comes of a new
milestone: 2008 is the deadliest year for U.S. forces in Afghanistan
since the 2001 invasion.
The Associated Press reports that two
U.S. soldiers were killed today, the seventh anniversary of the 9/11
attacks, bringing 2008's death toll to 113, passing the 111 U.S.
soldiers killed there last year. At the same time, 33,000 U.S. troops
are currently operating in Afghanistan; the most since 2001. As the
two latest U.S. deaths are still recent, there are few details available:
The NATO-led force said one soldier was killed when insurgents attacked
a compound. The separate U.S.-led coalition said a second service
member died in combat. No other details were released, but a Western
military official told The Associated Press that both troops were
American.
Yesterday
the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael G. Mullen, told
congress that NATO forces are running out of time in Afghanistan and
attention needs to be given to Pakistan's tribal areas along with the
border. His testimony came as U.S. forces are openly conducting
cross-border raids into Pakistan, which is drawing condemnation from that country's government. From the LA Times:
Mullen said the new strategy for Afghanistan must focus on more than
just increasing troop strength. He noted that existing provincial
reconstruction teams did not have enough agricultural, educational and
judicial experts. The U.S. must focus on boosting foreign investment
and improving governance in Afghanistan, he said.
"We can't kill our way to victory," Mullen said.
Mullen said he was not convinced the U.S. and its allies were winning in Afghanistan but said he believed victory was possible.
There's been scant coverage of day-to-day U.S.
military operations in Afghanistan, but still there is some quality
work out there. The UK Guardian has this interactive piece following U.S. and British soldiers in various regions of the country. The paper also has a striking series of videos riding along with a U.S. Army Medevac helicopter crew. There was also this frightening and candid New York Times Magazine piece following a unit of soldiers operating in the volatile Korengal Valley.
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