PLUGGING HOLES IN AFGHANISTAN

[go west young man]

Source: Der Spiegel

Some are calling it the Afghanistan "surge." But with NATO commanders in Afghanistan having spent months begging for additional troops to augment the 41,700 alliance soldiers currently there, plugging the holes might be a more fitting analogy.

German news reports on Wednesday indicate that Berlin is planning to send a 250-strong fighting force to Afghanistan this summer. The news comes just a day after the US announced that it would be deploying 3,200 additional Marines by April, joining the 27,000 Americans already fighting in Afghanistan. Commanders in Afghanistan, however, have said they need at least 7,500 extra troops to address growing violence in the country. The US said it expects its NATO allies to take up more of the slack.



Read more: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,528966,00.html

[ohio2007]

1. marines are being sent to southern Afghanistan, the heartland province of the Taliban.

I wouldn/t be suprised if body counts on both sides surge next month and into 'the spring offensive' season.

[bemildred]

2. Is anybody buying this BS anymore?

We've been there six years now. Hello? That's half as long again as the American Civil War, as long as WWII took. And what has been accomplished? Nothing, some trivial changes, lots of money spent, and dead people, and lost credibility, but that's it. The only reason to stay is so you don't have to admit, yet, that it's been a complete failure.