Afghan Protesters Riot at U.S. Base

[IChing]

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (AP) -- Hundreds of protesters chanting "Die America!" and throwing stones tried to batter down a gate at the U.S. military's main Afghan base Tuesday, adding to anxieties in a country worried that fighting with insurgents could disrupt elections.

The riot came just hours after an overnight battle in southern Afghanistan that a provincial governor said killed at least 50 suspected Taliban rebels and two Afghan soldiers.

More than 800 people have died in a surge of insurgent attacks and government offensives since March, and U.S. and Afghan officials have warned that the violence is a threat to parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 18.>>>>snip

Rioting broke out in a crowd of more than 1,000 people who gathered to protest the detention of eight villagers at the base, where thousands of U.S. and other foreign soldiers live behind razor-wire fences and land mines left from Afghanistan's civil war.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHANISTAN?SITE=MNMAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-07-26-14-21-23

[fooj]

1. Let FREEDOM ring!

Peace.

[IChing]

2. Photo of the happy Afghans

Afghan protesters demonstrate outside the U.S. base in Bagram, around 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 26, 2005. More than 1,000 protesters chanted "Die America!" and "Die Karzai" as they banged on the gates of the main U.S. base in Afghanistan to demand the release of three local villagers detained in a raid. (AP Photo/Tomas Munita)

[jimshoes]

3. I get the feeling that

our days are numbered in these foreign countries. The winning of hearts and minds is nothing but fantasy at this point. If it's continual war and bloodshed we're after, then maybe we will be there for a while.

[cliss]

4. Now, recall a certain man named RumsFool

(see photo above). Remember him saying, "We can fight wars on several fronts". This was probably meant as a warning not to provoke the Giant US Tyrannosaurus Rex, which was preoccupied in Iraq and Afghanistan. I wonder.

I believe we have a mere 3,000 US troops in Afghanistan. I'm not sure of the population of this country, but a Hunch tells me we wouldn't be able to quell any type of large insurrection. We're simply undermanned.

It's going to be a long, hot summer.

[number6]

5. Mission Accomplished !

:sarcasm: