We're losing in Afghanistan too

[ewoden]

We're losing in Afghanistan too
Contra Donald Rumsfeld's rosy assessment, the country looks a lot like it did on Sept. 10, 2001.

By John Kiriakou and Richard Klein,LA Times
September 13, 2007

"Former Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld says in the current edition of GQ magazine that the war in Afghanistan has been "a big success," with people living in freedom and life "improved on the streets."

To anyone working in the country, there is only one possible, informed response: What Afghanistan is the man talking about?"


"The country is, plain and simple, a mess."

"Fear reigns among average Afghans in Kabul."

"For U.S. officials and diplomats, Kabul is simply a prison."

"By any measure, this remains a "hot" war with a well-armed, motivated and organized enemy."

"The war in Afghanistan is a political and military one-step-forward-two-steps-back exercise. The work there isn't just unfinished, it is more dangerous and less certain than policymakers in Washington and talking heads in New York studios can imagine. Those suggesting otherwise are either naive or flacking a political agenda."

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-klein13sep13,0,1086825.story?coll=la-news-comment