surge update - 3 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan

[spanone]

KABUL (AP) -- Six NATO service members, including three Americans, were killed in Afghanistan on Monday -- the deadliest day for the international force in more than two months, underscoring fears that casualties will rise as more foreign troops stream into the country.

Nevertheless, a new poll says Afghans are more optimistic than a year ago and think the Taliban are losing momentum.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said he thought the rising presence of international forces was blunting the militants. Gen. Stanley McChrystal said the international force is on its way to convincing the Afghan people that it was there to protect them.

''When I sit in an area that the Taliban controlled only seven months ago and now you meet with ... elders and they describe with considerable optimism the future, you sense the tide is turning,'' he told ABC News about a recent trip to Helmand province where many of the U.S. reinforcements will be sent.

Afghans also think better days are ahead, according to the opinion poll, conducted last month before the suicide bombing that killed seven employees at a CIA base. About 40 percent of Afghans believe the Taliban insurgency is weaker than it was a year ago; 30 percent think it has gotten stronger and 25 percent believe the strength of the insurgency remains the same.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/11/world/AP-AS-Afghanistan.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

[democrank]

1. Rest in peace.

http://icasualties.org/oif/

[PuraVidaDreamin]

2. How many more?

http://peaceoftheaction.org/

[izquierdista]

3. Hey, hey, BHO

How many kids did you kill today?*


*I know it doesn't rhyme, it's the thought that counts.