US Afghan troop surge buys time but not victory

[unhappycamper]

An American flag can be seen as 2nd Platoon Bravo Company 2-327 Infantry guards on the top of a vehicle Combat Out Post Badel in Kunar province in the eastern Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec 18, 2010.


US Afghan troop surge buys time but not victory
By PATRICK QUINN
The Associated Press
Saturday, December 18, 2010; 1:03 PM

KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan has bought time to tackle the core issues behind the conflict - ineffectual government, corruption and insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan - but has achieved no breakthrough in the nearly 10-year war.

Months of intense fighting have pushed the Taliban out of longtime strongholds in parts of Kandahar and Helmand provinces - although the militants are by no means defeated.

Attacks in the capital of Kabul have become rare, but insurgents operate in nearby provinces.

Yet by its own estimate, offered in a five-page year-end review released Thursday, the Obama administration acknowledged that while Taliban momentum has been stopped in some areas and reversed in others, "gains remain fragile and reversible." At least 480 American troops have been killed this year - the bloodiest since the war began in October 2001 - compared to 317 in 2009 and 155 in 2008.

New U.S. intelligence reports paint a bleak picture. The reports, known as National Intelligence Estimates, cite progress in areas where there are enough U.S. or NATO troops to maintain security, but say much of the country remains under Taliban control or vulnerable to Taliban infiltration, according to an official who read the executive summary.