Dim Outlook on Afghanistan

The Long War Journal has a summary of attacks in Afghanistan, broken out by province, and it's not looking good for the team. Unsurprisingly, the majority of violence occurs in provinces along the Pakistan border. Also, attacks have increased to 18.4/day from 12.4/day the same period last year. Al-Jazeera English recently did an interview with GEN McKiernan, head of ISAF, which can be viewed below:



Some highlights of the interview:

• Sanctuaries in Pakistan allow freedom of movement into Afghanistan
• NATO mission is under-resourced
• Frustrating for region that terrorist networks exist in the tribal areas of Pakistan

Another point to ponder is that much of 2006/2007, counter-terrorism in Iraq seemed to suffer from a case of "Whack-a-mole", where terrorists would spring up in places like Diyala and Mosul after being defeated in Ramadi and Fallujah. Is 2008 the year the mole moves to Afghanistan? For all those out in Afghanistan, stay safe.