Sierra Mike
12-21-2002, 01:18 PM
From MSNBC:
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 21 — Six people, including four international peacekeepers, were killed Saturday when their military helicopter crashed near Kabul, a peacekeepers’ spokesman and the city’s police chief said.
Also...
U.S. SOLDIER KILLED
Earlier Saturday, a U.S. soldier was killed Saturday in a gun battle in Afghanistan while another was injured by rocket fire in a separate incident.
The soldier who died was shot while on a nighttime operation in the eastern province of Paktika, near the border of Pakistan. His name was not released until his family could be notified.
He was the first American soldier killed in combat in Afghanistan since May.
Two other U.S. soldiers were injured in separate incidents and, in a third incident, an American base came under rocket fire — underscoring the continuing danger in Afghanistan.
On Friday, Lt. Gen. Daniel K. McNeil, a top U.S. commander in the region, warned that more attacks on American and allied troops were likely.
“Is there likely to be an increase in hostile acts against the coalition? I think yes,” McNeil said.
Still a rocky road over in the Big A, apparently...what I don't get, from personal correspondence with my Apache drver friend Perry and from what I've read here and elsewhere is GEN Myers saying:
Despite the incidents, U.S. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers said the “situation continues to get better over here.”
“U.S. and coalition forces have been shot at from time to time. We’re going to take some casualties,” Myers said while visiting troops at Bagram Saturday.I don't think this is a correct assessment; it does appear to me (from the safety of my living room) the situation in Afghanistan is slowly unravelling. I don't think this is a situation induced by our military intervention; I suspect it's because Afghanistan is, after all, a very lawless land, and has been for decades at the very least. I'm uncertain what the future holds for this nation--or at least this particular set of coordinates on maps--but it's going to be a tough row to hoe for a long, long time. At least no one promised it would be easy this time out.
Read all about it at Big E Burns in at Kabul (http://www.msnbc.com/news/849977.asp?vts=122120020855)
SM
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 21 — Six people, including four international peacekeepers, were killed Saturday when their military helicopter crashed near Kabul, a peacekeepers’ spokesman and the city’s police chief said.
Also...
U.S. SOLDIER KILLED
Earlier Saturday, a U.S. soldier was killed Saturday in a gun battle in Afghanistan while another was injured by rocket fire in a separate incident.
The soldier who died was shot while on a nighttime operation in the eastern province of Paktika, near the border of Pakistan. His name was not released until his family could be notified.
He was the first American soldier killed in combat in Afghanistan since May.
Two other U.S. soldiers were injured in separate incidents and, in a third incident, an American base came under rocket fire — underscoring the continuing danger in Afghanistan.
On Friday, Lt. Gen. Daniel K. McNeil, a top U.S. commander in the region, warned that more attacks on American and allied troops were likely.
“Is there likely to be an increase in hostile acts against the coalition? I think yes,” McNeil said.
Still a rocky road over in the Big A, apparently...what I don't get, from personal correspondence with my Apache drver friend Perry and from what I've read here and elsewhere is GEN Myers saying:
Despite the incidents, U.S. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers said the “situation continues to get better over here.”
“U.S. and coalition forces have been shot at from time to time. We’re going to take some casualties,” Myers said while visiting troops at Bagram Saturday.I don't think this is a correct assessment; it does appear to me (from the safety of my living room) the situation in Afghanistan is slowly unravelling. I don't think this is a situation induced by our military intervention; I suspect it's because Afghanistan is, after all, a very lawless land, and has been for decades at the very least. I'm uncertain what the future holds for this nation--or at least this particular set of coordinates on maps--but it's going to be a tough row to hoe for a long, long time. At least no one promised it would be easy this time out.
Read all about it at Big E Burns in at Kabul (http://www.msnbc.com/news/849977.asp?vts=122120020855)
SM