Afghanistan violence up 39% over 2010

She goes onto say:

The statistics show that the intensity of the nearly decade-old war is growing, not abating, as the U.S. and other nations start to withdraw some forces with an eye toward pulling all combat troops out by the end of 2014. The Taliban’s resilience raises questions about whether the Afghan government and its Western allies have a solid grip on security – and whether the Afghan forces can ever secure the nation by themselves.

The full story is here.

This was a UN report, which US forces disputed, but hidden in the details, and never highlighted in the AP report is that the counting of the attacks included Coalition and Afghan attacks on Taliban and other insurgent sites.

In other words, the UN report either failed to report, or Deb Reichman (you can Google her, a long and storied past in Iraq and Afghanistan) failed to cull from the report that violence may be up 39% due to an increase in attacks from our side, not theirs.

In fact, our military has stated that the coordinated attacks in Kabul (with the help of the al Haqqani network and elements of the Pakistan intelligence services) were a spectacular dud, and probably a sign of desperation at other battlefield losses.

The Most Important Numbers

Sealing the false spin in this story, neither the UN report and assessment or Reichman’s assessment is that Coalition battlefield casualties are well below 2010 rates, being on a pace to finish about 12% below 2010, while IED (improvised explosive device- roadside bombs), casualties are on a pace to be below even 2009, the percentage of IED’s to total casualty rates lower than they have been since 2007.

This means Taliban is being forced to fight in the open more often, where they are far more likely to lose.

And yes, they are getting smaller as a fighting force, especially now that the US has targeted the al Haqqani network and recently captured one of their leaders.

So, now, reread the AP story and try to see how the pieces fit.

While the mainstream media is trying to help Obama stay the course in his war against the American economy, it seems it wants Obama to preemptively quit the only war he may be winning.