In the Victory Lap Three Department, both WaPo and The Pink Slipper are reporting that Congress wants the administration to accelerate plans to reduce the US mission in Afghanistan. Neither identified which Congress.
Considering this administration’s ability to repeatedly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, this sudden change of direction is entirely understandable.
It does appear the death of Osama bin Laden on 5.1.11 set the Taliban back, for there has been a sudden drop in US battlefield casualties since May 1. In fact, only one soldier has died this month, compared to eleven over a similar period in April.
Bin Laden’s death does appear to have something do with this change in Taliban strategy, although it has been suggested that maybe they just got a bad lot of detonators (for their IED’s) which they swapped for heroin with Mexican drug cartels, who obtained them from the American ATF. Either way, it appears the Taliban is considering alternate plans, although neither surrender nor mass suicide has been mentioned as one of the options.
At this time of indecision it only makes sense that the administration would want to get out in front of whatever the Taliban is going to do by broadcasting what we’re planning to do first, so as to help make up their minds, just in case hunkering down and waiting until we leave was not one of their original options.
In a totally unrelated story, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) Oxfam and other aid groups say the Afghan military is totally unprepared to take over more duties in their country’s nation security.
