Thursday, February 12, 2009
Kabul, We Have a Problem
Posted by PJ Tobia on Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 6:00 AM
Things have taken a turn for the deadly in Afghanistan over the past two weeks. On Wednesday, suicide bombers attacked government buildings in the heart of the fortified capital killing at least 20 people. Last week, a key bridge through the Khyber Pass was blown up by militants, a serious blow to an important supply line used by coalition forces.
In a region where violence is a daily fact of life, these two incidents are particularly disturbing to the coalition effort. If Kabul isn't safe, the central government we're trying to foster can't function and our whole reason for being there will be called into question. It doesn't help that the city is surrounded by what U.S. soldiers call "Indian country," meaning the area is teeming with Taliban.
As for the supply route through the Khyber, the coalition mission in Afghanistan will literally starve if it does not remain open. 85-90 percent of supplies for western forces go through that route. Our government is working on opening up new routes from central Asian countries, but that is not getting food and fuel to soldiers right this minute.
Afghanistan is very far away and all the bad news starts to run together after awhile. But each of these incidents are a step back for an effort that we are paying vast sums of money for. And when taken together, the bad news paints a very bleak picture indeed.
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