Attack On US Base In Afghanistan Kills 9 Americans

From Yahoo News:

KABUL, Afghanistan - A multi-pronged militant assault on a small, remote U.S. base close to the Pakistan border killed nine American soldiers and wounded 15 Sunday in the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years, officials said.

The attack on the American troops began around 4:30 a.m. and lasted throughout the day. Militants fired machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars from homes and a mosque in the village of Wanat in the mountainous northeastern province of Kunar, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.

"Although no final assessment has been made, it is believed insurgents suffered heavy casualties during several hours of fighting," NATO said in a statement.

Read more ....

More News On Taliban Attack That Killed 9 U.S. Servicemen

Official: 9 US troops killed in Afghanistan -- Breitbart
9 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Attack in Afghanistan -- New York Times
Scores die in wave of attacks in Afghanistan -- CNN
Nine US soldiers killed in Afghanistan as Taliban attacks base -- Times Online
Ten international soldiers among scores killed in Afghan attacks -- AFP
Insurgents kill 9 U.S. troops in Afghanistan -- Reuters
Nine US soldiers killed in Afghanistan as Taliban attacks base -- Jawa Report
Taliban launch deadly attack on a combat outpost in Afghanistan's Kunar province -- Long War Journal

My Comment: As soon as the opium season ended, fighting has been escalating from month to month. With the successful prison break of 1100 prisoners from Kandahar prison last month, this fighting has increased exponentially.

An insurgency in Afghanistan is now the norm for almost half of the country. The Taliban itself must now number in the tens of thousands, fully financed from the narcotics trade, and now flushed with fighters coming from Iraq and elsewhere. It is only a matter of time before command and control for this army is in place for a full scale war .... if not already ...... and this is a war that they are now clearly prepared to fight to the death.

Critics have been blaming the West for this escalation in the war .... that not enough time and resources were dedicated to fighting the Taliban. That Iraq was a distraction.

I disagree.

To achieve the supremacy that the Taliban now have in much of the countryside of Afghanistan took years of preparation, training, and an implementation of a strategy. The safe haven to do this were the mountains of Pakistan, and the government that permitted this development were and are members of the Pakistani Government.

The bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul was a wake up call for everyone to now be aware that while many in the Pakistani Government are fighting against these religious fanatics, there are also many who now support them. This now opens numerous and uncomfortable options. The Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies must be defeated. But to defeat them you must now go to their sanctuaries and homes. Unfortunately ...... their homes are in Pakistan.

As I had mentioned before .... it is not Iraq that will be the headache for the next American President ..... it is Afghanistan and Pakistan's Tribal areas. This is where Bin Laden and his supporters are .... and rest assure that once they feel secure in their position (which they probably are right now) .... their priority will be to strike us again .... to match if not surpass 9/11.