Warlords spur fears of Afghan civil war

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1087596610954&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724

KABUL—Warlords have overrun a provincial capital in central Afghanistan, forcing the governor to flee, in the latest challenge to President Hamid Karzai's authority in a country which Amnesty International warns is facing outright civil war.

Fighters armed with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades seized Chagcharan, the main town in remote Ghor province, 565 kilometres west of Kabul, a leader of the offensive and a government official said. Defence ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimy said Chaghcharan was "completely under the control of the forces of Abdul Salaam Khan" and that government troops had withdrawn.

Ghor Governor Mohammed Ibrahim fled Chagcharan to the western city of Herat, leaving his deputy and a group of nominally loyal militiamen and police to regroup in a nearby village.

The attack Thursday, in which 10 people were reportedly killed, was further evidence of deteriorating security ahead of key elections scheduled for September.

It coincided with Karzai's return from the United States, where he and President George W. Bush gave what many analysts believed was an overly rosy assessment of Afghanistan's progress since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001.

...more...

Our "success" overwhelms me. :sigh:

Afganistan????? Are they all brain dead? This war is LOST, LOST, LOST.
It is the litmus test by which to compare all the bush* escapades. This fiasco is costing us American lives, billions of dollars, and it has absolutely no impact on public perceptions. All the media does is print rosey stories showing bush* and Karzai prancing around like a couple of idiots spouting lies and propaganda while back home in Afganistan the drug and war lords are fighting to regain the country. And they have all of it except for Kabul, which is so insecure that Karzai must love his trips to America so he can go outside and walk around. He sure as hell can't do it in Kabul.

Bush* lost this place with his foray into Iraq. That needs to be driven home to the American public. I'm sure the Europeans understand this fact. But here, people are fed bits and pieces of news, none of it reflecting the reality of the situation that exists in Afganistan. With each and every sunrise the situation gets worse.

Maybe that f*** Putin would like to recall how he told bush* & Co. that they had no chance of taking Afganistan, that the Russians' knew that from experience. Let's drag that little bit of intelligence out of the archives. How is it that we never learn? What I really want to know is how is it the British never learn? They've been defeated and kicked out of the Middle East a number of times. Don't they pay attention?