Factional Violence Flares in Western Afghanistan; Commander Says 21 Kill

Factional Violence Flares in Western Afghanistan; One Commander Says 21 Killed

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Fighters loyal to rival warlords clashed in western Afghanistan Saturday, sending tanks into the streets of a regional capital in the latest jolt to the country's shaky security ahead of national elections. More than 20 fighters were killed by one estimate.
The U.S. military expressed concern about the violence but showed no sign of intervening. So far, U.S.-trained troops in Afghanistan's national army were also staying out of the fight - a sign of the central government's weakness in the face of local warlords.

The clashes pitched forces loyal to Herat Gov. Ismail Khan, one of the country's most powerful warlords, against rivals in the north, east and south of the province.

In the fiercest clash, a commander from Shindand, about 370 miles west of the capital, Kabul, said his men seized a Soviet-built air base in an overnight attack.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBNOZR1WXD.html

This was precisely the situation that led to the rise of the Taliban.

And oddly enough, after all that American liberation, the women still wear burqas and girls can't go to school.

What was that about a magnificent victory, Hitchens you booze-addled whore?

wonderful things she was gonna do for the women in Iraq? Seems to me I recall something along those lines. Schools, money, etc.

She's just like her hubby, big talk, no action.