surge update - Three U.S. Soldiers Die in Afghan Blast

KABUL (AP) -- The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan strolled the streets of Kabul on Wednesday, chatting with schoolchildren and visiting a mosque during an impromptu city tour.

Though insurgent attacks have skyrocketed across Afghanistan this year, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry's 15-minute stroll -- while wearing a business suit and with no visible body armor -- underscores the fact that the Afghan capital remains relatively safe.

An American ambassador in Iraq would never have taken an unplanned stroll down a busy city street during the deadliest years of the war there because of the extreme dangers he would have faced.

After his walk, the U.S. ambassador told The Associated Press that getting out and meeting people was ''extremely valuable'' and that he often takes short walks around the city.

''The mission here is to secure the people, secure the community,'' Eikenberry said. ''You've got to be out here getting a sense of what the people are thinking in order to do that.''

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/09/16/world/AP-AS-Afghanistan.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

Killing of hundreds, if not thousands of civilians + NATO OCCUPATION = EPIC FAIL.

Do these "mighty" Generals and Senior Advisors to our President ever bother to crack open a Military History book? :grr:

:thumbsup: