Monday, September 30, 2013

2nd Battalion, 8th Marines guarding the consulate in Herat.

Marines with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, stand guard on the outside wall of the U.S. Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan, Sept. 14, 2013. The Marines are currently guarding the U.S. Consulate following the Sept. 13 attack which caused significant damage to the building's infrastructure and left six insurgents dead.  (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Bobby J. Yarbrough/Released)
I wonder if the hit was harder than we're all being told.  I do remember the attack was downplayed in the media when it occurred.


4 comments :

  1. Deputy Dog Ash Carter thought that Herat, way out there in western Afghanistan near Iran, was important enough to visit a couple weeks ago after the attack.

    Herat is Tajik country, one major tribe in tribal Afghanistan, The ruling Pashtuns make up only a small percentage of the population there in the west. Probably a Pashtun (think Pakistan support) will succeed President Karzai next year in Kabul, which will only lead to renewed strife. And NATO will be largely gone by then.(Or not.)

    One militia leader hopes that a former warlord is getting ready. "It's clear that everything will start all over again here next year," says General Wahab. He isn't willing to explain exactly why, but one gets a sense of what he means. "We need someone with authority here," says Wahab. "We need Ismail Khan."

    So hang on, you US consulers there in Herat. It's going to get more interesting.

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  2. Everything will restart all over again next year or in three months.
    Looks Like HILARY'S damn RESET button went world wide.
    As long as no US forces are involved let the afagni's settle this amongst themselves, the RoE will NOT be as RESTRICTED this time around.

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  3. We'll go back to playing Uzbeks and Tajiks against Pashtuns.

    I doubt we'll ever hear anything truly negative about Afghan in the media these news. It's just a bad dream they want to forget about and anything that contradicts that party line that things are improving, the Afghan security forces are getting stronger or Taliban is on the retreat is going to be shitcanned.

    As soon as we are gone, the Pakis are going to be sending over Pashtuns and Balochis by the thousands, armed to the teeth. Russia, India and the Central Asian Republics will be funneling supplies to the Uzbeks and Tajiks.

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  4. A primer on the Afghan 2014 election.

    --Election: April 5, 2014
    --Karzai can't run -- he's served two terms.
    --Kate Clark: With political parties almost inconsequential in the Afghan system and few natural, stable political alliances at play, what counts are your networks and allies, your ‘vote bank’ and how much money you can liquefy for the campaign.
    --The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Monday said that several politicians have expressed their interest to contest in the upcoming Presidential elections, scheduled for April 5th, 2014. However, until now only Bismillah Sher, the leader of the Wefaq Millie Party (WMP) has filed his nomination for Presidency. Others must declare this week.
    --Nearly half of all polling stations in Afghanistan are unsafe, officials at the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan have said (3,410 of 6,845). With elections in the country set to begin in April, the IEC is meeting to figure out how to combat those security concerns before the election.
    --Several Afghan Senators expressed concerns over growing insecurity across the country and accused the government of ignoring the security threats. They pointed out that the local security officials in the provinces submit fudged reports about the security situation in their area to the central security organizations.

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