Why would they kill us? We are Muslims. We are not Russians or Americans...this is why Afghanistan is hopeless...

via Military.com

The death toll from a Christmas Eve attack in the Afghan capital has climbed to 40, the Health Ministry said Tuesday, as police and rescue workers combed through the smoldering public welfare building where the gunmen held out for eight hours against security forces.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle outside the building Monday before at least three gunmen stormed in, rampaging through the office complex hunting for victims. Some employees managed to barricade themselves inside offices while police quickly evacuated more than 350 people.

Yeah that's right.  We're supposedly winning in Afghanistan while the capitol city is absorbing almost weekly large scale terror attacks (don't even want to think what the crime rate must be like).

The Taliban not only control almost half the country (counting disputed areas) but now they're striking Kabul routinely.

But even if you think we could claw it back somehow, it's the average Afghan on the street which points out how hopeless this entire enterprise really is.  From the same article...

 Abdul Jalil, an employee who spoke to reporters Tuesday from his hospital bed, was on the second floor when the gunmen entered.

"They came in and they were shooting at everyone. They were shooting at the closed doors. If anyone was there they shot them," he said.

Jalil said he jumped from a second-story window and broke his leg. He managed to crawl to a perimeter gate where security personnel helped him to safety. Jalil said at least five of his co-workers jumped with him from the window, and he saw his boss jump from a third-story window.

Khalil Rahman, who escaped unhurt, said "it was a massacre. We didn't know where to run."

He told reporters outside the charred building that he still could hear the sounds of the screaming.

"It was chaos. Everyone was running everywhere, trying to hide. Why would they kill us? We are Muslims. We are not Russians or Americans," Khalil said.

Drink that statement in (the one I highlighted in red)...then ask yourself one thing.  Is "hearts and minds working"???  Has it ever worked?  Will it ever work?