More than 1,000 stone-throwing Afghans tried to break down an outer gate at the main U.S. base here Tuesday while demanding the release of eight detained villagers, and Afghan troops fired warning shots and used clubs to beat the mob back. U.S. troops also fired into the air.
It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties in the melee outside the base’s main gate as protesters chanted “Die America!” Black smoke billowed from burning tires. An Associated Press reporter was hit by a stone and an AP photographer was punched by a protester.
In southern Afghanistan, meanwhile, a provincial governor said about 50 suspected insurgents and two Afghan soldiers died during an overnight battle. It was one of the deadliest clashes in recent fighting between the government and militants heading into parliamentary elections.
The good news is that 50 more of the Taliban bastards are gone to their reward. The bad news is twofold: their numbers in the here-and-now are still growing; and the regular Afghan populace is getting sick of us, thanks in no small part to reports of us torturing innocent Afghans to death and pissing on the Qu'ran. (Yeah, yeah, the pissing incident was an "accident", that just happened to occur through an air vent. Sure.)
The eight men arrested late Monday “had materials used to make improvised explosive devices in their possession and are thought to be planning future attacks against coalition forces,” the U.S. military said in a statement.
Well, I hope they have their goats in a row on this one, because these folks are running out of patience with our "mistakes", as we surely would if the roles were reversed. If there's evidence, then let the public know about it and maybe even see some of it; if not, be prepared to let these guys go and keep an eye on them. It's not worth fueling a rejuvenated insurgency if we're not sure.
Demonstrators said they were angry that American soldiers arrested the men without consulting local authorities.
“We have supported the Americans for years. We should be treated with dignity,” said Shah Aghar, 35. “They are arresting our people without the permission of the government. They are breaking into our houses and offending the people. We are very angry.”
The U.S. statement said the military tried to contact local Afghan authorities before the raid but was unable to do so.
It sounds like the military parameters need to be a bit more circumscribed as well. Clearly the Afghans are tired of the occupation, and now that the warlords have gotten their pelf from selling everyone that pissed them off to us as Gitmo fodder, they are likely to be fomenting much of the unrest -- as well as aiding the insurgents. Plus our good buddies in Pakistan who, try as they might, just can't seem to contain those darned fiercely independent regions!
To which I say bullshit. Crack the fuck down on these "fiercely independent" regions, make them get with the program and understand that they are part of a federated, centralized government that does not condone rebellion or treason or putting tribal bullshit above settled law.
As I keep saying, we could have done this right, if Bush and his fellow travelers hadn't been in such a goddamned rush to hit the so-called low-hanging fruit. We could have doubled our troop presence in Afghanistan, and put those additional troops up and down the Pakistani border, forced Pakistan to allow us to work with them in supervising all border crossings. The Taliban would have been put out of business overnight; the only reason they've lasted this long is because they've been tacitly allowed to scuttle back and forth across the border, constantly regrouping and gradually gaining strength.
As with Iraq, it may simply be too late at this point to walk away with any net benefit. They're starting to hate us now, they want us the hell out, and the insurgency is resurgent.
Feel safer?
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