10/2/2011
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-10-02/ieds-traced-to-pakistan/50638686/1
More than 80% of the IEDs are homemade explosives using calcium ammonium nitrate fertilizer produced in Pakistan, said Navy Capt. Douglas Borrebach, deputy director for resources and requirements at the Pentagon’s Joint IED Defeat Organization.
...Sen. Robert Casey, D-Pa., met with top civilian and military leaders in Pakistan in August to urge them to stop the flow of bomb-making materials into Afghanistan. They promised to help, but did not reveal a sense of urgency, Casey told USA TODAY after the trip.
10/5/20
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/2010-10-05-afghanistan-amputations_N.htm
The number of U.S. soldiers who have suffered amputations in Afghanistan has increased sharply over last year as more troops move into Taliban territory, according to Army data.
...The chief cause of the injuries are improvised explosive devices — or IEDs — that are planted in the ground or along roads, according to the International Security Assistance Force, which oversees military operations in Afghanistan.
1/26/2012
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-01-25/IEDs-afghanistan/52795302/1
The number of improvised explosive devices that were cleared or detonated rose to 16,554 from 15,225, an increase of 9%, according to data obtained by USA TODAY. In 2009, total IED “events,” as they are known, came to 9,304.
Insurgent reliance on IEDs as their No. 1 weapon meant a rise in concussions and severe wounds to U.S. servicemembers who have been operating on foot to root out Taliban fighters in remote areas.
The Taliban have increased in strength since the US began releasing captured taliban as “goodwill gestures” and since the Obama administration began negotiating with the Taliban. Shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see Taliban recruitment being more successful when getting captured is not the end of the road for a prospective fighter, and when thugs like the Taliban are elevated to the status of national governments by negotiating with them as equals.
We also must consider the heroin production from Afghanistan opium fields that has not stopped. We need to burn those fields.
“Feinstein said: “I think we’d both say that what we’ve found is that the Taliban is stronger.””
Did she count them? Did Chairman Obama allow the surge numbers that Petraeus originally asked for? Is Sec of State doing ANYTHING?
And don’t forget all our equipment waiting to be shipped back with no way out of Landlocked Afghanistan.