Posted on 11/10/2001 1:34:00 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:48:39 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Afghan opposition forces captured the strategic northern town of Mazar-e-Sharif yesterday as U.S. airstrikes pounded nearby Taliban positions, Taliban Defense Minister Obaidullah Akhund confirmed today.
"Yes, Mazar has gone," he told Reuters.
"The city and its airport are with the opposition. Our forces are in Tangi Tashgurghan," he said, referring to a town 40 miles east of Mazar-e-Sharif.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
For the presstitutes, who probably gulped their own swill of the invincible, unconquerable and indomitable 'Taliban', the scene of Northern Alliance rag-tags suavely breaching supposedly impermeable enemy lines at Mazar-i-Sharif yesterday was a harrowing reality check.
To the Taliban groupies at Reuters -- this ignominous enemy mouthpiece which hustles with wanton abandon every Taliban cock and bull they stumble upon -- this simply could not be happening, their glazed eyes, welling with tears, watching as Northern Alliance fighters waltz triumphantly into the city with nary any resistance.
Psst! Psst!
Where was the fabled, mythical Taliban?
Where were these 'brave', 'fierce', 'heroic', 'gutsy', 'valiant', 'towering' 'lionhearts' the media and 'experts' had been peddling for weeks?
Where were the 'fearless', 'battlehardened' 'warriors' of the Taliban -- whom, we were told, would remain 'defiant', would never surrender territory to those 'hated' 'infidels'?
For the press, the morbid events unfurling at Mazar-i-Sharif must have felt like watching a crummy movie with a lousy plot: The bad guys are winning! The bad guys are winning!
To the media crackpots, we -- America and our allies -- are the "bad guys", of course; the Taliban, the "good guys", in accordance with an old Arab proverb: To wit, the 'enemy of my enemy is my friend'.
The torrent of absurd/inflated/exaggerated claims by the media regarding the Taliban could fill ten Congressional libraries -- wall-to-wall.
Most 'experts' never gave the Northern Alliance a snowball's chance of advancing absent massive numbers of American ground troops to lead the way.
Their 'predictions' have passed from the sublime to the preposterous.
Apparently, the empty suits at Reuters et al, in their haste to cast the enemy as unbeatable Goliaths, blithely ignored the most salient lesson from Desert Storm: Never short-sell the men and women of our military.
Doubtless, the rebels' victorious advance on Mazar-i-Sharif -- this vital northern city which opens up pivotal munitions and logistical re-supply lines -- would not have been thinkable absent the searing bombardment from the air.
As with the Gulf war, air supremency was key in dismantling the enemy's defenses, even his will to fight.
But the newsies, all wrapped up in their bleeding-heart liberal, guilt-ridden, third-world gobbledygook, wouldn't know the first thing about military doctrine or the art of modern warfare if their lives depended on it.
The Four Estate seems interminably frozen in the mindset of Vietnam. It might well be wishful thinking -- ergo, a partisan yearning to see their nemesis, President George W. Bush, colossally defeated on an issue which traditionally has played to Republican strength, or it might just be abysmal ignorance.
Or maybe both.
Either way, filling the airwaves with unbridled distortions and half-truths does the public a hideous disservice.
Item: Bob Schiffer, CBSNEWS' chief Washington correspondent and host of Face The Nation, speculated openly on the Larry King show following the President's address, that the war, by his lights, "was not going well"; that the U.S. badly miscalculated how long it would take to defeat the Taliban.
All was pure speculation. No authoritative names or sources were cited.
Yet, this worthless clap-trap is trotted out as gospel each night on the news before millions of viewers.
Thankfully, however, all of the polls suggest the public, wisely, isn't buying it.
Memo to the 'armchair' "generals" and second-guessers: With the crushing defeat of the Taliban at Mazar-i-Sharif, your credibility is now in a death spiral.
God bless our President, God bless our troops, and God bless the United States of America!
My two cents..
"JohnHuang2"
I thought this was a terrific photo when I first came across it. It was taken about 25 miles outside of Kabul the morning before the attack by the Northern Alliance forces against the Taliban. The elements in the photo just speak volumes: The minaret in the background as the sun rises. Look at the determination on the hardened face of the young fighter ready for battle. Look at the worn steel on the machine gun - the heavy-duty ammunition carrier, the bullets loaded, ready. Imagine the death that will come blasting hot from its barrel later that day. I would hate to be on the receiving end. I wonder what happened to the young man in this photo? Is he still alive? What stories would he have to share of the battle?
:
Link: .....next to his machine gun in the town of Gulbakhar
It's appalling to me that most in the media have attempted to mold this conflict into their made for TV war, complete with their own play-by-play liberal spinsters. Or in the case of Reuters, et. al, they've written misleading stories creating a conflict mirroring that of Viet-nam and portraying the Taliban as fierce and unbeatable. Fortunately, our military strategy has outsmarted our mighty press just as our President has and they'll be left once again to run back to their own war room with their tails between their legs to design once again their own biased press attacks.
Remember the article about the Delta force raid that (supposedly) went so badly, and how the ferociousness of the Taliban fighters scared our special ops guys??? And yet, 1,000 soldiers on horseback can take a city in 30 minutes. It would seem that the press has been glorifying the wrong side.
How long have we been fighting, a month?? What an ignorant idiot.
JH2-FR's resident editorialist!
Now that was funny!
Ignorance and twisted ideas about Communism. Like this gem in the Christian Science Monitor---- Unlike any other war in a half century, this war is being fought with the knowledge that the enemy can effectively attack the American people. That makes US soldiers more than an expeditionary force seeking an abstract goal halfway around the world. They are directly fighting to shield their nation from harm.
I know our military fought an evil called communists and they were never and are not today an abstract goal!
Thanks for the flag, Billie.
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