Kandahar Falls !

Reuters ^ | Wednesday November 14 9:16 AM ET

[flamefront]

Alliance Envoy Says Kandahar Falls to Opposition

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (Reuters) - Northern Alliance ambassador in Tajikistan Said Ibrohim Hikmat told reporters that the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar fell into the hands of the opposition and tribal rebels Wednesday.

``Today the forces of the Northern Alliance entered Kandahar,'' the ambassador said.

``They went in with the support of the local population which was rebelling,'' he said. ``The town is now under the control of the northern alliance. There are no Taliban in the city.''

The report could not be independently confirmed but one tribal leader said the Taliban had thrown a defensive circle around Kandahar and would fight off any attempt to capture the city.

[Revolting cat!]

So now that these folks ('folks' is Dubya's terminology, mind you,) uhm, unemployed, could we please consider bringing them over here to help us ban television and some kinds of music? Like [c]rap, grunge, "young country"? Just an idea, don't get excited.

[Antoninus]

Is it too early to say "All their base are belong to us!"

[Rain-maker]

Great news!!! Hopefully the Taliduds aren't regrouping in Pakistan or we have a real mess. Still don't trust those Paki-bastards since the implemented the Taliban quigmire in the first place.

[flamefront]

Beware the coming ambushes and terror attacks.

[Reeses]

I fully understand that "ground troops" are our weakest link.

True but maybe not for long. America will eventually have robot ground soldiers. Robot airplanes that fire weapons are here. Now with computers so cheap for the first time it's possible to build AI machines that never sleep, eat, get cold, fear death, or come with politcal cost. It costs millions to train and support a human soldier so any ground walking killing machine that costs less than $2 million is a bargain. A robot can't do most things a human can do but it can take care of ground clean up after air bombing.

I found this government web site asking anyone for proposals to invent new ground robots:

https://www.bids.tswg.gov/tswg/bids.nsf/Main?OpenFrameset https://www.bids.tswg.gov/TSWG/bids.nsf/DownloadBAAs/02-Q-4653/$FILE/02-Q-4653.pdf

[dr_who]

I hope U.S. military and intelligence officials are on hand.

[los]

"Kandahar is ours -- ALL OURS"

All your City are belong to us !!!

[yianni]

TIA = transient ischemic attack

[Saundra Duffy]

God bless America! Liberate the women of Afghanistan! For victory & freedom!!!

[Gracey]

Breaking report from British sources that the eight aid workers held in Afghanistan by the Taliban have been released. No confirmation; I heard this on FOXnews, but can find no info online.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Taliban Fighters Say Kandahar Has Not Fallen   (11:44 a.m. PST Nov. 14)

CHAMAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani Taliban soldiers, some wounded, trickled across the Pakistan border Wednesday, saying the fundamentalist Islamic group were still firmly in charge of their southern Afghan stronghold of Kandahar.

[varon]

Just detect warm spots in mountains and KABLOOOEY

Or just aim for the yellow snow.

[Factfinder]

Some quagmire, eh? I wonder if the press is upset this isn't another Vietnam...

[Congressman Billybob]

The best model for a new Afghani government is not the American one, but the Swiss. Their Cantons (states) are largely self-governing, and every adult male is expected to own a gun. Switzerland created its loose confederation to accomodate the different languages, culture and interests of its diverse population, which includes French, German and Italian.

Afghanistan is already divided along tribal lines, and that thinking is not going to change in the next 100 years. Right now, with no set boundaries, any of the tribes can and do attack the others. With set boundaries (the Swiss model) and a clear statement that any who attacked any others would be put down by all of the remainder, Afghanistan COULD be turned into a functional nation.

Of course, bribery on a grand scale would also be helpful. I expect that the US will commit a billion dollars or so (cheap, compared to war costs) to build concrete huts with running water as homes and schools, and truck in a few hundred thousand tons of food. Only the tribal groups that had demonstrated that they were ready to stop killing each other, would get the aid. The others could freeze in the dark until they got the message.

A combination of bribery and force works extremely well to get results in countries as benighted as Affghanistan.

Congressman Billybob

[spectre]

Can't help but wonder if Gerald Rivera is still going to have his new job with FOX? He better get over there FAST...tee-hee.

sw

[GEC]

And I guarantee you that they are being tracked all the way back to their caves.

May they all die painful deaths.

[FreeAtlanta]

He might get to open up some bombed out caves.

[GEC]

If it's still too early now (and I doubt that it is), it won't be long now.

[Robear]

I don't know if ground troops are our weakest link or the media is: if we lose any ground troops it's instance 'quagmire, Viet Nam' and the rest. The media does not allow for any military resolve unless it is coupled with the complete lack of U.S. military casualties, e.g.: air campaigns. Even then, they will put a drag on resolve with any civilian casualties at all.

[Elihu Burritt]

Still, most Afghanis shouldn't find the concept of electing representatives to be too hard to understand

Right. All the tribes are just aching to have majority rule by the Taliban, er I mean Pushtun.

I don't know cake_crumb, Marie Antoinette offered them more than just cake-crumb.

Our habituation to government by elected/appointed officials goes all the way back to the Romans, and such a history does not predominate in their world.