This Washington Post article is a good account of the troubles that continue to plague US military operations in Afghanistan. (Do I need to point out again that promises of a “free and democratic Iraq” should be paired against our continued failure to establish freedom or democracy in Afghanstian — and our seeming reluctance to do anything about it.)
But what really interests me is the language used in this paragraph:
Further complicating the border situation, local Afghans say, is that the United States has walked into one of the many decades-old tribal fights in the area — this one between the Waziris and the Kharots. The Waziris are a large tribe with many people in the Lwara area and across the border in the Pakistani districts of North and South Waziristan, believed to be home to many Taliban and al Qaeda fugitives.
It is the first time I’ve seen the press be accurate about Afghan “Tribalism”. These aren’t centuries-old fights, they are only decades-old, and they date back to the Soviet Invasion at the earliest. I’m glad that this reporter got his facts straight!
Update:
The Washington Post reports that U.S. Troops have waged a major offensive against a group associated with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
U.S. troops and allied forces have surrounded and attacked a group of about 80 Afghan militants on a mountainside in southeastern Afghanistan in the largest battle of the Afghan war since last spring, military officials said today.
