MAJOR OPS - SEVERAL MONTHS (YEARS?) TOO LATE?
Several hundred Marines pushed into the town of Garmser in predawn light in an operation to drive out militants, stretching NATO's presence into an area littered with poppy fields and classified as Taliban territory. [Yes, you read that right. There are, um, "terrorist sanctuaries" in ... Afghanistan.]
Helmand province is the world's largest opium poppy growing region and has been a flashpoint of the increasingly violent insurgency the last two years. British troops — who are responsible for Helmand — have faced fierce battles on the north end of Helmand.
U.S. commanders say Taliban fighters had been expecting an assault and were setting up improvised explosive devices.
- ABC News
MORE MUSICIANS AT THE PENTAGON THAN DIPLOMATS AT STATE
YES, you read that right.
It used to be the saying, just months old, that the Pentagon has more lawyers than State has diplomats. Now, a new statistic: More musicians.
Oh, the humanity (and who doesn't love the boogey-woogey bugle boys). And the GOP keep peddling the b.s. that the "real" problem in America is ... elsewhere.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The State Department is short of staff to meet the Pentagon's need to reinforce the provincial reconstruction teams (PRT) in Iraq and Afghanistan, a senior US official said Monday.
To press his point, Eliot Cohen, counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, noted that the Defense Department employs more musicians than the State Department has diplomats.
To press his point, Eliot Cohen, counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, noted that the Defense Department employs more musicians than the State Department has diplomats.
