Afghanistan: The Continued Betrayal of Our Troops

On the good news front, my son-in-law continues to improve after being severely injured in Afghanistan.  On the bad news side of things, that area remains a nightmare and any claims to the contrary by senior military leaders is pretty much nothing less than a huge lie.  I noted recently that France had admitted reality and was withdrawing all of its troops.  Now Australia has begun its own withdrawal.  And the USA?  Still in denial and a refusal on the part of senior military commanders and politicians that once Chimperator Bush and Emperor Palpatine Cheney bungled the response to the World Trade Center attack, we should have left immediately.  But, due to all too typical American hubris we remained and have thrown away billions of dollars and thousands of lives.  And for nothing in the long view of things.  Absolutely nothing.  The Brisbane Times looks at Australia's moves toward total withdrawal.  Here are highlights:

AUSTRALIAN troops have withdrawn from all forward operating bases and patrol bases in Oruzgan, and handed over control of security in the province to Afghan forces.  And after 13 years keeping the peace in East Timor, the last remaining Australian troops will begin pulling out on Thursday. . . . .

Forward operating and patrol bases in Afghanistan have been progressively handed over to Afghan control since October, and Australian troops will now operate only out of the multinational base in Tarin Kowt, Oruzgan's capital.

And as for the unfolding fiasco in Afghanistan that belies the claims that progress is being made, Google News has this:

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban suicide bomber detonated a truck full of explosives Friday in eastern Afghanistan, killing three Afghan civilians and wounding more than 90 people, including several Afghan and NATO troops, officials said.

The early morning explosion in Maidan Shahr, the capital of Wardak province, also destroyed or damaged several government offices and a local prison, said provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid.

The blast occurred in an area that is home to government offices, the provincial governor's office, police headquarters, a prison and a coordination center used by international and Afghan security forces.

Shahid said two men and a woman were killed and 90 people — 75 men, 11 women and four children — were wounded.

U.S. Army Maj. Adam Wojack, a spokesman for the international military coalition, said a half-dozen NATO soldiers also received minor injuries in the explosion.