Doom in Afghanistan? I think not.......
Many on the left are ranting now that Afghanistan is lost as well as Iraq. You hear it all the time; The Taliban are resurgent, Control is falling away, we are losing the country side and the people of the country are turning against us and the government of Hamid Karzai. In fact, The Guardian reports that the Taliban controls 54% of the country and has a good chance of taking Kabul in 2008.
The BBC recently did a survey in Afghanistan found that the majority of the people "relatively hopeful" about their future, they also "support the current Afghan government and the presence of overseas troops, and oppose the Taliban." Now all is not rosy and bright of course, support for the Taliban has risen since last year (4% to 5%) and support for US and NATO troops in the country has fallen off a bit since last year. More than half the people surveyed rated the Karzai government as "good or excellent" but that number has dropped since last year.
Some interesting numbers that leap out to me as I read the results of the survey are that 71% (down 3% from last year)of those surveyed say that the Taliban has "no significant presence" in their area.
75% of the participants say that the Taliban has no significant support in their areas (down 4 % from last year)
69% of the surveyed think that Pakistan is allowing the Taliban to operate in their territory, only 19% think they are trying to suppress the Taliban.
69 % have a very unfavorable view of the Taliban.
21% have a very unfavorable view of the US.
63% have a very unfavorable view of Pakistan.
I find these answers very interesting. You can of course decide for yourself if the view of the Guardian and the anti Bush bloggers is right or if the BBC's is more accurate. Personally, I lean more towards the BBC's judging from what I saw while I was there and what I read and hear now. All is not rosy and bright. The people in the North are much happier than the people in the south and most of the discontent is centered in the south west where the Taliban is currently operating in strength. but overall, things seem to be going the right way. As for the Taliban taking Kabul in 2008, ROFL. Not a chance in Hell. If for no other reason than that there are thousands of American troops in the area which would prevent that. Also, the Afghan National Army is up and running fairly well now. It has reached it's established goal of 70,000 troops early, and is looking to expand to 200,000 now. It has even begun running independent operations. Things really aren't all that bad.
The BBC recently did a survey in Afghanistan found that the majority of the people "relatively hopeful" about their future, they also "support the current Afghan government and the presence of overseas troops, and oppose the Taliban." Now all is not rosy and bright of course, support for the Taliban has risen since last year (4% to 5%) and support for US and NATO troops in the country has fallen off a bit since last year. More than half the people surveyed rated the Karzai government as "good or excellent" but that number has dropped since last year.
Some interesting numbers that leap out to me as I read the results of the survey are that 71% (down 3% from last year)of those surveyed say that the Taliban has "no significant presence" in their area.
75% of the participants say that the Taliban has no significant support in their areas (down 4 % from last year)
69% of the surveyed think that Pakistan is allowing the Taliban to operate in their territory, only 19% think they are trying to suppress the Taliban.
69 % have a very unfavorable view of the Taliban.
21% have a very unfavorable view of the US.
63% have a very unfavorable view of Pakistan.
I find these answers very interesting. You can of course decide for yourself if the view of the Guardian and the anti Bush bloggers is right or if the BBC's is more accurate. Personally, I lean more towards the BBC's judging from what I saw while I was there and what I read and hear now. All is not rosy and bright. The people in the North are much happier than the people in the south and most of the discontent is centered in the south west where the Taliban is currently operating in strength. but overall, things seem to be going the right way. As for the Taliban taking Kabul in 2008, ROFL. Not a chance in Hell. If for no other reason than that there are thousands of American troops in the area which would prevent that. Also, the Afghan National Army is up and running fairly well now. It has reached it's established goal of 70,000 troops early, and is looking to expand to 200,000 now. It has even begun running independent operations. Things really aren't all that bad.
posted by exMI | 13:46
4 Comments:
I think the war is going to cost something around $1.5 trillion or something like that. How long is this going to go on?
I need to watch a more consistant news channel, I hate the "diluted" news about the war I get sometimes.
Hey Gunngirl, long time no see. I expect it will drag on for 5 or 6 more years in Afghanistan. Just a guess.
In Iraq? Depends on who gets elected nest year.
thanks, exmi! it's nice to hear something that not a slam on afghanistan! i hope the relative peace in the north filters down...but it's going to take a while, huh?
69 % have a very unfavorable view of the Taliban.
21% have a very unfavorable view of the US.
63% have a very unfavorable view of Pakistan.
Very interesting. Thanks for the update.
I'd say the BBC does its best to be unbiased, but of course, nobody is. They're pretty reliable for a news source though.
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