 Like two snowmen trapped immobile in winter's grip, NATO-led forces and the Taliban-led insurgency eye each other icily, watching and waiting for the thaw that will allow them to renew what both believe could be the decisive battle for control of Afghanistan.
"Like two snowmen"? Who the hell wrote this? Burl Ives?There must have been some magick left
In that old silk turban
They say
'Cuz when they wrapped it 'round his head
He blew up. |
As soon as the snow starts to melt within a few months, Afghanistan will be locked in a titanic battle that will initially be centered along the key artery running across the south of the country from Herat in the west, through Kandahar and on to the capital Kabul in the east. This will become the highway to hell, or, if the Taliban win, the highway to the paradise on Earth that they promise for the country.
Don't need reason, don't need rhyme,
Ain't nothin' i'd rather do.
goin' down, jihad time.
my friends are gonna be there too.
i'm on a highway to hell.... |
With the onset of winter last year, both sides had time to reconsider their positions, especially in view of the Taliban's most successful spring offensive since being ousted in 2001. About 4,000 people died last year, a fourfold increase over the previous year.
| I'm still trying to figure how that was their "most successful" spring offensive, since most of the 4000 corpses where Talibs. And I'd also wager the majority of that 4000 were Paks. |
| Coalition still refuses to release Talibunny body counts, but the best estimate I can find is that 3500 of those 4000 were 'insurgents'. Total coalition casualties for 2006 were 191. |
In southwestern Afghanistan, the Taliban emerged powerful and confident, both on the political and military fronts, clearly no longer the timid rats hiding in mountain holes from where they would come out randomly and try to bite their enemies.
| Powerful and confident enough to engage coalition forces to the tune of 4,000 of their own sent to paradise. Boy howdy that's powerful! |
All the same, the Taliban failed to force the withdrawal of any of the 31,000 North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in the country, something the alliance calls "a failure". The Taliban response is that last year was just a "warm-up". This year will be for real, they say.
| "We're going ta moidalize youse!" |
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