"7 US troops die in Afghanistan; Year’s highest toll comes as forces expand to north" by Fisnik Abrashi, Associated Press | July 7, 2009
KABUL - Bombs and bullets killed seven American troops yesterday, the deadliest day for US forces in Afghanistan in nearly a year - a sign the war being fought in the Taliban heartland of the south and east could now be expanding north.
Separately, Taliban militants claimed they were holding an American soldier who the US military says might have been captured last week. The Taliban statement did not include any proof, such as a picture or the soldier’s name.
Four of the deaths came in an attack on military trainers in the north, raising the question of whether the United States is committing enough troops to secure a country larger than Iraq, in both population and land mass.
Did you just FEEL a DRAFT?
In Moscow, President Obama said it’s too soon to measure the success of his Afghanistan strategy. He said the United States can take another look after the country’s Aug. 20 presidential elections....
The four US soldiers killed in the north died in a roadside bombing.... Two Americans were killed in a roadside blast in southern Afghanistan, and another American soldier died of wounds in a firefight with militants in the east.
The Taliban claim about holding a US soldier came six days after a soldier was noticed to be missing. His body armor and weapon were found on the base. Two US defense sources have said the soldier “just walked off’’ with three Afghans after he finished working. They had no explanation about why he left.
Did he GO NATIVE and JOIN the RESISTANCE?
In southern Afghanistan, meanwhile, Marines continued their anti-Taliban offensive in Helmand Province. Some 500 Marines out of 4,000 participating in the operation moved into the Khan Neshin area, a Marine statement said. In the southern province of Kandahar, a suicide car bomber blew himself up outside the outer gate of the main NATO base in the region, killing two civilians and wounding 14 other people.
As the conflict intensifies, US forces are under pressure to minimize civilian deaths....
Then STOP BOMBING THEM and LET'S LEAVE (with profuse apologies along the way)!!!
--more--"
