Angle left out Iraq troop increase's apparent undermining of U.S. effort in Afghanistan
On the January 11 edition of Fox News' Special Report, Fox News chief Washington correspondent Jim Angle reported that an "assessment" presented to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence by the U.S. intelligence community "said that Afghanistan is under pressure and that 2007 is a pivotal year -- that the ability to stop a resurgence of the Taliban will determine the country's future." But Angle did not mention that, despite this assessment, the Bush administration's decision to send additional U.S. troops to Iraq would reportedly mean withdrawing a battalion currently deployed in Afghanistan in this "pivotal year" and sending it to Iraq.
According to a January 7 Baltimore Sun article, the then-expected troop increase in Iraq "would strain the Army and Marine Corps as they struggle to man both wars" in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to "Pentagon officials." "Already," the article continued, "a U.S. Army infantry battalion fighting in a critical area of eastern Afghanistan is due to be withdrawn within weeks in order to deploy to Iraq." In a January 11 article reporting that "U.S. commanders [in Afghanistan] have issued a request for reinforcements against a resurgence of Taliban fighters," Stars & Stripes observed that, based on the Sun's report of a battalion move, "[t]he 'surge' option in Iraq also could have a direct impact on the mission in Afghanistan."
According to Angle, the assessment focused on "the threats the U.S. now faces."
From the January 11 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:
ANGLE: The assessment also said that Afghanistan is under pressure and that 2007 is a pivotal year -- that the ability to stop a resurgence of the Taliban will determine the country's future.
The intelligence community also expressed broad concerns about the ongoing effort of unfriendly nations to obtain nuclear weapons, especially Iran.
I heard Bill O'reilly say a few weeks back that all this talk about the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan was nonsense. I sure wish the FOX guys would get their stories together so we'll know what to believe this week.
Get up to speed! That's what makes Fox so important, that sense of immediacy that tells their viewers "We're stay the course with our bad ideas, but that doesn't mean the facts can't change every hour".
BTW, I rented "Idiocracy" tonight (by Mike Judge of Office Space/Beavis and Butthead/King of the Hill) and while I might not recommend it to you "highbrow" types, it is a good cautionary tale re: the dumbing down of America, while still providing plenty of dumb humorfor us unrefined types.
There is a glimpse of Fox News in the year 2550 or so, pretty funny bit. (The movie is about a future resulting from the disproportionate reproducing of the stoopidest element of "Real America".It looks like a Fox News utopia)
Two point to address...
First, the information in the Baltimore Sun article is completely incorrect. The battalion leaving Afghanistan has been there a year and it is its normal redeployment. Yes, it will go to Iraq, but in 12 to 18 months, not immediately as suggested by the article. This report should have never been published since it was obvious the facts had not been checked, or if it had, then its intention was to provide misinformation.
In Afghanistan the cycle of violence is dependent upon the weather...generally the winter months are less active since it is rather difficult to move around. The Taliban have continually stated that they will launch a major effort in the spring. That may or may not be true, only time will tell. One thing is true, the people are now getting tired and some are taking matters into their own hands....will the Taliban succeed? Again, only time will tell.
That's not a typo. Bush's "surge" may very well have more to do with Iran than Iraq. [link to www.npr.org]
So, what does Rep. Tom Lantos - Democratic chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs - think sending a carrier group and Patriot missiles to the region? Apparently that the build-up is just an effective way of sending a message to Iran. [link to www.npr.org]
Ummm...wasn't their a vote in October 2002 that was supposed to be about just sending a message? Despite my sarcasm with that question, I am not laughing.
by Sec State Rice ( My FOX guys ) may have not been a slip of the tongue after all.