Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
CNN
February 27, 2008
Lou Dobbs Tonight (CNN), 7:00 PM
LOU DOBBS: On Capitol Hill today, an admission, a stunning admission about the slow progress of the war in Afghanistan, the one which we have not had oversight committee hearings from the Obama chairmanship if I might point that out. The Director of National Intelligence, Michael McConnell told the Senate committee where Mr. Obama used to work that the Afghan government controls only 30 percent of the country now. That after more than six years of fighting and hundreds of U.S. and NATO casualties.
Jamie McIntyre has our report from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: In Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province, British troops are once again attempting to turn the annual Taliban spring offensive into NATO's offensive.
MAJ. DAN CHEESMAN, BRITISH ARMY: Today's the time we're actually going to go and mix it with them. And we'll see if they're ready for us or not.
MCINTYRE: For most of last year, Musa Qala in the heart of Afghanistan's opium producing region was under Taliban control until December when U.S. and British troops again gained the upper hand. The Pentagon argues the Taliban had been knocked back on their heels.
DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES: The Taliban occupy no territory in Afghanistan on a continuing basis.
MCINTYRE: But despite the Taliban suffering a string of military defeats, top U.S. intelligence officials say they are still intimidating and thereby controlling a large segment of the Afghan population in the south.
MICHAEL MCCONNELL, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: If it's a face off with U.S. or NATO forces, they lose. How they choose to engage is -- they will fill in in an area when we withdraw or they will influence a village or a region if our presence is not there.
MCINTYRE: In his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the director of national intelligence gave this break down. About 10 percent of the Afghan population is under Taliban control. About 30 percent is under control of the government of Hamid Karzai and the rest of the country and is governed by local leaders independent of the national government. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: So why can't the Taliban be defeated? Lou, U.S. intelligence officials continue to point to Pakistan. Al Qaeda and the Taliban continue to enjoy a safe haven in the ungoverned border regions across the border and U.S. officials say Pakistan has once again shown they are unwilling or unable to take effective action there -- Lou.
DOBBS: And some six years ago it was 100 percent Taliban just about, wasn't it?
MCINTYRE: That's right. The Taliban was in control before the U.S. toppled them.
DOBBS: So there's been some significant adjustment and how does that rank as progress or is it in fact a receding influence on the part of the United States and the NATO countries over the past two years? What would be the position of the DNI?
MCINTYRE: The problem is what NATO has shown is when they have a presence in an area, they are able to keep the Taliban at bay and as we pointed out before, they don't have the troops to do that. Every time they move back, the Taliban moves back in and that is a destabilizing influence.
And as you can see, also, more than half the country doesn't have the umbrella of a national government. It's the series of local governments stitched together that's hardly a nation that has the institutions that you need to do something like attack the drug problem which is at the heart of funding the insurgency.
DOBBS: Jamie McIntyre, as always, thank you. Jamie McIntyre, from the Pentagon.
February 27, 2008
Lou Dobbs Tonight (CNN), 7:00 PM
LOU DOBBS: On Capitol Hill today, an admission, a stunning admission about the slow progress of the war in Afghanistan, the one which we have not had oversight committee hearings from the Obama chairmanship if I might point that out. The Director of National Intelligence, Michael McConnell told the Senate committee where Mr. Obama used to work that the Afghan government controls only 30 percent of the country now. That after more than six years of fighting and hundreds of U.S. and NATO casualties.
Jamie McIntyre has our report from the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: In Afghanistan's southern Helmand Province, British troops are once again attempting to turn the annual Taliban spring offensive into NATO's offensive.
MAJ. DAN CHEESMAN, BRITISH ARMY: Today's the time we're actually going to go and mix it with them. And we'll see if they're ready for us or not.
MCINTYRE: For most of last year, Musa Qala in the heart of Afghanistan's opium producing region was under Taliban control until December when U.S. and British troops again gained the upper hand. The Pentagon argues the Taliban had been knocked back on their heels.
DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES: The Taliban occupy no territory in Afghanistan on a continuing basis.
MCINTYRE: But despite the Taliban suffering a string of military defeats, top U.S. intelligence officials say they are still intimidating and thereby controlling a large segment of the Afghan population in the south.
MICHAEL MCCONNELL, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: If it's a face off with U.S. or NATO forces, they lose. How they choose to engage is -- they will fill in in an area when we withdraw or they will influence a village or a region if our presence is not there.
MCINTYRE: In his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, the director of national intelligence gave this break down. About 10 percent of the Afghan population is under Taliban control. About 30 percent is under control of the government of Hamid Karzai and the rest of the country and is governed by local leaders independent of the national government. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: So why can't the Taliban be defeated? Lou, U.S. intelligence officials continue to point to Pakistan. Al Qaeda and the Taliban continue to enjoy a safe haven in the ungoverned border regions across the border and U.S. officials say Pakistan has once again shown they are unwilling or unable to take effective action there -- Lou.
DOBBS: And some six years ago it was 100 percent Taliban just about, wasn't it?
MCINTYRE: That's right. The Taliban was in control before the U.S. toppled them.
DOBBS: So there's been some significant adjustment and how does that rank as progress or is it in fact a receding influence on the part of the United States and the NATO countries over the past two years? What would be the position of the DNI?
MCINTYRE: The problem is what NATO has shown is when they have a presence in an area, they are able to keep the Taliban at bay and as we pointed out before, they don't have the troops to do that. Every time they move back, the Taliban moves back in and that is a destabilizing influence.
And as you can see, also, more than half the country doesn't have the umbrella of a national government. It's the series of local governments stitched together that's hardly a nation that has the institutions that you need to do something like attack the drug problem which is at the heart of funding the insurgency.
DOBBS: Jamie McIntyre, as always, thank you. Jamie McIntyre, from the Pentagon.