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   "Mr.Smartypants"  wrote in message   
   news:b3ea2360-642a-4b34-a5fa-3c4ce3084eb4@v25g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...   
   > The Anatomy Of America's   
   > Defeat In Afghanistan   
   > By Mohammed Daud Miraki, MA, MA, PhD   
   > c. 2010 - All Rights Reserved   
   > 1-11-10   
   >   
   >   
   > With the long awaited decision by the Obama Administration in regards   
   > to the new strategy for Afghanistan, the situation in Afghanistan has   
   > deteriorated to the point that the US commanders started using the   
   > word 'defeat' in their report to Washington. The word defeat has   
   > rarely been uttered by military; however, Afghanistan is the   
   > exception, where defeat is a realistic outcome. There, defeat is a   
   > reality that all invaders have faced since the beginning when Pashtuns   
   > have inhabited this region. The Pashtuns' resistance is one of   
   > multiple factors characterizing the Anatomy of US's Defeat in   
   > Afghanistan, where the inevitability of defeat for the US and NATO   
   > appears to be a certainty.   
   >   
   > FACTORS OF DEFEAT   
   >   
   > American Military underestimated the Afghans (Pashtuns)   
   >   
   > When the American troops landed in Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan,   
   > they were confident that the defeat of the Taliban and take over of   
   > Afghanistan was inevitable. Their behavior was typically American   
   > characterized with excessive over confidence totally oblivious of   
   > Afghan history. Characteristically, they did not expect to suffer   
   > significant casualties either; however, much to their dismay, American   
   > causality has become quite apparent The overconfidence of American   
   > military was detailed by a reporter of IWPR:   
   >   
   > "in October when the Americans began deploying at the airport,   
   >   
   > they were gung-ho, telling their Uzbek counterparts that it would take   
   > no more than a month and a half to defeat the Taleban"[1]   
   >   
   > The report continues:   
   >   
   > "Uzbek army personnel working at the air base said scores of US   
   > casualties have been arriving there. From November 25 to Decemeber   
   > [sic] 2, an Uzbek orderly working with American medical staff said he   
   > had witnessed the arrival of four to five US helicopters - carrying   
   > between them 10-15 American casualties - each day."   
   >   
   > The wounded soldiers that had returned from Afghanistan were   
   > frustrated by the sudden change in their self-perceived invincibility.   
   > The frustrations of the wounded soldiers on the base played out in   
   > daily occurrences of shouting and name-callings. These were the same   
   > soldiers that had heroic mentality before entering Afghanistan.   
   >   
   > Similar experiences were reported in other parts of Afghanistan. For   
   > example, during operation Anaconda in 2002, America had used massive   
   > firepower to subdue a Taliban Commander Saifu-r-Rahman Mansoor in Shah-   
   > e-Kot in Southeastern Afghanistan. The Americans thought they could   
   > destroy the Afghan resistance by having superior airpower. They   
   > learned this to be more a wishful thinking. In the days of the   
   > fighting, Pentagon made various extravagant claims of having destroyed   
   > Mansoor's defenses and killing more than a thousand (1000) Taliban   
   > fighters. The facts were otherwise. The US forces went to the battle   
   > with a heroic mind set, but they were bitterly surprised when they   
   > sustained heavy losses and had lost 16 helicopters ranging from   
   > apaches to Chinooks. The escalation reached a point of no return when   
   > 22 American Special Forces were caught alive. The heavy losses coupled   
   > with the captured soldiers started to take its toll on the US forces   
   > until March 10, 2002 when General Tommy Frank decided to pull back 400   
   > troops to Bagram. The official explanation was that the conflict had   
   > ended for the most part while media reported that the troops suffered   
   > from battle fatigue. The truth was that the pull back was an attempt   
   > at building confidence aimed at convincing Taliban that American   
   > military is serious in seeking the release of the 22 Special Forces   
   > Commandos. The Taliban Commander, Maulana Mansoor demanded the release   
   > of all captives held at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for the 22 Special   
   > Forces soldiers.   
   >   
   > Meanwhile, as the US forces encountered stiff resistance, it claimed   
   > to be fighting against a force of 1000 fighters when in reality there   
   > were 100 Afghan fighters, 120 Uzbek, and 30 Arab fighters. The US   
   > claimed to have killed 700 of 1000 Taliban/Al-Qaida fighters:   
   >   
   > "U.S. military spokesmen estimate 700 out of roughly 1,000 Islamic   
   > extremists have been killed in the past nine days of fighting, which   
   > has cost the lives of eight Americans and three allied Afghans."[2]   
   >   
   > The number of Taliban and foreign fighters killed stood at 88 (mostly   
   > Uzbek including 8 Arabs) while the number of US, British and others   
   > were much higher. Different media sources reported different numbers   
   > in regards to US losses. For example, the Russian online newspaper   
   > Strana.Ru on April 8, 2002, reported that the US lost 100 Special   
   > Forces and four Apache helicopters. However, data obtained from the   
   > battlefield put the casualty figure at 228 killed. From this figure   
   > 186 Americans killed in the battle, 22 prisoners executed when the US   
   > refused to release Guantanamo prisoners and 20 British SAS were killed   
   > when their vehicles were ambushed. The 186 killed Americans included   
   > those that were onboard helicopters. The total number of helicopters   
   > shot was 16 out of which two Chinook and 6 Apaches were totally   
   > destroyed and the remaining crash landed. The Canadians and   
   > Australians killed were reported as victims of friendly fire.   
   >   
   > This is what happens when armed forces exhibit patronizing mentality   
   > and underestimate the enemy.   
   >   
   > American Brutality-Excessive Use of Force and Racist View   
   >   
   > The sheer use of excessive force coupled with individual cases of   
   > callous murder and torture could be viewed in the dichotomy of   
   > intention and reaction. The aspect of intentionality points to the way   
   > the military views the targeted population. The US military as an   
   > institution and their personnel must consider the people they bomb or   
   > murder perhaps less human, otherwise, the excessive use of force,   
   > committing murder and tortures would not be wide spread in their   
   > ranks. For example, by October 2002, the first anniversary of US   
   > invasion of Afghanistan, more than 10000 tons of bombs dropped on   
   > Afghan soil. (Socialist Worker Online, October 11, 2002) Imagine the   
   > magnitude of carnage and contamination caused by such massacre. While   
   > another report by Kate Randall on December 2001, put the number of US   
   > bombed dropped at 12000:   
   >   
   > "Since the US launched the war on Afghanistan October 7, more than   
   > 12,000 US bombs have been dropped on the country. According to the   
      
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