Tipping point: US/NATO pull out of all Afghan ministries after Kabul attack

[moderate libertarian]

Is this the tipping point for end of Afghan war?
France had already decided to leave Afganistan sooner after 4 French troops were shot dead ny an Afghan soldier couple of weeks ago. Yesterday Germany announced that it was closing a militart base early due to security concerns. Afghan insurgents may have found a deadly tactic that is proving to be very effective for their gaols:

25 February 2012 Last updated at 11:10 ET

Nato pulls out of Afghan ministries after Kabul attack

Any attacker would have had the highest clearance

Nato has withdrawn all its personnel from Afghan ministries after two senior officers were shot dead in the interior ministry building in Kabul.

Nato said an "individual" had turned his gun on the officers, believed to be an American colonel and major, and had not yet been identified or caught.

There is an end of an era feeling in Kabul these days - for what Afghans see as the latest foreign venture in their country.

They have seen off the Russians and the British before and now it is America's time that is drawing to a close, with the British and other Nato allies eager to depart with them.

The revelation that US troops had dumped copies of the Koran into an incineration pit may hasten that end.

Battle for perceptions

Returning to Afghanistan after several years away, it is striking how much the mood has changed against the US and its allies.

"With anti-American demonstrations spreading across the country, what may just have been soldiers obeying a simple order could turn into a tipping point”

From recent episodes of troops urinating on Taliban bodies to the many instances of civilians being killed over the past 11 years, attitudes towards the Americans have progressively hardened.

There is also widespread frustration at how little has changed, despite the huge quantities of money that have poured in here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17140569

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17165410



Even before the latest killings, mood was already very volatile:

Four shot dead, U.S. embassy on ‘lockdown’ as Afghan protests rage over Koran burning

Reuters Feb 22, 2012

KABUL — Four people were shot dead and dozens wounded in protests in Afghanistan which flared for a second day on Wednesday in several cities over the burning of copies of the Koran, Islam’s holy book, at NATO’s main base in the country.

The American Embassy said its staff were in “lockdown” and travel had been suspended as thousands of people expressed fury over the burning, a public relations disaster for U.S.-led NATO forces fighting Taliban militants ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.


Demonstrators set fire to part of a housing compound used by foreign contract workers. A Reuters witness said the fire damaged part of a guesthouse at the Green Village complex, where 1,500 mostly foreign contractors live and work.

Afghan demonstrators show copies of Koran books allegedly set alight by US soldiers, during a protest against Koran desecration at the gate of Bagram airbase on February 21, 2012 at Bagram.
Outrage also spilled over in the Afghan parliament, where several members shouted “death to America” inside the legislative chamber.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/0...n-as-afghan-protests-rage-over-koran-burning/

 

[XNavyNuke]

Vladimir Putin is laughing his butt off.

XNN

 

[moderate libertarian]

Many in Russia probably do not mind US bogged down in a country where Soviet Union was brought to its knees couple of decades ago by same militants with US/foreign fighters support. Some of them are laughing their way to the bank as they also profit from this operation.


In the meantime, protests/violence continues in that region.

Another seven Americans wounded in grenade attack in Afghanistan as huge manhunt begins for Ministry shooter who executed two U.S. military advisers

By Hannah Roberts and Suzannah Hills

Last updated at 3:30 PM on 26th February 2012

Another seven U.S. servicemen have been wounded in violent protests that have engulfed Afghanistan following the burning of Korans last week.
The men were injured when demonstrators in Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan, threw a grenade at their base, provincial police chief Samihullah Qatra told reporters.
At least two demonstrators were also killed in the northern province as the sixth day of deadly protests over the burning of Qurans and other religious materials at a U.S. base raged.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...icans-wounded-grenade-attack-Afghanistan.html