U.S. paratroopers fire at insurgent forces during a firefight on the outskirts of Spedar village in southern Afghanistan's Ghazni province, June 15, 2012. This was the first of several firefights U.S. and Afghan soldiers encountered during their daylong partnered patrol. The soldiers are assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's Company D, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod
Afghanistan: A Ragged Retreat Threatens To Turn Into A Slow-Motion Rout -- Simon Tisdall, The Guardian
The latest killings in Afghanistan are a stark reminder to western leaders of the folly of ignoring the situation in the country.
The killing of 17 people by Taliban insurgents in Musa Qala, the deaths of 10 Afghan army personnel in a separate, large-scale assault in Helmand, and the killing of two US soldiers by an Afghan national army recruit could be dismissed as just another bloody day in Afghanistan.
Alternatively these gruesome events, taken together, might sensibly be seen as another urgent warning to neglectful western politicians that their policy of gradual, go-slow withdrawal is rapidly unravelling. It is a warning they may ignore at their peril.
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My Comment: The situation is unraveling in Afghanistan .... albeit at a slow and methodical pace. The Afghan army is clearly incapable of maintaining the peace, and the Taliban have shown no interest in reducing the violence.