Taliban strength in southern Afghanistan surprised US general

[sabra]

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/southasia/article_1203743.php/Taliban_strength_in_southern_Afghanistan_surprised_US_general

Taliban strength in southern Afghanistan surprised US general


Washington - The US general commanding American forces in Afghanistan said Thursday that he had not anticipated the strength of the Taliban in the southern part of the country.

The Taliban has been able to take advantage of the weakness of the Afghan government in the south to establish a presence that NATO and US forces have been working to roll back for months, Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry.

'I don't want to at all understate the capability that Taliban has developed here, as I said, over the course of the past year in several districts and several of the provinces,' Eikenberry said.

'I would have said (a year ago) that it would not be at the level that we did find this spring and this summer,' the general said.

[tabasco]

1. 27 Sept 2004: Bush said Taliban no longer exists.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040927-4.html

I imagine the general was surprised after Bush has said the Taliban is "no more."

[NanceGreggs]

2. Yet ANOTHER case of ...

"No one could possibly have anticipated ..."

[Kelvin Mace]

3. If you didn't anticipate it

you should be cashiered for incomptence.