THE OTHER BALL PRES. FREDO DROPPED

THREE FACTS:
Afghanistan has been a major world producer of opium since we overthrew the Taliban and now accounts for an estimated 95% of the entire world's supply. U.S. forces have been indiscriminately killing Afghan citizens for years. The Taliban and Al Qaeda control most of the countryside.

CONCLUSION:

U.S. Notes Limited Progress in Afghan War
Strategic Goals Unmet, White House Concludes
By Karen DeYoungWashington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page A01

A White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan has concluded that wide-ranging strategic goals that the Bush administration set for 2007 have not been met, even as U.S. and NATO forces have scored significant combat successes against resurgent Taliban fighters, according to U.S. officials.

While U.S. and other NATO forces have maintained a firm hold on major cities, they have been unable to retain territory in the vast rural areas where 75 percent of Afghanistan's population lives, several sources said. Ground hard-won in combat has been abandoned and reoccupied by Taliban forces, which establish dominance over local governmental bodies.

[THIS SOUNDS JUST LIKE IRAQ]

The strategy is "clear, hold and build," said Seth Jones, an Afghanistan expert at the Rand Corp. "You clear the Taliban out, then you hold it for a period of time. You keep forces there, including Afghan forces, then you begin to build, then expand and go into neighboring districts. The problem has been that when you move troops into neighboring districts, you don't have enough to hold what you just cleared."