The New York Times reported today that a resurgent Taliban is staging new and daring attacks in Afghanistan (9 Americans Die in Afghan Attack):
This year of the Afghanistan war is already proving to be the deadliest since the American-led invasion. Bush administration officials are now considering a redeployment of troops to Afghanistan from Iraq to help deal with the rising threat. Deaths of American troops and their allies for the last two months have been higher than those inflicted in Iraq. In addition, nearly 700 Afghan civilians were killed in the first five months of the year, a marked increase over previous years, United Nations officials have said.
The report notes that Taliban attacks are bing staged from Pakistan and that this is now being publicly acknowledgd by commanders. This poses a severe challenge for U.S. political leadeship, if not the military, as Pakistan is officially an ally in the war.
What strategies can the U.S. use to combat the Taliban and stabilize Afghanistan? In this video presentation to the World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C., Ambassador to Afghanistan William Wood addresses the resurgence of attacks on U.S. troops and Afghani civilians, the growing political unrest, and the role the U.S. can play in stabilizing Afghanistan.
