page 4 The Signal September 2, 2009
Nation & World
Commander calls for new strategy in Afghanistan KABUL (AP) — The commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan said Monday in an assessment of the war that a new strategy was needed to fight the Taliban, while NATO officials disclosed he is expected to separately request more troops. Explosions killed two more U.S. troops, raising the record death toll in August to 47 — the deadliest month of the eight-year war for American forces. Boosting the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is a hot-button issue that could ignite furious debate in Washington on the U.S. militaryʼs future in an increasingly unpopular war. Some Democratic senators have increased calls for a timeline to draw down troops. Gen. Stanley McChrystal sent his strategic review of the Afghan war to the Pentagon and NATO headquarters Monday. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ordered the 60-day review to size up the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan as Taliban attacks rise and U.S. deaths spiral upward. “The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort,” McChrystal said in a statement Monday. McChrystal did not ask for more troops but is expected to do so in a separate request in a of couple weeks, two NATO officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. The U.S. already has some 62,000 troops in Afghanistan — a record number — and will have 68,000 by the end of the year. In total there are more than 100,000 U.S. and NATO troops in the country. There were roughly 250,000 international forces in Iraq at the height of that war. McChrystalʼs report recommends focusing the U.S. and NATO
counterinsurgency efforts on the Afghan population and less on militants, one of the NATO officials in Afghanistan said. Last week McChrystal said troops “must change the way that we think, act and operate” in newly released counterinsurgency guidance. McChrystal hopes to instill a new approach in troops to make the safety of villagers the top priority. McChrystal said the supply of fighters in the Afghan insurgency is “essentially endless,” the reason violence continues to rise. He called on troops to think of how they would expect a foreign army to operate in their home countries, “among your families and your children, and act accordingly,” to try to win over the Afghan population. The deaths of two U.S. forces Monday in the south — the countryʼs most violent region — underscored the escalating violence. Thousands of U.S. forces moved into the Afghan south this summer after Obama ordered 21,000 more troops to the country this year, forces who helped protect the Aug. 20 presidential election. McChrystal, who took over command in Afghanistan on June 15, delayed the release of the review so it would not interfere with the vote. New vote tallies released Monday showed President Hamid Karzai with a strong lead over top challenger Abdullah Abdullah. Karzai had 45.8 percent of votes counted, while Abdullah had 33.2 percent. Ballots have been counted from almost half of the countryʼs voting stations, meaning results could still change dramatically. Karzai will need 50 percent of the vote to avoid a two-man runoff. The commission charged with investigating fraud said it registered 640 major complaints, all of which have to be investigated before final results are released.
AP Photo
Lal Mohammad, 40, whose nose and ears were cut off by the Taliban on the Aug. 20 Afghan presidential and provincial council election day, is seen in a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday. The hundreds of allegations of fraud and voter intimidation threaten to mar the election. Voters who cast ballots faced retaliatory attacks from militants who told Afghans not to vote. In an example of the extreme threats that voters faced, an Afghan man said Monday that Taliban militants cut off his nose and both ears as he tried to vote. “I was on my way to a polling station when Taliban stopped me and searched me. They found my voter registration card,” Lal Mohammad said from a hospital bed in Kabul. He said they cut off his nose and ears before beating him unconscious with a weapon. “I regret that I went to vote,” Mohammad said, crying and trying to hide his disfigured face. “What is the benefit of
Firefighters combat L.A. forest flames LOS ANGELES (AP) — A massive fire in the Angeles National Forest nearly doubled in size overnight, threatening 12,000 homes Monday in a 20-mile-long swath of flame and smoke, and surging toward a mountaintop broadcasting complex and historic observatory. The fire was the largest of at least eight burning up and down California after days of triple-digit temperatures and low humidity. The Los Angeles-area blaze had burned at least 21 homes and was moving north, south and east through the rugged foothills northeast of the city. Despite a lack of wind, the fire surged without letup by running through steep granite canyons and feeding on brush that had not burned for 40 years, fire officials said. “Itʼs burning everywhere,” U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Dianne Cahir said. “When it gets into canyons that havenʼt burned in numerous years, it takes off. If you have any insight into the good Lord upstairs, put in a request.” The fire had burned 134 square miles of brush and trees by early Monday and was just five percent contained. About 12,000 homes, as well as communications and astronomy centers atop Mount Wilson, were threatened by fire. At least 6,600 homes were under mandatory evacuation orders and more than 2,500 firefighters were battling the flames. But the lack of wind kept the fires burning mainly in canyonlands rather than racing downhill and roaring explosively through the dense suburbs that cluster at the base of the foothills. More than 20 helicopters and air tankers were preparing to dump water and retardant over the flames. Two Canadian Super Scoopers, giant craft that can pull thousands of gallons of water from lakes and reservoirs, were expected to join the fight later in the day. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday issued emergency declarations for the counties of Placer,
voting to me?” The U.S. strategy in Afghanistan hinges on increasing the number of Afghan soldiers and police so U.S. forces can one day withdraw. Some 134,000 Afghan troops are to be trained by late 2011, but U.S. officials say that number will need to be greatly increased, an expansion that will be paid for by U.S. funds. Afghanistan has long been seen as the “good” war by many in the United States, especially in comparison with U.S. efforts in Iraq, where U.S. troops are now drawing down. But some Democratic senators are beginning to question whether U.S. goals in Afghanistan are achievable, and when U.S. troops will be brought home.
News Bits BOSTON — Massachusetts legislators have scheduled a public hearing on whether to change state law to allow the governor to name an interim replacement for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. SHIAO LIN, Taiwan — The Dalai Lama exhorted Taiwan on Monday to safeguard its democracy, interspersing prayers for the victims of Typhoon Morakot with a challenge to Communist China.
AP Photo
A burned traffic sign sits on the Angeles Crest Highway near Los Angeles Monday.
Monterey, Los Angeles and Mariposa. On the blazeʼs northwestern front, two firefighters were killed Sunday when their truck drove off the side of a road on Mount Gleason near the city of Acton. Killed were Capt. Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County, and firefighter Specialist Arnaldo “Arnie” Quinones, 35, of Palmdale. Hall was a 26-year veteran, and Quinones had been a county firefighter for eight years. “Our hearts are heavy as we are tragically reminded of the sacrifices our firefighters and their families make daily to keep us safe,” Schwarzenegger said. The fire generally appeared to be well up the mountains, but a pall of white haze burned eyes and throats, and some flames could be seen. “We know whatʼs coming this afternoon, just the sheer heat and the low humidity,” Bill Peters, a spokesman with
Information from AP exchange the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in San Bernardino County, told KTLA-TV. “The fire makes its own path,” Peters said. “It just flows with the terrain. Itʼll run very quickly uphill and because of the dynamics and the decadent vegetation being so dry, it will drive itself downhill, where normally you need a wind to do that.” Northeast of Sacramento, a fire destroyed 60 structures, many of them homes in the town of Auburn. The fire had wiped out an entire cul-de-sac, leaving only smoldering ruins, a handful of chimneys and burnt cars. Rick Lund, whose house is nearby but escaped the fire, stood at the end of the cul-de-sac of about 10 homes, watching firefighters attend to what once were the homes of friends and neighbors. “Itʼs right there,” he said, pointing to a house of his 11year-old daughterʼs close friend. “Or it was.”