Insurgents flock to Afghanistan

[308Mike]

Linkarooni

Insurgents flock to Afghanistan
Successes in Iraq by U.S. said to be driving the change

By John F. Burns
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

October 15, 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S. military successes in Iraq have prompted growing numbers of well-trained “foreign fighters” to join the insurgency in Afghanistan instead, the Afghan defense minister said yesterday.

The minister, Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak, said at a news conference that the increased flow of insurgents from outside Afghanistan had contributed to the heightened intensity of the fighting this year, which he described as the worst since the U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban government in 2001.

U.S. commanders have said that overall violence in Afghanistan has increased by 30 percent in the past year, and they have called for more troops.

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[Dub_James]

Good news for the Repubs. Afghanistan cannot be called an Oil War, most on the left support or are indifferent to it, and the excuse that they're only there because we are won't hold water.

Will also help drain some from Iraq, making it even quieter.