Taliban - - Ghazni.

This is coolbert:

"Afghanistan, the land that swallows armies, of ancient rifles in the hands of men as hard as mountains."

"The Russian army had hundreds of thousands of troops here and lost. Now it's the Americans" - - a Taliban fighter.

More very depressing headlines from the Afghan front:

"In Ghazni, Taliban have little to fear" - - January 12, 2009.

"In Ghazni province, at least, the Taliban militants are not frightened fighters skulking in caves, sneaking out to ambush and then scurrying off to another mountain hideout. They live comfortably in the farming villages where many of them were born, holding territory, recruiting and training new troops, reveling in what they see as God's gift of inevitable victory against heathen foreign occupiers."

"'In the early days [2001], there were many spies, so we had to move around in small groups,' Ahmadi said. 'But now we are in groups of 300 or 400. We have no problems.'"

Taliban hard-core units, now numbering company and even small battalion sized units are roaming around the Afghan countryside, foot-loose and fancy-free!!?? This cannot bode well!

And Ghazni too is NOT far from Kabul. These Taliban villains have the upper hand now, and know it. Ghazni was of course the capital of the great Afghan conqueror, Mahmud, from 1,000 years ago now. Ancient traditions die hard in Afghan. Memories of a long-ago past that are still alive and fresh in the mind of the Afghan? "We conquered the Russians and others way before them." "These Americans are no different than anyone else and are next on the agenda!"

From bad to worse in Afghan? That is NOW!!

coolbert.