[Peace-discuss] The general US war in the Middle East

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Just as the "Vietnam War" was a general US attack on SE Asia -- including Laos 
and Cambodia -- so the "Iraq War" is part of a larger US assault on the people 
of SW Asia and Africa as far as Somalia.  If historians in a later generation 
are able to discuss it, they may describe a "Greater Middle East War," perhaps 
for the sake of convenience dated from the overthrow of the US-installed 
government in Iran in 1979.  Perhaps they'll call it "The 30 Years' War of the 
21st Century," parallel to "The 30 Years' War of the 17th century," 1618-48, and 
"The 30 Years' War of 20th Century," 1914-45. Or maybe a new "100 Years' War," 
the US demand to control ME energy resources comparable to England's demand to 
control French feudalities (the source of wealth in the declining medieval mode 
of production), 1337-1453.  It took a saint to help expel the English from 
France; what will it take to expel the US from the Middle East? --CGE]

	Bush says US to send more troops to Afghanistan
	Jul 2, 6:36 PM (ET)
	By BEN FELLER

WASHINGTON (AP) - Grappling with a record death toll in an overshadowed war, 
President Bush promised Wednesday to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan by 
year's end. He conceded that June was a "tough month" in the nearly 
seven-year-old war.

In fact, it was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the 
conflict began.

"One reason why there have been more deaths is because our troops are taking the 
fight to a tough enemy, an enemy who doesn't like our presence there because 
they don't like the idea of America denying safe haven (to terrorists)," Bush 
told reporters. "Of course there's going to be resistance."

Bush said it was a tough month too for the Taliban. But the once-toppled 
Islamist regime in Afghanistan has now rebounded with deadly force.

More U.S. and NATO troops have died in the past two months in Afghanistan than 
in Iraq, a place with triple the number of U.S. and coalition forces.

In June, 28 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan. That was the highest monthly total 
of the entire war, which began in October 2001.

For the full U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan the death toll was 46, also the 
highest of the war.

Bush confronted the grim direction of the Afghanistan conflict during a 
sun-splashed Rose Garden appearance. The president used the event to tout his 
agenda for an upcoming Group of Eight meeting in Japan with world leaders, then 
addressed Iran, climate change and gasoline prices in a short Q&A session with 
reporters.

The Pentagon predicts the pace of attacks in Afghanistan by a resurgent Taliban 
is likely to rise this year, despite U.S.-led efforts to capture key leaders.

(AP) President Bush gestures during remarks on the upcoming G-8 summit in the 
Rose Garden of the White...
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"We're going to increase troops by 2009," Bush said, without offering details 
about exactly when or how many.

It amounted to a reiteration of a promised buildup of U.S. troops in Afghanistan 
by Bush. He said coalition forces have doubled in size over two years, and 
pledged that the twin strategy of fighting extremists and supporting 
Afghanistan's civil development "is going to work."

The Pentagon's top military officer said Wednesday that if security continues to 
improve in Iraq he is hopeful he will begin to have troops available to shift to 
Afghanistan by the end of this year. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint 
Chiefs of Staff, said more troops are essential to stem the violence.

"The Taliban and their supporters have, without question, grown more effective 
and more aggressive in recent weeks, and as the casualty figures clearly 
demonstrate," Mullen said. He added that "there's no easy solution, and there 
will be no quick fix."

In terms of public attention, the war in Afghanistan has been obscured by the 
far costlier and deadlier one in Iraq.

(AP) President Bush gestures during remarks on the upcoming G-8 summit in the 
Rose Garden of the White...
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But it is a matter of consensus within the Bush administration, and between the 
U.S. and key allies, that there are far too few troops in Afghanistan to fight 
the accelerating Taliban and to train Afghan soldiers and police.

Overall, roughly 32,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, including 14,000 serving 
with NATO forces and 18,000 conducting training and counterinsurgency.

That's the largest U.S. presence since the war began.

Afghanistan, not Iraq, was the original target after the Sept. 11, 2001, 
attacks. The United States led the ouster of the hardline Taliban regime in late 
2001 for providing haven to terrorists, including al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

The latest assessment from the Pentagon, released last week, describes a dual 
terror threat in Afghanistan: the Taliban in the south, and "a more complex, 
adaptive insurgency" in the east, made up of groups ranging from al-Qaida and 
Afghan warlords to Pakistani militants.

(AP) President Bush gestures during remarks on the upcoming G-8 summit in the 
Rose Garden of the White...
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Military officials say security has deteriorated in large part because of the 
lawless, tribal border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Bush said he will seek to remind his peers at the G-8 summit that the battle 
against violent extremists goes on.

"The temptation is to kind of say, well, maybe this isn't really a war, maybe 
this is just a bunch of disgruntled folks that occasionally come and hurt us," 
Bush said. "You know, that's not the way I feel about it. This is an ongoing, 
constant struggle to defend our own security."

The other G-8 nations are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and 
Russia. The summit will be the last of Bush's presidency.

On other topics:

- Bush said he wants a multi-country diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff 
with Iran, but will not remove the option of a military strike. Asked directly 
about the possibility of an Israeli strike against Iran, "I have made it very 
clear to all parties that the first option ought to be solve this problem 
diplomatically."

In an interview later at the White House with Japanese journalists, Bush said 
the U.S. won't take the military option off the table on North Korea any more 
than it would on Iran.

"I have always said that diplomacy has got to be the first choice of solving any 
of these problems," Bush said referring to Iran, North Korea and Iraq. "But 
military options remain on the table, and they remain on the table for these 
three issues."

- The president blasted the Democratic-led Congress for not advancing his energy 
proposals, including lifting a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling. The 
president even went so far as to ask Americans to get involved in a lobbying 
effort. "They ought to be writing their Congress people about it," he said.

- Bush said he hoped the G-8 leaders would come to terms on long-range goals for 
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He said that should come first, before an 
attempted agreement on shorter-range goals for cutting emissions, a matter of 
higher priority for many European nations.

- Bush said he will urge other nations to make good on earlier pledges to help 
alleviate malaria, HIV-AIDS and other diseases in the developing world. "We need 
people who not only make promises, but write checks, for the sake of human 
rights and human dignity, and for the sake of peace," he said.

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Associated Press writers Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this 
report.