Oh, wait, sorry, other than the Washington Times, and buried around in tiny articles scattered here and there, ho hum
The United Nations said Friday the number of civilians killed in conflict in Afghanistan has jumped 24 percent so far this year, with bombings by insurgents and air strikes by international forces the biggest single killers.
The U.S. military announced the deaths of two more troops in southern Afghanistan. The deaths brought to 42 the number of Americans killed in Afghanistan in July – the bloodiest month for U.S. and international forces during the eight-year Afghan war.
In a grim assessment of the first half of 2009, the U.N. assistance mission in Afghanistan said the Taliban and other anti-government militants have become more deadly by shifting from ambush attacks to suicide bombings, use of roadside explosives and targeted assassinations.
It warned that more civilians would likely be killed as insurgents try to battle a troop increase by the administration of President Obama, and seek to destabilize the country before presidential and provincial council elections on Aug. 20. The summer is also typically the worst season for fighting in Afghanistan.
Remember when Bush 43 was president and this would be front page material for most of the Credentialed Media when we were discussing Iraq, slamming him for the civilian and US troop deaths? Now that Afghanistan is Obama’s war, about the only thing we get is a “just the facts” article from the Washington Times.
Furthermore, the United Nations report is simply “here are the facts.” The Taliban is bad. That’s right, Dubya would have been slammed, the United States would have been slammed, and the mission would have been slammed just a year ago. Or, if McCain hadn’t blown the election, he would have been slammed. Since it is Obama in charge, just the facts.
