Afghan security forces inspect the site of a U.S. airstrike in Kunduz city, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Oct. 2, 2015. The new leader of the Afghan Taliban says their capture of the northern city of Kunduz was a “symbolic victory” that showed the strength of the insurgency — even though the Taliban pulled out of the city after three days. (AP Photo)
The news from President Obama’s “right war” isn’t so good:
The Taliban insurgency has spread through more of Afghanistan than at any point since 2001, according to data compiled by the United Nations as well as interviews with numerous local officials in areas under threat.
In addition, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan over the past two weeks has evacuated four of its 13 provincial offices around the country — the most it has ever done for security reasons — according to local officials in the affected areas.
The data, compiled in early September — even before the latest surge in violence in northern Afghanistan — showed that United Nations security officials had already rated the threat level in about half of the country’s administrative districts as either “high” or “extreme,” more than at any time since the American invasion ousted the Taliban in 2001.
It would have been better to have exited Afghanistan shortly after installing the Northern Alliance in power — and to have exited via Tehran.
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