The Latest From the "Five O' Clock Follies"

U.S.-led military forces have captured or killed more than 900 Taliban leaders in the past 10 months, making it harder for the insurgency to maintain its offensive capabilities, according to the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

"We are getting indications that the (insurgency) is struggling to find replacements for leaders," said Maj. Sunset Belinsky of the International Security Assistance Force, which oversees coalition military operations in Afghanistan.

And yet, the Taliban keep on coming.

In the story, they point that they had seized "20,000 pounds of bombmaking fertilizer". I call bullshit on that one. True, ammonium nitrate fertilizer could have been used to make bombs. It also could have been used as fertilizer.

Military spokesmen and public affairs officers are professional liars. That is their sole job, to put a positive spin on everything. Here is a prime example from an earlier war:

"In an action today, Americal Division forces killed 128 enemy near Quang Ngai City. Helicopter gunships and artillery missions supported the ground elements throughout the day."

That "action" is now known as the My Lai Massacre.

We have a free press for a reason. Government officials of whatever party and in whatever function will spin the facts, if not outright lie about them or refuse to disclose anything if they are not being watched. The designated watchers are the press, though in some instances, bloggers are stepping in. For example, the fuckery of "Project Gunwalker" would not have come to light without bloggers, only CBS News and the LA Times have since run with the story.*

So when the Afghan version of the Five O' Clock Follies issues a statement about anything, you would be well advised to reach for this:

Apply liberally.
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* The only thing you will find about Project Gunrunner on the NY Times' website is a link to a press release from the American embassy in Mexico.