Success in Afghanistan

Rapid-Reaction Force Afghanistan

March 05, 2008 Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division, Task Force Gladius, wait for another CH-47 Chinook helicopter at Forward Operating Base Morales-Frasier, Afghanistan. The Soldiers will fly to Surobi District to protect a CH-47 that made a hard landing there, until mechanics can certify it safe to fly. Photo by Sgt. Johnny R. Aragon

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The Afghanistan success story
By Ray Robison

Most of the American media have continuously misreported the NATO mission in Afghanistan as a disaster unfolding, beginning before the effort even began, with warnings of the "brutal Afghan winter." More recently, the media are representing that the Taliban is "resurgent" (when in fact it was NATO that was on the offensive), that the NATO alliance is crumbling, and that Afghanistan is all but lost. I have shown that statements from NATO leaders have gone almost completely ignored when they do not sustain the "losing in Afghanistan" narrative.


Yet all of this good news goes nearly unreported in the American media in favor of a "resurgent Taliban" narrative. At some point, media consumers must not only question the media narrative but the cause of this distorted reporting. We can only conclude that the disparate nature of the facts from the reporting points to nothing less than purposely biased reporting at America's journalistic institutions.

Michelle Malkin recently alluded to the American media misreporting of the Tet Offensive. Her discussion referred to a historical study of the media reporting versus what really happened in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive that found the media narrative drove the reporting, not the events. We are now experiencing another Tet Offensive in Afghanistan, not from the enemy forces, but from an enemy media that seeks to put a Democrat in the White House by discrediting anything our military has accomplished, as long as the Commander-in-Chief is a Republican.

Here are a dozen more facts from the report you are unlikely to see in media reporting:

1/The Afghan Army is growing in size, experience, and leadership capabilities.

2/A recent study found that 90% of the Afghan population trusted the countries military force.

3/More than 4,000 km of roads have been built where only 50 km existed in 2001.

4/The rehabilitation of the North-East power system has advanced and access of the rural households to electricity has been significantly increased.

5/In 2007 alone, ISAF nations completed 1,080 civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) projects.

6/2,000 schools were built or repaired in the last five years and around 6.4 million children (including 1.5 million girls) are now in schools.

7/Since 2001, both infant and under-five mortality has declined by 26% and 22% respectively.

8/In 2001, 8% of Afghans had access to some form of healthcare. Now more than 80% of the population has access to medical care.

9/The non-opium economy has grown at an average of 12% over the past four years; the number of poppy-free provinces has grown from six in 2006 to 13 in 2007.

10/Afghan public support for international involvement in Afghanistan remains high with around 70% of Afghans supporting the presence of international forces.

11/The majority of Afghans believe their country is going in the right direction and 84% support their current government (as opposed to 4% who would support the Taliban).

12/They also maintain a positive view of reconstruction efforts with 63% saying that reconstruction efforts in their area have been effective since 2002.


From:
http://www.americanthinker.com/

More:

NATO progress in Afghanistan significant, general says
Posted: 20 Mar 2008 03:32 AM CDT
WASHINGTON (March 19, 2008) – Despite the task NATO faced when it arrived in Afghanistan in 2003, the alliance has made significant progress in the country, the deputy chairman of the alliance’s military committee said.

From: US CENTCOM