What's really happening around Kandahar not being revealed?

June 17, 2008
What's happening around Kandahar?
Posted by Nancy Youssef - McClatcy Blog

This morning there were reports out of Afghanistan that the Taliban had swarmed towns near Kandahar and took them over. The Afghan Minister of Defense said 400 militants moved in. And residents reportedly were fleeing to neighboring towns after government leaflets reportedly urged them to leave. That the Taliban could be moving into towns, even with U.S., NATO and Afghan troops nearby would be an ominous sign that traditional military forces cannot contain the Taliban's influence. It appeared the Afghan government was concerned; it sent one of its battalions to the area after this morning's report.

And yet NATO and the U.S. military said it didn't happen.

"Recent reports of militant control in the area appear to be unfounded," a NATO statement said. And at a Pentagon briefing, Defense spokesman Geoff Morrell said there was not "any imminent concern that Kandahar is about to fall to the Taliban."

Huh? How could there be such starkly contrasting versions of what happened? Conflicting reports is an everyday happenstance in Washington, but most of the time the differences are not so stark.

This is the second time in a week where reports out of Afghanistan raised more questions than answers. A few days ago, U.S. forces said they launched an air strike after insurgents attacked them from the Afghan/Pakistan border. U.S. officials said they notified their Pakistani counterparts before the attack began, and yet the Pakistani government was outraged, saying the U.S. killed 11 of its paramilitary members.

On the face of it, Monday's news out of Kandahar could be another sign that the violence in Afghanistan is undeniably burgeoning. After all, last week the Taliban helped as many 1,200 inmates escape from Kandahar's main prison.

But it also may signal how little the U.S. knows about what is happening in a country it has fought in since 2001. To be fair, the rugged terrain makes seeing movements in Afghanistan extremely difficult. That said, could the Taliban have moved in, destroyed crops and forced residents out of their homes right under the coalition forces' noses? Or is the Afghan government playing politics, using today's report to show its people that it can move forces to them quickly?

It's been 14 hours since the reports first came in, and no one at the Pentagon seems to know.