US-led forces losing war in Afghanistan: Taliban
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Panetta's two-day trip was aimed at boosting the morale of American troops, but it was the insurgent fighters who were in fact gaining strength.
"These remarks by the highest ranking US military official are just meant to boost the morale of their soldiers and hide their defeat," he said in a statement highlighting the ongoing propaganda war.
Despite 10 years of war, western analysts admit they have "not achieved even one percent success despite their pressure", he added.
"New mujahedeen have been entering the ranks of Taliban every day. They conduct attacks with new tactics and higher morale on occupying troops in every corner of the country, even in the ongoing cold weather.
"All these facts are proofs of our war achievements."
Panetta was in Afghanistan to review the war effort with the United States, which is on track to recall 33,000 troops by the end of the next year and is shifting its focus to an advisory role in training Afghan security forces.
"We're moving in the right direction and we're winning this very tough conflict," he told US troops Wednesday.
There are around 140,000 international troops in Afghanistan helping pro-government forces fight a drawn-out 10-year Taliban-led insurgency that has cost thousands of lives, billions of dollars and wearied Western voters.
All foreign combat troops are due to leave by the end of 2014, but a sizeable troop mission to train and mentor national forces is set to remain beyond that date.
Despite the tight timetable for the transition of security, the military and the United Nations disagree over the extent to which violence is really falling in Afghanistan.
In October, the Pentagon said that Taliban attacks were down for the first time in five years but the UN says the number of civilians who were killed increased by 15 percent in the first six months of this year.
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For US being not able to protect people's lives and properties is a defeat and for Taliban just creating fear and able to survive is a victory.
The facts remain for us to determine the truth and their denial cannot alter the truth. The ANSF have begun independently controlling many areas in Afghanistan, as our government prepares to drawdown our forces from the region. Everything is moving according to the plan. They continue to spread rumors and propaganda about our progress in the region but at the end of the day, facts can be separated from fiction. Would it be possible for Afghan Security Forces to assume the security responsibilities if the Taliban were still controlling Afghanistan? Please read below and see for yourself. The days when the Taliban had suppressed the nation of Afghanistan are long gone.
http://www.centcom.mil/news/insurgents-face-unrelenting-pressure-in-afghanistan Would it be possible to witness these changes if our forces were failing to succeed against the Taliban?
Here you can watch how American, Italian and Afghan forces are securing Bala Murghab and have taken control back from the Taliban.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HaTaDdgTDzc Here you can read about at least three failed attacks by the insurgents against Afghan and coalition targets.
http://www.centcom.mil/news/insurgent-failures-mark-start-of-winter-operations-in-eastern-afghanistan
The truth has continued to unfold since 9/11, and facts can be easily separated from mere lies and propaganda. The hard work of US and NATO forces continues to lead Afghanistan towards recovery, and the people of Afghanistan have long begun to experience life in a free society. Though the baseless rumors regarding our efforts in Afghanistan continue, facts determine the truth. Please read the following link to see for yourself:
http://www.centcom.mil/press-releases/progress-in-afghanistan-highlighted-by-business-growth-job-creation-and-new-infrastructure-projects
@ali:
Sorry Ali, are the NATO soldiers not fierce enough for you? If we tortured their soldiers like they do to ours, would that help? Would that help our ideology?
Leon Panetta must be smoking some afghan opium to make a totally absurd statement. The facts on the ground are opposite. More than 60% of Afghanistan is out of NATO/ISAF control. They can not even protect Kabul anymore. Who are they trying to fool? Only themselves!!
It is unbelieavable that it took Ten years and NATO and ISAF have just dug their own grave.
taliban's media war is impressive
If blowing a bridge, bombing passenger van & school is winning war then yes Taliban are winning. It took Western forces less than one week to topple Talibans & there so called Islamic Emriate. Lets be honest to ourselves for once. Day dreaming is not good for our faith (deene Islam deene ber haq).
No war is winable, America should have taken a lesson from the Soviets, with all its might and manpower they could not win against a nation which is determined not to let invaders occupy their land. No matter how much the West spins the story it is definitely not winning. Like the British and the Soviets, they too will have to walk away in shame. but God save Afghanistan from the Talibans.
Well what do you know, the Talibans are infact right
No one truly knows what is happening acrossed seas. Just a bunch of people who think they know just talking about what they see from the news and start rumors. We dont know if there is progress or not. The government is smarter than what we put them out to be, and they know why we are there.
For US,NATO,ISAF not being able to protect the properties and lives of people is a defeat and for Taliban just survival is a victory.
Of course they are losing. Its a guerrilla war. In Vietnam US lost also but it was a guerrilla war. US has all the hardware but they don't have the fierce fighters like Vietcong or the Taliban. In both place it was the ideology that won.
Such motives go two ways and the Taliban has rarely if ever made self conscious statements so quickly like this. I'm not there. Whatever the situation is, is what the situation is. But this statement coming out is just as likely a sign of worry of their own fighters morale and lack of ability to communicate. Even more so when considering past trends in statements when comparing the US and the Taliban in regard when they do it and how they do it. The 1% shot even seals their intent to exaggerate. It doesn't matter which side you favor, you can't say that's even close to an accurate judgment of the circumstances even if you give them permission for a little bit above average creative license. It's typical Taliban propaganda. You can say what you want about other forces and their verbal strategies but whenever you find it coming from the Taliban it's always an over exaggerated and absurd statement. Just go look for examples of their internet propaganda. It's all the same and never even realistic enough to be effective. Making the attempt to force a neutral state of mind on myself in the situation, there's just not enough reality in this claim to be anything but self conscious worry about their own position. In fact, if they're as confident as they claim to be, they wouldn't even be concerned enough to say this. If their success against the US is ahead by such a margin it would be considered pointing out the obvious. I'm not saying all sides don't exaggerate in public statements sometimes. But, this one is far more transparent than the statements from the US. In fact, it's extremely difficult for the US to be the liar in this or any related scenario. While the US gets all the attention, it's still a NATO force. There are other countries included, and if they were being massacred, we'd certainly have heard about it. It's very hard to keep a coalition united when they're losing and making no progress as much as the Taliban claims.
They're not winning, neither are they losing. This war can go on for a 100 years or so and we'd have no winner.