[Skybird]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...556304,00.html

A long but good read, I think.

Forty nations are embroiled in an unwinnable war in Afghanistan. Anyone who travels through the country with Western troops soon realizes that NATO forces would have to be increased tenfold for peace to be even a remote possibility. ...
Last year, 1,469 bombs exploded along Afghan roads, a number almost five times as high as in 2004. There were 8,950 armed attacks on troops and civilian support personnel, 10 times more than only three years earlier. One hundred and thirty suicide bombers blew themselves up in 2007. There were three suicide bombings in 2004.

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Related: "What's important is to kill the Germans":
http://www.spiegel.de/international/...554545,00.html

Haqqani: You just don't understand: There is no need for special orders anymore. The mujahedeen are just doing what they are responsible for doing. To kill and attack Germans is the goal and that is clear to everyone. The entire chain and network is responsible. ... Yes, we lost some key commanders such as Mullah Dadullah, Osmani or Mansoor Dadullah, but just look at the history of the Taliban between 1995 and 1996. Back then we also lost two important main commanders -- Mullah Mohammad and Mullah Borjan -- but we still took control of Kabul and almost all of Afghanistan. ... The holy Koran forbids committing suicide, but it does not forbid the fedayeen. There is a huge difference. Suicide is when a person kills himself without any ultimate goal, but fedayeen strive for the ultimate goal, Islam. ...