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Afghan Insurgency Growing Stronger: Petraeus

By the Associated Press

Posted Apr 1, 2009 11:45 AM CDT

(AP) – Gen. David Petraeus said today that militant insurgents in Afghanistan are growing in strength but will be fought "relentlessly and aggressively" by bolstered American troops. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan said the United States would take the fight to the Taliban and insurgent forces in both Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

Petraeus was greeted with skeptical questions from senators about how willing the Pakistani government is to fight extremists using its ungoverned Afghan border as a staging area for attacks. Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat, warned that he does not agree with the administration's contention that progress in Afghanistan depends on success on the Pakistan side of the border. Afghanistan's future should not be tied totally to the Pakistan government's decisions, he said.

US soldiers inspects the site of an explosion outside the main US military base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan.
US soldiers inspects the site of an explosion outside the main US military base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan.   (AP Photo)
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the U.S. Central Command, testifies on Capitol Hill.
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the U.S. Central Command, testifies on Capitol Hill.   (AP Photo)
Petraeus on Capitol Hill today.
Petraeus on Capitol Hill today.   (AP Photo)
Vehicles use to transport NATO supplies to neighboring Afghanistan afire in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Vehicles use to transport NATO supplies to neighboring Afghanistan afire in Peshawar, Pakistan.   (AP Photo)
Afghan police officers stand near the wreckage of car used in a suicide attack outside the main U.S. military base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 4, 2009. A car bomb exploded outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, wounding three people. The...
Afghan police officers stand near the wreckage of car used in a suicide attack outside the main U.S. military base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 4, 2009. A car bomb exploded...   (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
An Afghan policeman stands behind the remains of a car used by a suicide bomber.
An Afghan policeman stands behind the remains of a car used by a suicide bomber.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
kokuaguy
Apr 1, 2009 5:34 AM CDT
By/the/way-this/was/an/April/Fool/joke/by/Patreaus.
kokuaguy
Apr 1, 2009 5:15 AM CDT
And who will be the first to guess how these spaces were created?

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