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U.S. Deaths Rise in Afghanistan
An American flag is folded in honor of Marine Pfc. Dawid Pietrek, 24, of Bensenville, Ill., during his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. The Polish immigrant was one of four Marines killed by a roadside bomb June 14 in Afghanistan's Farah province. Story, B3.
(By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)
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"That has proven to be particularly problematic lately," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon's press secretary. As in Iraq, he added, "a military solution will not suffice. There has to be better governance, less corruption, more economic development and more vigilance paid to counternarcotics in order to ultimately bring peace and stability to Afghanistan."
Seth Jones, a Rand Corp. expert on Afghanistan, said some areas, such as Helmand province, have experienced an increase in violence because U.S. troops have moved into areas controlled by insurgents. In some rural areas, however, insurgents have moved in and are facing little or no government influence.
"As you track these numbers month by month, you do see peaks and valleys in levels of violence," Jones said. "It is not surprising to see peaks in the spring and summer. The biggest concern is the sheer levels of violence incrementally increasing since 2002. The biggest concern is that violence levels are higher than they ever have been."
Some experts, including those at the Pentagon, say that the war in Afghanistan will probably become more violent before it calms, meaning the next U.S. president could inherit an increasingly bloody conflict.
"A lot of it is psychological warfare, with the belief that what they have to do is stay in the game," said Marvin G. Weinbaum, an Afghanistan expert at the Middle East Institute. "They want to draw attention to themselves as a serious force, with the expectation that the international community is going to tire of this and is going to back off."
He added: "They don't expect to take over the country in the short term; they're playing for the longer term. What they have done recently is to accelerate the strategy."
Staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.
