Taliban vows revenge against 'sick-minded American savages'

Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents have vowed revenge against "sick-minded American savages" for the murderous rampage by a US soldier who killed 16 villagers in their homes.
The Taliban would "take revenge from the invaders and the savage murderers for every single martyr", the hardline Islamist group said in a statement on its website, says ABC Online.

Barack Obama immediately condemned the attack calling it a "tragic and shocking incident", with Nato pledging to conduct a "rapid and thorough investigation".
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, is currently in Afghanistan on a surprise visit to the country as officials said a strategic pact between Western and Afghan forces could be delayed. The strategic pact was expected to enable the long-term deployment of US troops in Afghanistan, reports Telegraph.co.uk.

The last piece of good news from the Afghan war was probably Operation Moshtarak. The early-2010 Marine-led assault on Helmand Province, a poppy-rich Taliban stronghold, reduced the number of insurgent attacks there by up to 70%. There were a few years at the end of the Bush administration and mostly at the beginning of Obama's when these sorts of stories -- not signs that the war was turning for the better, exactly, but hints that one day it might -- seemed frequent, according to The Atlantic.

Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, pleaded for public patience on the war.
"I understand the frustration, and I understand the anger and the sorrow," McCain said. "I also understand and we should not forget that the attacks on the United States of America on 9/11 originated in Afghanistan. And if Afghanistan dissolves into a situation where the Taliban were able to take over a chaotic situation, it could easily return to an al-Qaida base for attacks on the United States of America."
Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said a primary problem is leaving the country vulnerable and signaling to Iran that the U.S. wasn't committed to the region.
"We can win this thing. We can get it right," Graham said.
Reid spoke on CNN's "State of the Union." Graham and Schumer spoke on ABC News "This Week." McCain spoke on "Fox News Sunday."
Associated Press Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier and writers Michele Salcedo and Kevin Freking contributed to this report, informs Detroit Free Press.