BLOODY MINDED

I can't help but wonder how many A10s are up there now, 24 hours a day, circling over and around Kabul waiting to pounce when one of the Muhajadeen decides to fire a Stinger missile or other AAW man-portable missile at the various jets and cargo planes flying in and out of Kabul International. It's hard for me to forget that the Russians have always had a weakness for shooting down both civil airliners and unarmed reconnaissance aircraft and they are the distilled essence of evil turned into a State. The Taliban are wannabees but just as ruthless and bloody minded as any other worshipper of Baal or Moloch. If you wonder why we keep feeding troops into that inferno, it is with the hope that they can control enough of the flight path when aircraft are most vulnerable to ground fire on take-off and approach.