As we still mourn the thirty-one U.S. troops, including more than 20 Navy SEALs, who died when their helicopter was shot down during an overnight operation against Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, we learn today of waves of attacks in Iraq that have killed at least 60 people and question the government’s national security forces’ ability to protect the country. Afghanistan has not enjoyed peace in a generation. The Washington Post reports on a hill of 1,000 widows where almost three decades of war has mass-produced them. McClatchy reports that the Taliban attacked a governor’s compound north of Kabul, killing 22 people, demonstrating that nowhere in the country is safe.
