Word: thinning
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...coalition forces in 2001, have regrouped, attacked remote government outposts, held positions for a few days--and then, usually, vanished at the first whup-whup of approaching U.S. Blackhawk helicopters. Not last week. After ambushing a small garrison in Zabul province, several hundred Taliban fighters hid in a needle-thin gorge known as Moray Pass, waiting to attack U.S. troops and their Afghan allies. Shielded by overhanging rock, the Taliban were protected from U.S. bombers and helicopters, and fighting raged for several days. Local villagers reported seeing Taliban fighters scrambling up the hillside carrying their dead and wounded. Zabul...
...Last Week's Question: Is the U.S. military stretched too thin...
Even if the assault on the U.N. mission in Baghdad, apparently by a suicide truck bomber, would not have been prevented by a greater military presence in Iraq (troops can never guard every potential target), there are other signs that the U.S. Army is stretched too thin. More than a few heads snapped when Peter Schoomaker, the yanked-from-retirement general who is now the Army Chief of Staff, said in his confirmation hearing in late July that he "intuitively" thought "we need more people." His gut feeling apparently changed after Rumsfeld howled that Schoomaker's remarks had been distorted...
Growing up in the cool, thin air of the Kenyan highlands helped turn Stephen Cherono into a world-class runner. He honed his skills jumping over rocks and streams in his native land, following the tracks of his older brother, Abraham, and a phalanx of other Kenyan champions. At last week's World Championships in Athletics in Paris, he not only beat his brother in a thrilling 3,000-m steeplechase; he also scored a gold medal for his home country: Qatar. Qatar? That's right. Last month the lithe 20-year-old middle-distance man swapped his Kenyan passport...
...attack on Czech vehicles on Aug. 10, Czech Defense Minister Miroslav Kostelka said, "If the situation were suddenly and sharply to worsen, it is possible that measures would be taken that would involve at least some of the personnel being withdrawn." In some places, such as Karbala, forces are thin to begin with. Bulgarian troops now charged with patrolling that holy city will do so with less than half the manpower that the Americans committed to that task. Politicians in new Europe have plenty to worry about. Polish troops took mortar fire in Karbala last week, and in Sofia...