Massive Taliban Attack on Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul

Breaking. A swarm of vermin laden with suicide vests.

Why target the hotel? Multiple possible reasons. One: As noted by CNN, there’s a presser scheduled there tomorrow to announce a handover of security duties from NATO to the Afghan army. Preempting that by running wild in the hotel carries symbolic value. Two: It’s a soft target in Kabul, Karzai’s stronghold, not a military outpost in some far-flung eastern or southern province. That’s a message to NATO commanders that the battlefield this year might be a lot bigger than they think. And three, obviously: They want to capitalize on Obama’s withdrawal announcement to show that not only haven’t they been defeated, they’re still strong enough to wreak havoc right under NATO’s nose in a supposedly heavily guarded tourist spot. Just as I’m writing this, NBC’s claiming that three attackers have blown themselves up; no word on where the other three are or how many people in the hotel are dead. Stand by for updates.

Also, the Intercontinental chain is a brand name. They like going after things with brand names.

posted by Ace at 04:23 PM

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