Tedious as a twice-told tale

If wishes were horses, all of NATO would ride:

More troops means more violence, predicts general
Canwest News - December 17, 2008

The coming year will bring more violence in Afghanistan than in 2008, the commander of the Canadian mission said Tuesday.

Lt.-Gen. Michel Gauthier said he expected violent incidents to increase next year after thousands of additional U.S. troops arrive in the country...

"The insurgents are on their back foot, have been, and that's in part why we went almost three months without casualties," Gauthier said. "They did get a couple of -- I would say lucky -- attacks on us.... (link)

A little tour of the illustrious history of over-confidence (or pure B.S.) about the Taliban:

"I'm not making a prediction, but I think temporarily they're on their back foot, and we need to keep them there." - Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Sept 29 2004.

"[The Taliban] have been set on their back foot recently." - Canadian General Rick Hillier, Sept 29 2006.

"[The Taliban] are on their back foot in Kandahar province, and in region south in general". - Rick Hillier, Dec 18 2006.

"[Canadian soldiers] believe they need to keep the Taliban on their back foot until they can help the Afghans build their own army". - Rick Hillier, Dec 26 2007.

"[T]he Taliban are on their back foot with the recent arrival of aggressively on-the-offence U.S. Marines". - Rosie DiManno, Toronto Star, May 19 2008.

"It's become apparent that the Taliban are very much on the backfoot." British Brigadier Gordon Messenger, June 1 2008.