...was ruled by a Democrat machine from 1942 through 1971. After the river caught fire during the administration of Carl Stokes they tried a Republican, then went back to being Democrats when the party hacked up Dennis Kucinich ...
, a front man for NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan said.
"The evidence we've seen of that is an increase in their taxes to locals as they move through," Cleveland said at a presser Wednesday in Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title
Most Evil Man in the Worldand didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
. "We believe that the death of Mullah Mansour certainly contributed to that as well."
Mansour, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistain's Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
province in May, had financial acumen that, along with his involvement in the narcotics trade, helped grow the group's war chest, Cleveland said.
"It was a good harvest and we did expect the Taliban to be flush with money, but since that time of course Mansour was killed and we have seen this evidence, in particular the taxes being raised on the local population," he said.
The financial pressure could be affecting Taliban operational readiness. But Cleveland acknowledged the bad boy group manages to offset some of that pressure through their field operations against Afghan cops.
"Of course what we've also seen is that they will raid a checkpoint and they kind of restock some of their supplies as well," Cleveland added.
This comes while the holy warriors have increased their attacks in different parts of the country recently - especially in Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
, Uruzgan, Farah and Kunduz provinces.