Massive Taliban Attack on Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul

From Ace:

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.

Go get the rest at Ace.