Little resistance on day 2 of U.S.-Afghan offensive

Duh, if you know that a few thousand soldiers are going to be pushed down your throat you're not going to be sticking out your head anytime soon.

just going in to hiding for 18 months or so...

I'm afraid hereandthere may be correct.

Same as I was thinking.

John McCain 's prediction is perhaps so accurate.Taliban ,AQ are taking holidays while America may continue to pump billions after billions into this battle field .

Anyone who believes the Afghan insurgents are just going to hide do not have a clue -- sad to say.

Little resistance on day 2 of U.S.-Afghan offensive

The resistance is just counting the days til July 2011.

I think that all this money spent on killing 7 or 11 Taliban will make the US bankcrupt (as well as upset wives and children of Taliban).

Where are they when you want them?

Anyone who believes the Afghan insurgents are just going to hide do not have a clue -- sad to say.

You could always enlighten us.

Taliban hiding or dying, I think the US will take any lull period in the fighting to build up the Afghan forces and later give them the chance to exit the theatre gracefully, leaving the actors to continue the play.

What is the point of stupid articles like this?

All the Taliban have to do is to wait out the next 18 months until Obamas announced withdrawal.

Every Western soldier who dies from this point on in the name of this futile exercise is a sacrifice for cheap party politics.

"What is the point of stupid articles like this?"

Yes willi. The hatefull, hatefull mainstream media reporting the contrary to your Islamic conspiracy theories.

it's just one soldiers opinion but it is from someone on the ground and actually in the game, here is an e mail sent to a prominent political blogger,

"Anyway, I'm now in Kandahar, working for Stan. That Stan. I was anti-Iraq. Beginning to now, in the US and in Anbar with a gun in my hand. I was anti-Afghanistan ... the Bush/Rummy version, after about week six.

So ... here's my tip: We're going to win this one. We have a plan. I call it C2. COIN and cordwood. We're trying to learn counter insurgency, while at the same time, we're stacking insurgent (the only accepted term at the moment) bodies like cordwood. They've gotten a little bit afraid, and are growing more so every day. The relatively fast 30k is going to relatively quickly change the picture, in noticeable way, in Helmand and Kandahar. We're booting the Canadians out of command of Kandahar City. Omar's town. We're putting a bright, smart, tough, funny Brit 2 star in charge of RC South, where the battle really matters. Obama has taken some huge brave risks; but they're smart risks, and we're going to prove him right."

Er.... I believe that the US has an option to start (yes, start) withdrawing troops in 18 months, if the Afghanistan army and police are up to the job and strong enough to start taking over.

The option is also to slow down the withdrawal to a trickle, if the Taliban keep playing their silly games, (the ones where they have the whole population shivering in fear not of God/Allah, but shivering in fear of these self-same scripture-spouting uneducated bloodthirsty bullies).

yabits: so what is your opinion about it?

Interesting read on this from a person who should know.

http://www.isaf.nato.int/en/the-afghan-hands-blog/commanders-blog/command-sgt.-major-michael-t.-hall-how-to-win-in-afghanistan-and-how-to-lose.html

I don't see how that 18 month withdrawal is going to help at all for our troops or the Afghan people. It runs counter to the very heart of our COIN objectives or as Sgt Major points out from real experience........

The locals, to this point, had been skeptical of coalition forces, and doubted the ability of the Afghan police to make life better for them. But they watched our troops partner with the Afghan police, and saw our commitment to creating a safe environment. The unit kept at it, despite an initial lack of cooperation from the villagers.

Counter-insurgency – or COIN – isn’t about making friends with everybody; the imperatives are protecting the people and separating the insurgents from them to gain their support. Once the insurgents are isolated from the population, they can no longer hide in plain sight. They become much easier to target.

The skillful combination of building relationships with the people and eliminating insurgents when they appear is at the heart of counterinsurgency. We have to do both well.

After taking out the bombers, the IED attacks stopped. The road was safe to drive again for the first time in years. That was just the beginning.

A company that had been hired months earlier felt it was finally safe enough to come in and pave the road. Then the town’s little bazaar grew to three or four times its size nearly over night. We didn’t give them any money or resources. With their own assets, their own hands and their own will, the locals expanded existing businesses and opened new ones, heartened by their newfound sense of security.

Coalition and Afghan forces now walk freely around the village and bazaar, they shop and eat with the locals as they patrol the town. The people tell them they feel safe again, thanks to the presence of coalition and Afghan forces.

If this sounds easy, let me reassure you that it’s not.

yabits: so what is your opinion about it?

It's not in the nature of the Afghan fighter to hide. The addition of new forces will simply force them to form new tactics once the numbers have stabilized and soldiers settle into routines. When that happens, you will see the attacks resume and the casualty numbers rise.

sailwind's article should be read in full. The last part talks about a failure that the writer did not want to identify the specifics of, but that indicates the failure of soldiers to understand how their actions affected the local community.

The writer contradicts himself one time, also. At one point he says, "Once the insurgents are isolated from the population, they can no longer hide in plain sight." At another place he writes: "...showed the insurgents that they could not operate here anymore. The rest left the area, or blended back into the population and quit being insurgents.

I have argued elsewhere that the Afghan situation needs more of the Peace Corps/Special Forces approach than it does of a massive infusion of occupying ground troops. The challenge that this Sgt. Major does not mention is that the country contains thousands upon thousands of little hamlets in mountain valleys.

I've been wondering about all the fuss that is being kicked up about President Obama's mention of a clear deadline, and people saying that the insurgents will just wait it out until the deadline arrives.

That is a really dumb argument and here's why -

The taliban can wait as long as they like, whether it's 18 more months or 18 years.

They've already been hanging on for 8 years and they can hang on for longer.

The smart part of Obama's strategy - as has been mentioned - is that hte deadline is being used to give the Afghan govt. a well-deserved kick up the butt.

sushisake3 wrote:

"They've already been hanging on for 8 years and they can hang on for longer."

Yes, and if we take out X number of enemy fighters over the next couple of years, the enemy will recruit the same number again or more to keep the war going.

And President Barack Obama will be looking for a new job come Jan. 2013.

in Iraq, most of the "insurgents" were either foreigners or people which were causing a genuine disruption to the daily life of the Iraqis. In Afghanistan, the insurgents are the locals themselves, so it will be impossible to weed them out. It's been quiet these days because the "insurgents" are back to their day jobs, observing, planning.

Afghanis have proven to be extremely resistant of foreigners or mainstream thinking. They would like for things to go back to the way they were. Western ideals of democracy or religion are too different from their way of life to understand or support.

This similar to the Spanish conquest of Latin America. Since the locals had so little in common, they eventually overcame the invading force. The US needs to align their interests with the locals. The only way is to build schools, boost the economies (not with opium), and social development. This will take ONE OR TWO GENERATIONS to complete, not 18 months.

All the USA needs to do is carve out a little zone next to Iran and then, attack Iran from both sides, Iraq and Afghanistan. NICE...

The Taliban have gone to ground, hiding in desolate areas until we leave.

They knew the attack was going to happen and will wait until Obamas cowardly cut and run target happens in 18 months time. After this they will be back, destroying the nation with radical islam. Another attack on the USA or our allies is also likely as they gain confidence in Obmas lilly livered polices which appease his Liberal buddies.

People need to realize that after the 18 months, Obama isn't withdrawing all forces, he is beginning the withdrawal of the surge troops or the additional 35k troops that are being added.

@PepinGalarga: Very astute post!!

In Afghanistan, the insurgents are the locals themselves.

Most insurgents in Afghanistan belong some type of warlord or the Taliban. So obviously they will naturally be the locals, however though public support for them is very low. Iraq was no different, foreigners only numbered at most a few thousand. As a result the vast majority of the Iraqi insurgency was made up of locals. Most of the insurgents, Taliban, do cause genuine disruption to the daily life of the afghanis.

Most insurgents in Afghanistan belong some type of warlord or the Taliban. So obviously they will naturally be the locals, however though public support for them is very low. Iraq was no different, foreigners only numbered at most a few thousand. As a result the vast majority of the Iraqi insurgency was made up of locals. Most of the insurgents, Taliban, do cause genuine disruption to the daily life of the afghanis.

You mention warlords. My biggest problem with the Afghan sittation is that where the Taliban can be considered warlords the "government" is made up of warlords just the same. This is a full scale civil war and the US is right in the middle of it. Karzai has no legittimacy whatsoever and is only in power because he happens to be backed by the west. His is a puppet government at most and will be overthrown the moment western forces leave Afghanistan, if theyll ever leave. But lets not fool ourselves thinking we "liberated" the country.

yabits:

" I have argued elsewhere that the Afghan situation needs more of the Peace Corps/Special Forces approach than it does of a massive infusion of occupying ground troops. "

And what half-life would you assign to a naive, Christian (e.g. kuffar) do-goodie-goodie peace corps volunteer in the Pashtun Taliban country?

"naive" does not begin to cover this....

Yeah less Peace Corp and more torture and killing

And what half-life would you assign to a naive, Christian (e.g. kuffar) do-goodie-goodie peace corps volunteer in the Pashtun Taliban country?

A proselytizing Christain would be screened out as unfit for this duty, first of all.

Your contempt for the skills of other people (and hatred of those who practice the Muslim religion) are quite evident, and serve to cloud your judgment to the point where no one should take you seriously.

Once taken under the wings of protection of a local tribe, the "half-life" of someone sent to serve a community with medical and construction aid would be quite long. Gaining the trust of the community is made much more difficult by the actions committed through sheer ignorance as described in the article in sailwind's previous post, and as KobeKid rightfully points out.