Posted on 10/04/2009 7:54:39 PM PDT by Saije
One fundamental tenet of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's controversial Afghanistan strategy aims at avoiding precisely the kinds of attacks that killed eight American soldiers Sunday.
In what is being described as one of the boldest attacks of the Afghan insurgency, an estimated 300 militants sustained a day-long siege against a coalition outpost in Nuristan Province – a place where the rule of law is so tenuous and the terrain so forbidding that it is seen as one of the likeliest hiding places for Osama bin Laden.
It is also has fewer people than Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Beyond the request for more resources that has engrossed America, McChrystal's battlefield assessment proposes deploying American troops in a profoundly different way.
Rather than sending them to the farthest-flung corners of a far-flung nation to hunt down scores of militants hiding in remote mountain caves, it intends to protect the Afghan population first, giving the most Afghans the greatest opportunity of establishing something approaching a safe and normal life.
Fourth of McChrystal's "four fundamental pillars" for a new strategy is: "prioritize available resources to those critical areas where the population is most threatened."
In fact, the very troops in Nuristan forced to fight off unseen attackers firing down from ridge lines cloaked in inclement weather Sunday are poised to be redeployed under McChrystal's new leadership, according to the Washington Post.
The change in course does not promise fewer casualties. Rather, it intends to focus US soldiers on areas where their sacrifices can potentially lead to longer-term security gains.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
I can't imagine that they would resign. It would be so demoralizing for the officers below them, the colonels, the captains, lieutenants, etc. And it would be damaging to our military, for senior officers to resign because of disagreements with the civilian command. No, I think there are a few wise men left in this country, maybe some on the Democrat side even, who would intervene to find some solution.
Roger Dat!!!
If moozzi is on a ridge then bomb the ridge!!!,,,DUH,,,!
It ain’t the friggin’ A Shau Valley and this ain’t the 60’s!
In a year the Taliban reconquers Afghanistan, there will be 1,000 Al-Qaeda agents in the Taliban Government. In 5 years, there will be around 10,000 Al-Qaeda agents with the reestablishment of the terrorist training camps throughout the country.
Somewhere in my dozens of hours of off-the-air video of GW1, there was a segment on FAEs that had a slo-mo of a BIG "umbrella spread" high above ground -- with a spectacular shockwave propagating across the desert below it. I just don't have the time to spool through that many feet of VHS just to find those few seconds of video...
And then if we do capture any TERRORISTS (there 0bozo, I said the word), we are supposed to read the bastards the Miranda rights, protect the muzzie brothers of 0bozo. God help our nation and forgive the dastardly 52% for electing this socialist-fascist-commie pig usurper & muzzie pres____ent. May God quickly & soon, strike down 0bozo before our country is destroyed any further.
Uh, you left out his anniversary date with Michelle.
ping
It is bad enough to have a dumb-ass as President but to also have a lazy one is disgusting!
Exactly!
When does 'the one' actually work?! He gives us peons a lot of lectures and flies around the world but when does he actually WORK?!
You will notice there is never anything on his desk in the oval office, ever.
Arrogant, lazy, stupid and doesn't seem to get it. What a life! At least, we have a half black President to show the world we aren't 'racist'! /s
I agree. This sounds like the opposite of the “Surge” where troops were moved out of “enclaves” into the population. It also sounds like the failed old “strategic hamlets” idea in Vietnam.
Since McChrystal doesn't have and cannot get the troops necessary to hold Nuristan province he has decided to surrender it to the terrorists.
I honestly belive Obama stressed his support for Afganistan during the campain just so he wouldnt look like a liberal coward. It was all an act. He is going to mess this thing up then pullout.But first he's got to kill off some of the opposition. Soldiers vote Republican, don't you know?
Amazing how many remain stuck in 1945, wishing Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf Wars never happened.
As if every enemy is always the Axis, and every battlefield is always clearly delineated.
As if simply ‘bombing them Nazis into rubble’ will magically restore America to greatness.
The further we fall from grace, the louder the desperate calls for ‘more ruthlessness’ will become.
Thanks for the ping!
Well, sometimes a retreat is the right thing to do. It can shorten your lines of communication and logistics, while lengthening those of the enemy. Without sufficient troops, its about the best you can do. BUT, if the ROE can be changed to once again allow extensive use of air power, at least away from major population centers and using both fixed and rotary wing aircraft, then we can continue on offense in the hinterlands, as well as defending the larger population centers, without destroying them to do so.
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