U.S. Marines are seen in a file photo, near the town of Garmser in the Helmand province of Afghanistan May 15, 2008. (Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)
KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. Marines have killed more than 400 Taliban since they began an operation to seize a district in southern Afghanistan in May, their commander said on Wednesday.
A fighting force of some 2,200 U.S. Marines deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year to make up for shortfalls in troops that Washington failed to persuade other NATO allies to fill.
The Marines moved into Garmsir district, in the southern province of Helmand, in late April, taking up positions east of the river that cuts through the desert region, and in early May began a fierce fight to push Taliban militants west and south.
Read more ....
More News On Afghanistan
Afghanistan: 400 militants killed in US Helmand mission, says colonel -- Guardian
More than 400 Taliban killed since spring, commander says -- CNN
250 civilians killed, injured in last 5 days in Afghanistan -- Khaleej Times
NATO commander: Attacks from Pakistan up, but 'We do return fire' -- International Herald Tribune
AP Interview: Indian Embassy bomber hoped to destroy Kabul embassy, ambassador says -- International herald Tribune
1 NATO soldier killed, 3 wounded in Afghanistan roadside blast -- Khaleej Times
U.S. may conduct raids into Pakistan -- Houston Chronicle
My Comment: I am going to quote "Prairie Pundit". He expresses exactly what I also feel is the changing and evolving situation in Afghanistan. While I feel that our involvement in Afghanistan will be a very long and bloody one, there are sometimes rays of hope. This is one of them.
Quoting Prairie Pundit: The Marine accomplishment in Garmsir is remarkable. If we could put that kind of force in operations elsewhere in Afghanistan it would probably shorten the war. It is quite possible with the defeat of al Qaeda in Iraq as well as the Iranian militias, that more forces will be sent to Afghanistan.
I have always maintained that the key to winning in insurgency warfare is having an adequate force to space ratio. It must be large enough to deny real estate to the enemy so that you are not playing whack a mole with him. Early on the military took a small foot print strategy into both Afghanistan and Iraq.
In Iraq the value of the surge was increased exponentially by the increased numbers of Iraqi forces. It was the addition of new Iraqi forces as well as the conversion of militia to neighborhood watch patrols that gave us the force to space ration to deny the enemy mobility. Afghanistan does not have the same aggressive growth rate for the Afghan army yet. It will have to grow to make the operations in Afghanistan more effective.
The key will be having enough force to deny real estate to the enemy and also protect the people.
No comments:
Post a Comment