A US soldier from the 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division takes cover while watching the hillsides of Loi Kolay Village being mortared and bombed, in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan. Two squads came under attack as they left Loi Kolay while on a patrol to question village elders. Adam Ferguson for TIMEFrom Time Magazine:
I came to the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan's northeastern province of Kunar to report a story on what it would take to win this war. For the past three years I have watched U.S. and coalition military tactics evolve from a purely kinetic approach to a much more subtle operation informed by Gen. David Petraeus's philosophy of counter-insurgency. In short, it is no longer about dominating the enemy but rather about enabling Afghans to stand up for themselves. If we can provide security while strengthening local governance, the theory goes, Afghans will choose to throw off the insurgent's yoke. In practice, however, it's a lot more complicated, especially in the Korengal Valley, where a toxic combination of local grievances, Taliban sympathizers, al-Qaeda operatives and professional warlords has taken 39 American lives since 2006. For a few days I based myself at Restrepo, an American firebase perched on a mountain ridge overlooking three of the valley's most important villages. One, called Loi Kolay, had been particularly problematic. Last November the Taliban pulled the village elder out of the mosque and shot him, accusing him of working with the Americans. Then they beheaded his corpse in the village square. Things started going downhill after that.
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My Comment: A fascinating read. I wish the main stream media produced more of this type of reporting and observations.
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