Soviet-Era Afghan Assessments Look Like American Assessments On Afghanistan Today

U.S. Marines patrol through the streets of Shah Karez city during Operation Alekhine's Gun in the Musa Qaleh district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb 10, 2012. The Marines, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, found numerous weapons caches and an estimated 150 pounds of black tar heroin. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Robert Storm

In Soviet-Era Afghan Assessment, An Old, Or Enduring, Truth? -- New York Times

Many years into the war in Afghanistan, an officer declares that the fight is going badly, that Afghan soldiers are not up to the job and that top military and political leaders are sugar-coating a grim situation.

That could describe Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis of the Army, who returned from his second Afghan deployment and set off an intense debate last week by declaring in an article in Armed Forces Journal that he had “witnessed the absence of success on virtually every level” and calling on top commanders to begin “telling the truth.” Colonel Davis also wrote a longer unclassified report elaborating on his views and delivered it to members of Congress and the Defense Department’s inspector general.

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My Comment: My uncle was a senior officer in the Soviet military when they were fighting in Afghanistan, and he told me the same thing 2-3 years ago. The Americans may not employ the same tactics that the Soviets used, but because they cannot destroy the Taliban safe-havens in Pakistan, as well as having Afghan allies that are either corrupt or incompetent, the Taliban will eventually win.

So .... are we repeating history .... it appears that we are.