U.S. and Afghan soldiers pose for a photograph on former Forward Operating Base Shinwar in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, July 14, 2013. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Margaret Taylor
Dispatch from Afghanistan: They Don't Want To Fight, Neither Do We -- Carmen Gentile, Defense One
ACHIN DISTRICT, Afghanistan -- It was a mission like so many others I've been on throughout Afghanistan: Assailants unleash rockets, mortars and small arms attacks on U.S. soldiers in a remote corner of Afghanistan that the Taliban and other militants groups call home. The ordnances drop, machine gun fire clatters and then American troops return fire in the direction they think their enemy might be.
On this day I'm in Achin District, in Nangarhar Province, just a short distance from the mountainous border with Pakistan. Earlier that morning, a rocket landed a couple hundred yards from the platoon with whom I'm embedded, creating a giant ball of flames and smoke before a thunderous boom and shock wave. Soldiers scatter and climb into their heavily armored vehicles and discuss their next move over the radio. One captain wants to send American troops to a nearby mud-walled compound where the rocket attack emanated. Others object.
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My Comment: With each passing month the Afghan Army is suffering horrendous casualties .... so I can only assume that many are willing to fight. But can this be sustained .... and can the U.S. military culture on how to fight be adopted by the Afghan Army .... that is something that only time will tell.
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