Taliban fighters (Reuters / Mohammad Shoib) / Reuters
David Petraeus and Michael O'Hanlon, Wall Street Journal: Take the Gloves Off Against the Taliban
Incredibly, even though much U.S. blood and treasure was sacrificed in Afghanistan, we won’t bomb the militants trying to take over the country.
In any counterinsurgency campaign, foreign forces helping another country must strike a balance. They must wean local forces off their dependency on outside help as rapidly as possible. But they also must not rush the job and lose what has been gained along the way—especially when a part of their core mission is to build up the indigenous police and military forces to which they seek to pass the baton.
For 10 years U.S. leaders have understood the need for this delicate balancing act in Iraq and Afghanistan, though both the Bush and Obama administrations did, in certain cases, hand off to indigenous forces and draw down more rapidly than was advisable. We are at risk of doing that again now in Afghanistan.
The immediate issue is how we are using American and broader NATO air power. There is a great deal of it—many dozens of combat aircraft at bases from Helmand and Kandahar provinces in the south to the cities of Khost and Jalalabad in the east to the capital region of Kabul and points north. But we continue to handcuff those deploying these jets, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. Existing U.S. and NATO policy generally allows them to strike targets on the ground only when hostile forces can be identified as al Qaeda or ISIS loyalists, when they pose an imminent threat to NATO personnel, or, reportedly, when a strategic collapse is imminent.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: This commentary was written before the drone strike targeting Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor was launched .... Afghan Intelligence Confirms Reports That A U.S. Drone Killed The Afghan Taliban Leader in Pakistan. It makes one wonder if Petraeus or O'Hanlon wwere given a hint that U.S. policy against the Taliban was about to change (i.e. directly targeting the leadership). As to what is my take on their commentary .... I share Bing West's frustration .... Take the Gloves Off Against a Terrible Political and Military Strategy (Bing West, Small Wars Journal).
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And in other news,
Beelzebub calls Lucifer the Devil.
http://www.alhayat.com/m/opinion/15691351#.V0BkjkN8ewA.facebook
Meanwhile, Canada announces they will be entering a contestant in next year's Eurovision contest. Rona Ambrose will be representing the land of maple syrup, hockey, beer and Nazi retirement retreats with a rendition of The Kinks' "Lola".
"I was so inspired by last year's guy with the beard and Malalala's passion for Nazi collaborators, and thought, gee, what can I do as a Canadian to help to raise awarenes like these brave people?" said Ambrose during an interview with the CBC's newly reinstated Jian Ghomeshi.
Ghomeshi, an activist himself, says he is travelling to Ukraine this fall to open up a counselling and dating service for Ukrop National Guardsmen. "They really need someone to show them how to treat the ladies," states Ghomeshi, "I thought, eh, I can contribute something here." The former 'Q' host is scheduled to headline the CBCs coverage of next year's Eurovision contest.
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