The U.S. Mission In Afghanistan Needs To Be Better Defined

Afghan special forces arrive for a battle with the Taliban in Kunduz city, northern Afghanistan, September 29. REUTERS

New York Times: U.S. Role in Afghanistan Turns to Combat Again, With a Tragic Error

The Taliban attacked the Afghan police compound at first light, coming from all sides at the American Green Berets holed up inside. The insurgents fired assault rifles, heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. They came in what a soldier called “human waves.”

Not even strafing runs by American F-16 fighters stopped the assault. The elite American soldiers — whose mission was only to train and advise Afghan troops — had never seen a firefight as intense.

Holding the compound, another soldier said, took an “Alamo defense.”

On the morning of Oct. 1, about 30 soldiers were in close-quarters combat against Taliban fighters — even though White House and Pentagon officials have repeatedly insisted that American troops no longer play that role.

The Americans were not ambushed while advising local forces behind the front lines or struck by rocket fire while manning a fortified base. Nine months after President Obama declared an end to the American combat mission in Afghanistan, these Green Berets were at the leading edge of an offensive to retake Kunduz, where Afghan forces had melted away as insurgents attacked, leaving an entire city in the Taliban’s grip for the first time since 2001.

The fight for the police compound proved crucial in rallying Afghan forces to retake the city.

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Update #1: Pentagon report reveals confusion among U.S. troops over Afghan mission (Reuters)
Update #2: U.S. airstrike on Afghan hospital the culmination of a tragedy of errors (Washington Times)
Update #3: US strategy in Afghanistan 'recipe for disaster,' Pentagon report warns (RT)

WNU Editor: This was a desperate battle .... and for the U.S. soldiers involved .... total chaos that culminated in the destruction of a hospital. It is also a clear sign that U.S. forces are not prepared to be engaged in combat operations .... but what choice do they have with the mission and resources that they have. In a normal world the mission should be better defined .... but even after this tragedy .... nothing has changed with the exception that many of the military personnel involved in this tragedy have been reprimanded.