- Ellen exit heralds major "American Idol" makeover
- Second U.S. sailor's remains found in Afghanistan
- China overtakes Japan as No.2 economy: FX chief | Video
- Brewer claims world's strongest beer
- BP to try well kill Tuesday | Video
- Calcium supplements may raise risk of heart attack
- Imports slow Q2 growth as business spending surges | Video
- Mexico drug boss death could spark power struggle | Video
- WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, U.S. says | Video
- French mother confesses to killing eight babies | Video
Decisive phase of Afghan war looms: Gates
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (C) speaks with 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment troops at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Frontenac in Kandahar March 9, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Jim Watson/Pool
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FRONTENAC |
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FRONTENAC Afghanistan (Reuters) - Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told troops in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday they would soon be part of a "decisive phase" in the war -- an operation to impose control over the Taliban heartland of Kandahar province.
NATO is sending thousands of extra troops to restore control over Kandahar over the next few months, a central part of President Barack Obama's strategy to reverse momentum in the 8-year-old war.
Thousands of Americans arrived in the area last year, bolstering a force of about 3,000 Canadians and taking heavy casualties. U.S. commanders say much of the area remains in the hands of an increasingly potent Taliban insurgency.
The operation to restore government control there is the main military objective left this year in Obama's strategy, which aims to turn the tide with 30,000 extra troops so U.S. forces can begin withdrawing from Afghanistan in mid-2011.
"You all have had a very tough tour," Gates told troops with a Stryker brigade at Forward Operating Base Frontenac, about 48 km (30 miles) north of Kandahar city. Twenty-two troops have been killed and 62 wounded in the area since July last year.
"You came to an area that was totally controlled by the Taliban. You bled for it," Gates said.
"Here in the environs of Kandahar, you're in an area that once again is going to be an important part of the decisive phase of this campaign. Once again, you will be the tip of the spear," he said.
GRADUAL OPERATION
General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has said the Kandahar operation will be gradual, without a single big assault like the one last month against the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in neighboring Helmand province.
About 85 percent of the 30,000 extra troops sent by Obama have yet to arrive. Most of the new combat power will be deployed in the next few months in and around Kandahar.
By the end of the traditional summer fighting season, U.S. and NATO forces hope to have restored full government control over Kandahar, the country's second-largest city, and the agricultural districts around it.
Gates said spreading government control around Kandahar would involve talking to locals, as was the case in Marjah, but the operation would be much bigger in scale and complexity.
"They are going to do the same kind of trying to set the political stage that they did in Marjah.... Get the different tribal elders in and talk about governance and so on.
"Kandahar is much more sophisticated, bigger city, big suburbs, and so it is a much more complex operation."
Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Neumann, battalion commander of the Stryker unit at Frontenac, said his forces were already involved in preparing the area for the upcoming offensive and were working to keep roads open for trade in and out of the city.
"I think we already are the tip of that spear," Neumann said in a briefing with reporters. "Meaning that operations in the Kandahar province are already setting the stage." (Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Paul Tait and Alex Richardson)
When in the world will these military
commanders understand what history has
taught them? They should consult
Ghengis Kahn, the British and the Russians, who in their invasions of
Adghanistan never achieved any sifnificant
‘victory’. The coalition forces are up
against the Taliban and a tribal mindset
that is centuries old. The Taliban has
time and terrain on its side. Combined
with the inherent corruption of the country based on the heroin trade, the
Afghan people in general will never accede
to the hegemony placed on their homeland.
In the meantime, we, the U.S., waste
billions of dollars and the lives of young
troops on a futile and hopeless conflict.
Good luck, America.
We need to get out of Afghanistan now. The US can no longer fight this war we can’t win.
Looks Like We, The US Citizen, Are Not In-Tune to Our Politicians Need To Unwisely Waste Our Money(:
Let’s not be too simplistic. The U.S. and NATO objectives in Afghanistan are not to establish some sort of hegemony there. Attempts to do so have not met with much success over history. The commanders on the ground know that better than anybody reading these posts. The overall goal there is to delete Afghanistan from the list of possible havens for Al Qaeda. Sure the Afghan government may be corrupt. Every country on this planet with a government could be accused of the same thing. The goal is not to insert a proxy administration. Rather it is to enable some form of representative oversight to emerge there, and to do so in the face of a gaggle of ignorant thugs that only want their own thug-o-cracy in place.
Of course this war can be won. Of course its objectives can be met. Of course it makes sense to remove Afghanistan as a potential base for internationally-focused terrorists. Those are obvious facts. One of the less obvious factors is in the nature of the U.S. and NATO goals. Does that coalition want to establish an outpost? That would be foolish. Does it want security? You bet. That’s the goal.
Suppose you do establish control. How long can that be maintained by the Afghan central government?
