This is a pretty dire warning from the British in Afghanistan and believe me, the British have seen a LOT of the most intense fighting in Afghanistan, so they should know. Look at the warning here from UPI:
We have seen over the past three months how the Taliban are hitting NATO and Afghan forces in almost every province, even some western and northern provinces that literally haven't seen any attacks in over a year. And it's my observation that the coalition troops are seeing the same challenge the U.S. saw in Iraq when we didn't have sufficient troops there - the NATO forces cannot afford to keep troops in claimed areas but need to move on to confront new hot spots thus allowing the Taliban to move back into those areas. Then the NATO troops have to go back and clear it out again - and this cycle goes on and on and on.
We have to understand as well, that with the Iraq War very much in control by the Americans, the magnet of the world for every jihadist is the Afghanistan War. We are seeing jihadists fighting with the Taliban from over 20 different countries and their numbers seem limitless.
It's my personal view that a "Surge" is needed in Afghanistan along with a free reign policy of attacking inside of Pakistan. NATO member countries like Germany, France, Britain and the Netherlands need to send in at least another 20,000 troops between all of them and then I believe the U.S. will need to match that total itself. With an additional 40,000 troops, I think NATO and Afghan forces can start to recreate the protective bubble inside of Afghanistan and then start to push out, like the U.S. did in Iraq. The goal has to be to clear out all areas of Afghanistan of Taliban and then push the major concentration to the Pakistan border area and at that time, caution be thrown to the wind and go into Pakistan to decimate the remainder.
British commanders are warning that unless there is a rapid increase in troops sent to Afghanistan the Taliban could soon win back control countrywide.I think there are a couple of reasons why the Taliban have created this situation and why the countries from the West in Afghanistan are screaming for more troops. The first and probably biggest reason is the influx of huge numbers of foreign fighters into Pakistan who are then hooking up with Taliban jihadists there and then bringing attacks into Afghanistan. The second reason, I believe, is that the Taliban changed their tactics this past year in that they did not mass for their typical Spring offensive but spread those jihadists out across the land in a way to "stretch" NATO troops thin.
A recommendation to reduce the current 4,000 troops in Iraq to free more troops before next year's Afghan presidential election is expected to go to British ministers, reported The Sunday Times in London.
"Unless the West commits serious numbers of extra troops soon, we are looking at a Taliban victory," said one officer, noting that Taliban forces are now operating in areas where they have not been since the 2001 allied invasion.
We have seen over the past three months how the Taliban are hitting NATO and Afghan forces in almost every province, even some western and northern provinces that literally haven't seen any attacks in over a year. And it's my observation that the coalition troops are seeing the same challenge the U.S. saw in Iraq when we didn't have sufficient troops there - the NATO forces cannot afford to keep troops in claimed areas but need to move on to confront new hot spots thus allowing the Taliban to move back into those areas. Then the NATO troops have to go back and clear it out again - and this cycle goes on and on and on.
We have to understand as well, that with the Iraq War very much in control by the Americans, the magnet of the world for every jihadist is the Afghanistan War. We are seeing jihadists fighting with the Taliban from over 20 different countries and their numbers seem limitless.
It's my personal view that a "Surge" is needed in Afghanistan along with a free reign policy of attacking inside of Pakistan. NATO member countries like Germany, France, Britain and the Netherlands need to send in at least another 20,000 troops between all of them and then I believe the U.S. will need to match that total itself. With an additional 40,000 troops, I think NATO and Afghan forces can start to recreate the protective bubble inside of Afghanistan and then start to push out, like the U.S. did in Iraq. The goal has to be to clear out all areas of Afghanistan of Taliban and then push the major concentration to the Pakistan border area and at that time, caution be thrown to the wind and go into Pakistan to decimate the remainder.
Troops needed in Afghanistan, British say
LONDON, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- British commanders are warning that unless there is a rapid increase in troops sent to Afghanistan the Taliban could soon win back control countrywide.
A recommendation to reduce the current 4,000 troops in Iraq to free more troops before next year's Afghan presidential election is expected to go to British ministers, reported The Sunday Times in London.
"Unless the West commits serious numbers of extra troops soon, we are looking at a Taliban victory," said one officer, noting that Taliban forces are now operating in areas where they have not been since the 2001 allied invasion.
An Afghanistan "surge" is reportedly gaining strength among allied leaders, including the American commander, Gen. David McKiernan, and his British deputy, Lt. Gen. Jonathon Riley. They are "screaming out" for more troops, sources told The Times. The military commanders reportedly see next year's Afghan presidential election as a strategic "tipping point" requiring increased security.
2 comments:
Might be real hard to get the "Allies" to chip in more troops, it is all on us, but we can do it. Although it does behoove them to send more troops to get them the combat experience that they may need in the future. I dont believe that the situation is that dire there though, yes there are more cannon fodder showing up but we are killing them just as fast I think. But we do need to send more of our guys thats for sure. The most important thing though is to hit the taliwhackers in Pakistan where they are staging, remove their secure bases and they will become ineffective in Afghanistan.
Shark,
Part of my concern is that this war is going to wear down on NATO - it is going to erode public opinion and you will see the pull outs start by the Europeans and at that point, we could possibly have "youknowwho" as President and it will only be a matter of time.
Also, look at the Marines we brought into Helmand from Iraq - heard anything about them in the past two months? They cannot make the progress because there flat out aren't enough of them and there is wayyyyy too much ground to cover in Afghanistan.
:Holger Danske
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