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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! July 29, 2009 The Enemy Gets a VoteBy GreyhawkThe simple phrase above an inescapable truth in war. Planners are well aware of this point, that there is no "perfect" plan. This doesn't stop critics from claiming otherwise (witness Iraq) with varying degrees of intellectual honesty and equally wide-ranging motives. As we begin to implement "new" strategy and tactics in Afghanistan, it's worthwhile to take a look at the response, starting with this report from al Jazeera: Here's the video report: "The Taliban" should not be considered a coherent, nationwide, centrally-controlled all encompassing opposition group in Afghanistan. There are in fact several groups of varying degrees of (regional and idealistic) separation that may or may not use "Taliban" as part of their name - a topic worth noting but beyond the scope of this brief post. What's very much on-point is the similarity of this document to the well-publicized coalition plan for the area. To bring it to simplest terms, consider this document a Taliban statement that "we do hearts and minds, too" - and an acknowledgment that this particular battlefield is one on which the enemy is willing to engage. From that we might infer they believe they have an advantage. Given that in many regards they have "home field" then perhaps it is so.
Bill Roggio and Josh Foust are not surprised. Frankly, no one should be. But if a brief, local "cease fire" is unlikely, does this mean it shouldn't be tried? The Government of Afghanistan certainly might have expected the same result - but now they can at least be acknowledged for attempting a peaceful route first, however unlikely the outcome. What - strategically or tactically - did they lose in the effort? Here's how the Christian Science Monitor reports the outcome of the battle: "Suspected insurgents ambushed police, and fighting left two militants dead and two police wounded, Reuters reported, citing the Interior Ministry." We (rightly) don't want to use death tolls as metric - but once again we return to the title of this post.
Posted by Greyhawk / July 29, 2009 4:42 PM | Permalink 1 TrackBackTrackBack URL: http://www.mudvillegazette.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/16491 The Times o'London with yesterday's "leak" from the American ship o'State:President Obama is prepared to accept some Taleban involvement in Afghanistan's political future and is unlikely to favour a large influx of new American troops being demanded by... Read More 2 CommentsLeave a comment |
March 19, 2010Dawn Patrol 03/19/2003 [Greyhawk]
"Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics - from the MilBlogs and various sources around the world." Mudville was founded in March, 2003. Our efforts to bring the thoughts, words, and deeds of milbloggers to a wider world evolved to become The Dawn Patrol in March, 2005. With today's entry we're going to reset the clock - but not re-write the history - and recreate the world as it was - on a day the world changed...
Updating... more to follow.... MILBOGSAndrew Olmsted, 19 Mar 2003, Stateside: It would appear that the liberation of Iraq has begun. Greyhawk, 18 Mar 2003, Germany: A united world could have, just maybe, brought down Saddam without firing a shot. We will never know. 19 Mar: We'll never know what a united world could have achieved... the UN could not agree on anything, the situation degenerated, and here we are. Status quo was not working. The French were too desperate for oil and trade at any cost. Well-intentioned Americans were led into the streets by Communists (and others) with an agenda. The media distorted the split. Many in America and abroad thought they could manipulate the situation to their personal gain. They miscalculated. The fire is lit. Pontifx ex Machina, 18 Mar, undisclosed location: Rolling out the gate, the guard gets a quick "hook-em, horns" sign as we weave through the barricades. Then we're off, cruising through the desert in a battered-up SUV. On the eve of war, only one thing passes through our minds: is there going to be any appropriate music on the radio? Lt Smash, 19 Mar, undisclosed location: Read the President's speech today. The clock is ticking. Chief Wiggles, 22 Mar, Kuwait: The war started Wednesday morning for us right after the president gave a speech to the American people that lasted about 4 minutes. We were all very anxious for this whole thing to be either over or get it on its way. Will, 22 Mar, en route: I am going to Baghdad to personally shoot that paper hanging son of a bitch! Lt Smash 20 Mar, undisclosed location: Sgt Stryker, 20 Mar, Stateside: Iraq to File U.N. Complaint About Attack Primary Main Objective, 30 Mar, undisclosed location I Dare Kofi to Come Get Me.
BruceR, Flit, 19 Mar, Canada: AND SO IT BEGINS. Godspeed, Yanks. Come home safe and soon. Andrew Olmsted, 20 Mar 2003, Stateside: The most important thing to remember over the next few days is this: the first reports are almost always inaccurate. First reports are generally submitted in the heat of battle before any real analysis can take place. Therefore, they're highly subjective, based on limited information, and rarely hit the mark. So as the first reports of 'surgical strikes' on Iraqi forces come in, it's best to take those reports with a grain of salt... Iraqi BlogsSalam Pax, Baghdad: The bombing aould come and go in waves, nothing too heavy and not yet comparable to what was going on in 91. all radio and TV stations are still on and while the air raid began the Iraqi TV was showing patriotic songs and didn't even bother to inform viewers that we are under attack. at the moment they are re-airing yesterday's interview with the minister of interior affairs. THe sounds of the anti-aircarft artillery is still louder than the booms and bangs which means that they are still far from where we live, but the images we saw on Al Arabia news channel showed a building burning near one of my aunts house... American BlogsGlenn Reynolds has a ton of links. Newpapers
Updating... more to follow.... |
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Our correspondent said the regulations seem to be an attempt by Mullah Omar to bring all of the Taliban under his control.
"We have in the past had a lot of different groups in Afghanistan operating under the umbrella of the Taliban," Bays said.
"But it says in these regulations that if you find an irregular battalion that is not obeying orders then what you have to do is find that battalion and then disarm them."
Maybe they'll start shooting each other!
If so, I have to wonder if that would be declared a "civil war" from which we should withdraw. History says "yes" but I think it would be wrong in this case.