txt to full story
The deployment of 1,000 U.S. marines at a forward base near Kandahar, the last Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, signals a new and potentially more perilous phase of the Afghan war. U.S. commanders must ensure they do not make the mistakes that turned the Soviet military's 10-year occupation of Afghanistan into a humiliating defeat at the hands of the mujahedeen in 1989.
So far, it appears the military is avoiding the tactical, social and political traps that sank the Soviet army.
Afghan experts generally agree that the Soviets' experience provided three key lessons:
Do not go in as a large occupying force and don't behave like one. The Soviets quickly deployed as many as 100,000 troops. Such a large contingent had long supply lines and large garrisons. The mujahedeen attacked the supply lines and the Soviets' stretched-out defenses.
U.S. commanders are doing the right thing by keeping troop concentrations small and bases easily dismantled and mobile, and by resupplying troops by air rather than by convoy.
Don't occupy large swaths of territory. Holding ground in static positions cost the Soviets dearly against an experienced guerrilla force adept at hit-and-run tactics.
U.S. forces are using guerrilla tactics themselves, backing Afghan fighters who fought with the mujahedeen. It is the Taliban forces who are the ones that are dug in.
Don't alienate the Afghan people. The Soviets, frustrated at their inability to find the mujahedeen, leveled entire villages in retribution. It cost them dearly.
U.S. troops, instead, are distributing food and other emergency aid and mounting a large-scale psychological operation to erode whatever support still exists for the Taliban.
So far, so good. But the most significant difference is that, unlike the mujahedeen, who received aid from the outside and were fighting for their own territory, the Taliban and its allies are cut off from outside aid and in many cases aren't Afghans. If the United States can successfully avoid the Soviets' errors, the rest will be up to the diplomats.
What a cool military we have
The deployment of 1,000 U.S. marines at a forward base near Kandahar, the last Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, signals a new and potentially more perilous phase of the Afghan war. U.S. commanders must ensure they do not make the mistakes that turned the Soviet military's 10-year occupation of Afghanistan into a humiliating defeat at the hands of the mujahedeen in 1989.
So far, it appears the military is avoiding the tactical, social and political traps that sank the Soviet army.
Afghan experts generally agree that the Soviets' experience provided three key lessons:
Do not go in as a large occupying force and don't behave like one. The Soviets quickly deployed as many as 100,000 troops. Such a large contingent had long supply lines and large garrisons. The mujahedeen attacked the supply lines and the Soviets' stretched-out defenses.
U.S. commanders are doing the right thing by keeping troop concentrations small and bases easily dismantled and mobile, and by resupplying troops by air rather than by convoy.
Don't occupy large swaths of territory. Holding ground in static positions cost the Soviets dearly against an experienced guerrilla force adept at hit-and-run tactics.
U.S. forces are using guerrilla tactics themselves, backing Afghan fighters who fought with the mujahedeen. It is the Taliban forces who are the ones that are dug in.
Don't alienate the Afghan people. The Soviets, frustrated at their inability to find the mujahedeen, leveled entire villages in retribution. It cost them dearly.
U.S. troops, instead, are distributing food and other emergency aid and mounting a large-scale psychological operation to erode whatever support still exists for the Taliban.
So far, so good. But the most significant difference is that, unlike the mujahedeen, who received aid from the outside and were fighting for their own territory, the Taliban and its allies are cut off from outside aid and in many cases aren't Afghans. If the United States can successfully avoid the Soviets' errors, the rest will be up to the diplomats.
What a cool military we have
Facebook
Twitter