Saturday, October 10, 2009

Watch Pakistan today

As mentioned earlier the TTP have attacked a major Pakistan military base. Everyone thought the attack was over. Come to find out a group of 6-10 terrorist have taken 10-15 soldiers hostage and are holding them in a building close to the base. This is not going to end well.

COIN guidance from ISAF commander

Here is the command guidance from McCrystal. While I agree with some of it I do agree with his mat the on the growth of insurgents. This math as has been pointed out at my friends at Captains Journal show this was not the case in Anbar in Iraq. While it is of the utmost importance to protect the population and improve governce in Afghanistan it is also important to kill off the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces slipping across the border from Pakistan.

The Taliban are consitant

Yesterday the Taliban in Pakistan conducted a VBIED attack in Peshwar Pakistan killing 48 wounding 140+ the Pakistani Interior Minister has stated this leave them no other choice but to attack into South Waziristan. Then today the military headquaters in Rawalpindi was attacked(thanks Long war journal). Again like the advances in the SWAT valley this summer the Taliban may be over playing their hand. There is hope that the Pakistanis will act as the hammer and coalition forces the anvil and we can be rid of a bunch of these jokers in the near future.
If Aghanistan the Taliban are claiming victory after the US abandons the out post that attacked last weekend that resulted in the deaths of eight soldiers. The Taliban are claim to be in control of the entire province of Nuristan. My thoughts on this is if NATO and the US pull out of Afghanistan it this will be claimed as a huge victory and the destruction of another empire by the forces of Islam. I hate to say this but it is a strategic need to fight in Afghanistan and perhaps Pakistan for a long time to come.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Afghanistan

Here are some thoughts on Afghanistan not the particular tactics but overall. During the last eight years we may have lost our way somewhat in not keeping our eye on the objective of the attack on the Taliban and al-Qaeda by going into Iraq. In saying that however the world almost forgot about Afghanistan as the area had gone relatively cold. That is no longer the case and Afghanistan now is the central front against jihadists.
Now on the eight on we as a nation must decide if committing the full force available to us is the path we want to take. To me the choice is an easy one the jihadis we face only understand strength and no amount of negotiation will make them hate us any less. If we are to contain the ideology, and keep the jihadis for lack of a better word busy defending themselves we must continue to wage an offensive war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. This war should be fought with the full resources this country can bear. This will not only increase capacity for kinetic operations but for counter-insurgency as well.
A robust forward deployed national security plan is better than waiting on someone to hit you first.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

The failure in Afghanistan

The rise in Islamic militancy can be see after the Soviet Union left Afghanistan. The Afghan resistance actually feel that they caused the downfall of the Soviet empire. I do not have space to go into that here but if you are so inclined read Ghost Wars. The UK defense minister makes an excellent point in saying that if NATO leaves Afghanistan it will have far reaching consiquences not only for the region ie Pakistan but Islamic militancy will be able to point to a victory over the west and would prompt further attacks.