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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cnyndwllr who wrote (271631)	11/20/2009 3:36:05 PM
From: Hawkmoon	3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

First, you can't dismiss the fact that even the least sophisticated Taliban class of fighters can plant $10 IED's and effectively kill and wound our soldiers, costing us many millions of dollars in lost equipment, maintenance and man hours on the basis that: And you can't contest the fact that it was the SAME SITUATION IN IRAQ, yet we're in a draw down, there is relative stability (certainly compared to the period I was there) and that the primary tactic we used was HUMINT/SIGINT, and targeted kill/capture raids aimed at bomb makers and leadership infrastructure that diminished these IED attacks. It doesn't matter what they cost to make. What matters is the EXPERTISE necessary to make them, and the availability of the explosives. Disrupt those two factors and I don't care how many $10 bills you fling around, you won't find someone with the skills or guts to make one, let alone actually attempt to emplace it. But that requires BOOTS ON THE GROUND, soldiers and police, to overwatch primary MSRs as well as provide sufficient security for our HUMINT personnel to meet with their sources. Thus, I still stand by my examples. War is costly. Security is costly. If we fought war in the manner in which you advocate, we'd still be stuck in the Hedgerows of Normandy. We'd be afraid to risk our armor against cheap Panzerfausts and Panzerschrecks. First, there is very little in the way of chain of command for the Afghan fighters. THAT'S BULLSH*T!! Someone's paying them to do it. That's how it worked in Iraq, as I recall. Bomb making cells would spring up from time to time, mainly in the employ of some insurgent leader with access to cash. It's the same logic for most of the insurgents. Some radical cleric fires up their "warrior spirit", promises them $100/month and they go out to wage Jihad because they need the money and they have families to care for (which gets included in the "employment contract"). You guys rail about mercenaries, but that's what most of the Taliban fighters actually are. And it isn't going to change until there is a stable enough economy that can provide alternative employment. Do you think Afghanis like to walk/drive down roads where there are IEDs? They know where they are, but they're too afraid to talk to us, since they'll likely get whacked. That's why we implemented a "TIPS" line in Iraq where locals could call and report suspicious activity. The problem in Afghanistan is few locals even have a phone.. So you gotta find them, meet DISCREETLY with them (to protect their anonymity) and use their information to neutralize those people who are making and planting the damn things. Afghani parents don't want their children put in danger anymore than we want our soldiers harmed. That's how you stop this crap! But again, you need a surge of manpower that provides the orderly calm required to get indigenous forces vetted, trained and deployed (and then vetted again).. But it won't happen overnight. It will take time, maybe even years. Hawk

To: cnyndwllr who wrote (271631)	11/20/2009 3:58:50 PM
From: Hawkmoon	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Read this post Ed. Message 26115031 And pay special attention to where it states that the remaining Iraqi insurgents appear to be having difficulty in obtaining explosives (making their bomb sizes smaller). We're never going to be able to stop determined terrorists from committing their acts of violence. But we can make it harder, as we have here in the US, to obtain explosives and other materials required to build them. Hell.. it used to be simple as hell to buy explosives in the US prior to the OKC bombing. Then they started putting restrictions on farmers buying large quantities of fertilizer (Ammonium Nitrate). It's not so easy to buy WMD size quantities now without have a BATF agent showing up on your doorstep. Hawk