Posted on 05/29/2010 7:15:48 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON – In the make-or-break struggle for Kandahar, birthplace of Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency, U.S. commanders will try to pull off the military equivalent of brain surgery: defeating the militants with minimal use of force.
The goal of U.S.-led NATO forces will be to avoid inspiring support for the Taliban even as the coalition tries to root them out when the Kandahar operation begins in earnest next month.
The ancient silk road city — a dust-covered, impoverished jumble of one- and two-story concrete and mud brick — may not look like much of a prize.
But Kandahar, with a population of more than a million, was once the Taliban's informal capital and an al-Qaida stronghold. It has served for centuries as a smuggler's crossroads and trading hub linking southern Afghanistan to the Indian subcontinent.
President Barack Obama's counterinsurgency strategy focuses on protecting population centers such as Kandahar from Taliban predation, with the hope of building support for the center government in Kabul.
The Taliban are deeply embedded in the local population, raising the risk of civilian casualties in major clashes. Neither are the Taliban regarded as an alien force. For many in Kandahar, they are neighbors, friends and relatives.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Concrete JDAM’s......
NERF JDAM’s
Cluster bombs with gumballs
cluster bombs with tar balls from the oil spill.. obama was sending more help to clean up..
What the hell is wrong with good old fashioned 2,000 pounders delivered round the clock by B-52’s?
Of course it won’t look like war. Except for the dead American soldiers.
But there won’t be dead enemy all over the place. After all, obama can’t allow that to happen to his jihadist buddies...
Air is slipping out of the American military balloon.
A pc war never wins.
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