Posted on 10/04/2009 7:54:39 PM PDT by Saije
One fundamental tenet of Gen. Stanley McChrystal's controversial Afghanistan strategy aims at avoiding precisely the kinds of attacks that killed eight American soldiers Sunday.
In what is being described as one of the boldest attacks of the Afghan insurgency, an estimated 300 militants sustained a day-long siege against a coalition outpost in Nuristan Province – a place where the rule of law is so tenuous and the terrain so forbidding that it is seen as one of the likeliest hiding places for Osama bin Laden.
It is also has fewer people than Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Beyond the request for more resources that has engrossed America, McChrystal's battlefield assessment proposes deploying American troops in a profoundly different way.
Rather than sending them to the farthest-flung corners of a far-flung nation to hunt down scores of militants hiding in remote mountain caves, it intends to protect the Afghan population first, giving the most Afghans the greatest opportunity of establishing something approaching a safe and normal life.
Fourth of McChrystal's "four fundamental pillars" for a new strategy is: "prioritize available resources to those critical areas where the population is most threatened."
In fact, the very troops in Nuristan forced to fight off unseen attackers firing down from ridge lines cloaked in inclement weather Sunday are poised to be redeployed under McChrystal's new leadership, according to the Washington Post.
The change in course does not promise fewer casualties. Rather, it intends to focus US soldiers on areas where their sacrifices can potentially lead to longer-term security gains.
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Obama should be made to pay. He WANTS and WELCOMES our defeat.
sounds like Obama has found a general of like mind
don’t kill the enemy, let the enemy kill you (or more precisely, your own soldiers)
It isn’t good to have our worst enemy in control of our fighting men and women. Fox in the hen house.
"There's nothing so much like God Almighty on Earth, as a General on the battlefield". When did we lose that?
/johnny
generals have always been subject to the whims of politicians.
I don't believe this is true. I think McChrystal and Petraeus and others are trying to win this war. Their strategy may be counter-intuitive, leading initially to more casualties, but then the Surge was counter-intuitive as well. And so have a lot of other military campaigns in history. Just my opinion. But there's no way I am going to compare McChrystal --who's put himself in harm's way for this country for the last 3 decades-- with that loser in the White House.
give me a break
the surge was not counter-intuitive
the surge was based on finding and killing bad guys
our strategy in Afghanistan is to get our own a$$’s blown off
“I think McChrystal and Petraeus and others are trying to win this war. Their strategy may be counter-intuitive, leading initially to more casualties, but then the Surge was counter-intuitive as well. And so have a lot of other military campaigns in history. Just my opinion. But there’s no way I am going to compare McChrystal —who’s put himself in harm’s way for this country for the last 3 decades— with that loser in the White House.”
I absolutely agree!!!!
I.e., unimaginable to the keyboard kommandos hereabouts who advocate the "kill 'em all" strategy.
I honestly belive Obama stressed his support for Afganistan during the campain just so he wouldnt look like a liberal coward. It was all an act. He is going to mess this thing up then pullout.
“the surge was not counter-intuitive
the surge was based on finding and killing bad guys..”
Only part of it. It also included getting off the big bases and getting into the neighborhoods, making the soldiers vulnerable to attack, changing the way they approached the locals, stuff like that.
Hey, I’m no military expert but I don’t see how we can put this on McChrystal. He’s only got so many men over there, only so much equipment. He’s asked for more. And he’s getting no response.
It’s also true that this administration is attempting to micro-manage aspects of the war. Thus, a number of very stupid decisions are being made....in DC.
Nuristan is a logistics nightmare. It is a place for DA OPs and better left for SOFs/SF - Not the place with our current force structures to have conventional FOBs. In a few years, yes. Not now, under the current force structures.
I will not think a US General is trying to let us loose. I will believe an anti-American ‘president’ like OBama will try and destroy us. So just we know, I have zero faith in this dirt bag.
The general has it all wrong. He should fight the war ruthlessly, as was done in WWII. Bomb the hell out of the resistance. Kill all the enemy and all those who support them. Don’t fight with two hands tied behind you. ROE’s are handcuffs. Put the fear of God in the enemy. Don’t honor Allah. Bomb them in their mosques. They go there 5 times a day. A little more rubble, a lot less trouble.
I have NO faith whatsoever in this administration. Look what they’re doing with the Iran situation too.....
Obama’s agenda today was hysterical when I saw it on TV...he had 9 hours blocked out for the Detroit-Sox game and then he was going to watch the Bears-Lions and then Sunday Night Football with friends...then it is off to campaign all week at schools across the country for his health care plan.
He spent all day watching sports. I bet he spent all of 30 mins doing anything presidential.
Actually that is not true. The "Surge" was to fill the vacuum of power left over from all the finding and killing bad guys DA Ops of 06/ early 07. The Surge was perfectly timed to do so. However, the dirty secret of Iraq is, AQ and its main allies within Iraq were defeated, routed in the ugly fighting of 06/07...which created a vacuum of power that needed to be filled. Filled by whom? Either more mimics of AQ, Iraqis? or us? Us being the most dependable....which is exactly what the surge did and accomplished. Thus giving further time for a normalcy effect to further take root within Iraq. Which is exactly what has happened.
But it was the Op tempos of 06 (along with the maturity of our FID operations) that allowed for the surge to be so successful.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.