U.S.-BACKED REBELS LOSE GROUND

New York Post ^ | 10/26/01 | NILES LATHEM

[kattracks]

October 26, 2001 -- WASHINGTON - A major Afghan rebel offensive on the strategically vital city of Mazar-e-Sharif has been stalled, producing the first major setback for the Bush administration's military campaign to rout terrorist forces, officials said last night.

[Recovering_Democrat]

yeah, I'm beginning to think these NA rebels are kinda like punky little brothers to the Taliban...constant pesterers, but too scared to really DO anything.

[freeasinbeer]

Seriously, why are we dicking around with these ineffectual targetted air-raids. Use the bigger bombs!! Get the B52's to carpet the taliban into their graves.

This is so frustrating!!

[Keith]

This explains a lot. Would love hearing from Vietnam Vet Freepers if this sounds all too familiar.

[piasa]

But two of the warlords - Gen. Abdul Rashid Dotsom and Gen. Atta Mohammed - are bitter enemies whose forces fought each other during the Soviet occupation.

Rebel officials said Dotsom, a former Soviet ally, moved his forces on the outskirts of Mazar-e-Sharif, while the other warlords, apparently not communicating with him, pulled back, leaving Dotsom, in the words of one Pentagon official, "hung out to dry" and forcing him to pull back 40 miles.

The stalled offensive in is one of the reasons the Pentagon has not been as aggressive as expected in attacking north of Kabul.

I could see where there would be some hostility here. These kind of dogs won't hunt.

[piasa]

BBC SOURCE

"Commander Haq hates the Taleban but would rather work with them than with the Northern Alliance."

***

Commander Haq is the anti-Taliban former Anti-Soviet leader the Taliban claim to have captured when he went into Afghanistan recently.

[Russell Scott]

If we are expecting somebody other than the U.S. armed forces to fight this battle, then we will be waiting a long time for victory.

[fleur-de-lis]

We have 85 B-52s. Let's get going.

[paul544]

Kill Omar Mullah and kill Bin Laden. Thats all we have to do. This, capturing the city bit, is not our concern.

[RLK]

I don't believe we are doing very well.

[freeasinbeer]

Seriously. We have a 100% completely secure base in Diego Garcia (thanks Brits!!!). Get about 50 of the B52's out there, fill em' up and launch. They will be able to WIPE OUT the entire Taliban front/back/side-lines. Can you say 50 B52's dropping carpet bombs? Total impunity, with NO RISK due to little Taliban defenses.

[paul544]

There will be good days and bad days in this war. But even when thing don't seem to be going so good, I have to have faith in Bush adminstration. They have to know what they are doing.... Don't they?

[Clinton's a rapist]

I doubt we will have too much problem flushing the Taliban out of Afghanistan, although it won't happen overnight. The new correlation of forces is not propitious for their return to power, once Kabul is taken. We need to be very careful that they don't take over Pakistan instead, however. While I don't believe we have any choice but to attack them, I also think that this development was anticipated by Saddam when he conceived the 9/11 plot, and is part of his double-or-nothing strategy to forge a pan-Islamic Axis capable of challenging the West. Pakistan has nuclear weapons, needless to say. Saddam may well be counting on a change of regime in Pakistan to save his bacon once we start getting tough on Arab immigration and the threat of biological warfare on US soil recedes. At that point he'll be able to present a credible threat of nuclear war in the Middle East, and will be less dependent on the threat of inflicting massive US civilian casualties to deter a US attack. Don't be surprised if Saddam and OBL have some slick moves readied to facilitate the overthrow the Pakistan regime. Saudi should be on notice, too.

[piasa]

Another article with a different perspective on the same events

_____________

Nothern Alliance Blunders at Mazar-i-Sharif

(Excerpts)

Paul Watson and Richard Paddock in an article carried by the Times of India say that the NA's interior minister says that his forces had botched their best chance to capture the strategic city of Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan by expecting too much from US airstrikes. The alliance now expects to be bogged down for weeks around Mazar-e-Sharif as it tries to recover from the military blunder and struggles to rearm its forces.

The NA's interior minister, said that the plan was to attack from four sides but one side went very far ahead toward Mazar and the other sides were stopped, because they thought the Taliban would be finished by the bombing.

Instead of claiming the fall of Mazar-I-Sharif is imminent, the NA now talks about its fall in a month. The stalled offensive was complicated by several factors, including the limited US airstrikes, a critical shortage of weaponry, and rivalry between Generals Dostum and Atta.

[piasa]

Some friens of Commander Haq, whom the Talis claim they captured.

New anti-Taliban coalition appears: 'Southern Alliance' wants government still 'in line' with Islam

(Excerpt)

Boasting that "we will save Afghanistan," a new anti-Taliban opposition group has arisen, seeking to end the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan while establishing a new government – one that is still "in line" with Islam.

The new group is led by Pir Sayed Ahmed Gailani – a former mujahedin leader, spiritual head of a Sufi Muslim sect and descendant of Mohammed – who has undertaken the task of uniting rival tribal groups into an organized armed body of fighters dedicated to the overthrow of the Taliban regime.

[DeaconRed]

"They have to know what they are doing.... Don't they?"

Yes I think they do. They are NOT doing this by Polls. Something we had for the last 8 years. We will NOT be told everything. They(Bush Admin) will use the news media to our advantage, so remember that, when you watch the news.
For Instance: "Ben Laiden will probably get away". This might have been said to give them false security. REMEMBER, THIS IS WAR. ALL IS FAIR IN LOVE & WAR! ! ! ! !

[wretchard]

This is not necessarily bad news. One important component is creating a sound political opposition to the Taliban. Once this happens, the military victory will automatically follow. The United States can afford to play the role of the Vietcong and embark on protracted warfare. The longer this takes, the better our intel gets, the stronger our clandestine capabilities grow.

Strength, in this combat, is not measured by the number of combat aircraft or divisions available. It is measured by how much of the appropriate capabilities we have. Patience. We will win.

[Mortimer Snavely]

We were still doing pretty poorly in 1942, also.

[wjeanw]

Don't you think that perhaps the US is responding from having too quickly allied itself with weak national forces in the past (like Vietnam)? In addition, the NA was a group that mostly supported the communist rule, wasn't it? If NA is not a strong enough force to rule Afghanistan on its own and its army is unwilling to fight unless the US provides the definitive air support, we need to be cautious about our support. Even though it will take longer, if another more broadbased coalition can form, it would be better for us to hold off finishing the Taliban until this coalition will be accepted by the NA in return for our air support.

[CompassionateLibertarian]

I'm not a Viet Nam vet, but I've read extensively about it, and there are some disturbing similarities. One of the big challenges in Viet Nam was that the South Viet Namese always preferred that the U.S. do all the fighting. The Northern Alliance remind me of that.

Another similarity is that the U.S. tried to calibrate its bombing for diplomatic reasons, and the North Viet Namese learned to use our self-imposed limitations against us. Again, look at reports that the Taliban are dispersing their military among civilian populations in order to take advantage of our fear of causing civilian casualties.

I hope that our leaders have not forgotten MacArthur's adage: "There is no substitute for victory."