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Post by Frenchie on May 15, 2009 12:34:03 GMT 1
The fate of the war in Afghanistan could be decided in the next few months in sweltering villages like this one alongside a highway that cuts through Helmand province, the heartland of the Taliban. Over coming weeks the biggest wave of reinforcements sent by U.S. President Barack Obama will arrive in an area where insurgents control the villages by night and the fields produce most of the world's opium. For now, British "Black Watch" soldiers from 3 Scots regiment are still patrolling in Taliban country, surrounded by an enemy that they know lies in wait. "Since the Russians, we're probably going to be the largest force descending down on these people," Major Al Steele, the regiment's B company commander, told his men before they set out in helicopters at dawn to be dropped into Yakhchal village. "This is not a benign area. You always need to be poised for action," he warned. For three years, a British force battling the Taliban in Helmand has been stretched too thin across the province's brutal deserts and high peaks. Full Article >>
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bigstevie
Kingsman
Honorary Member
Posts: 197
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Post by bigstevie on May 15, 2009 19:58:01 GMT 1
'Holding ground' - this inability of journalists to see beyond this concept is staggering. The object of operations is to move the Taliban from a position of influence over the locals and to reduce their ability to move and act freely. I fear that, while the US Forces will provide more bodies on the ground (I see the irony in that phrase), their means of domination will run counter to any relations and work that the Brits have built up, and will turn the area into a free-fire zone.
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Post by Frenchie on May 15, 2009 20:42:17 GMT 1
Yep, I was afraid of that.
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