"A new classified directive to coalition forces in Afghanistan puts restrictions on nighttime raids of Afghan homes and compounds, according to a senior U.S. official who has seen the document.
The official declined to be identified because a declassified version of the document has not been made public. The directive is signed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, the official said.
The directive comes as the coalition seeks to reduce tension between its military forces and Afghan civilians in an effort to maintain Afghan public support."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/23/afghanistan.night.raids/index.html?hpt=T2
Anyone who reads this blog knows that I am no proponent of the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan. Slugging it out on the ground without civilian support against a guerilla enemy that has been notified of a July 2011 deadline for drawing down U.S. forces is nothing short of inanity. But now, in addition to this, no nighttime raids?
Yes, the U.S. is attempting to garner civilian support precisely by avoiding nighttime raids, but surely this is counterbalanced by the comfort this provides to the Taliban during the hours of darkness.
Moreover, can civilian support be achieved in a mere matter of months? Not a chance, particularly following recent airstrike errors. On Sunday, an airstrike killed at least 27 civilians in central Afghanistan. Five more civilians died the prior Monday when NATO forces called in an airstrike against persons suspected of planting an IED, and 12 more civilians died one day earlier when two U.S. rockets missed their target and hit a residence outside Marjah.
Operation Moshtarak? The Taliban was informed in advance that the operation was coming, and as known to all, flight is integral to guerilla warfare. What was NATO seeking to achieve without seriously engaging the enemy? Even under these circumstances, the local Afghan troops proved incapable of acting on their own.
This is now Obama's war, and it is fast becoming a fiasco.
It is indeed a tragedy when civilians are casualties of war-equally a tragedy when our troops are expended in a questionable endeavor,where additionally the enemy is given the comfort of knowing our exit date and that they will be engaged only on a 9-5 basis.
ReplyDeleteI would only add that NATO forces have significant nighttime capabilities which the Taliban lacks, and depriving NATO forces of this advantage borders, in my opinion, on lunacy.
ReplyDeleteThis policy has one important advantage: the soldiers can sleep at night. I feel sorry for these poor guys who do not know, probably, what they are fighting for. There is no way to win. Hopefully, when soldiers sleep, they are safe.
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