USMC General to take over command in Helmand
Brits to stay in Helmand but come under command the USMC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8693359.stm
Quote:
"Transferring British forces from Helmand to Kandahar would prove more controversial - a much tougher decision than changing the line of command.
It raises the emotive question of sacrifice and cost - why would British troops hand over Helmand to the Americans when they have expended so much blood and treasure?"
Brit casualties double for same period last year
More bad news out of Helmand
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...feeds-newsxml#
Quote:
"Fierce fighting by the Taliban left 36 UK servicemen dead by the end of April compared to just 16 fatalities in the same period last year. Another four have lost their lives since.
Meanwhile, 149 UK servicemen have been injured on the battlefield since the New Year - an increase from 73 a year ago.
Of these, 40 soldiers - some in their teens - have been seriously wounded, including the loss of limbs, brain damage or being blinded and deafened, which is a rise from 24."
Agreed. Support of Foreign Internal Development is vastly
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fuchs
Can you elaborate on this?
A competent army is expected to be able to do that in a matter of an hour or two in mobile warfare.
slower and has local national cultural personality quirks that must be dealt with and impose a learning curve.
That's why Armies like Mobile Warfare (or existential war in general). It is more complex in many things, engenders far higher casualty rates but it is less tedious and less dependent upon personal and societal whims in operational matters...
In FID, one will generally be fighting locals who know the terrain thoroughly and use it and who also use all the local infrastructure; it take time for outsiders to 'acclimatize' and learn the local terrain and ground rules. There will be restrictions on military action that are militarily stupid but politically necessary. Ideally, one would place units in such a job for several years at a time, the same social mores of the day that dictate that the supporting foreign Army must allow the host nation to lead and that it must know the people and the area while minimizing 'civilian' casualties dictate that shorter tours be used so the troops home life will not be wrecked.
No way to win in that situation. Modern social constraints got tossed in WW II but that tossing has not really been repeated in any of the larger wars that had estern involvement since 1945.