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It is difficult to comment this without having been there, but...



This seems to be sensible and puts very likely the women in the corps to better use. It is not a new idea, but sometimes just...

Agreed. Sadly there are a lot of things which can and does piss many Afghans off, which the ANP ranking probably high on many lists. The article I quoted stated that many of the people in this...

The tragedy lies in the simple truth that the governmental horse not only refuses to learn to drink, but even milks us instead. Milk beats water, I guess.


Firn

In short, if the governance is corrupt and crony, at least let it be a local corrupt and crony one. At least in this case the marines and the West don't have to vouch for robber barons from abroad...

Another article from the NYTimes.



I also feel that we promised too much and set the bar too high in relation to our efforts.

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More political power (autonomy) and direct democracy at a lower level for sensible political entities like villages, valleys and the like might help in specific circumstances. Afghanistan seems to be...

True enough. But on the other hand it offers quite some advantages. As Fuchs wrote, "the terrain offers an unlimited choice of routes of approach and it should be quite easy to seal off the area with...

There are certainly several reasons why "the largest operation yet" was directed at this area. The terrain is one of them.

It is rather impressive how much those green zones stand out on the...

I'm pretty sure that most would like that sort of over-watch. The terrain in many parts of Afghanistan seems to be actually very suitable for tanks, especially in the southern regions. IIRC the...

Hard to know if there is some substance behind the catchy headline of the NYTimes. They report sporadic instances of decent marksmanship by the opponents.

Other than that the military part seems...

An Update on the fighting by the NYTimes.

As expected part of the forces are inserted by helicopter, using well sited walled compounds as part of blocking positions and as springboards.



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The long and straight open ground created by the irrigation channels or ditches and the dust roads might greatly facilitate the isolate and control part of the operation.

Firn

Moderator's Note copied here from another thread



The coalition should have been able to mass enough ressources to implement this approach and to make it hopefully work. As we already discussed...