The Helmand Province (merged thread, not UK or USMC)

[jcustis]

I've never liked the use of a number of open schools (even girls schools) as a metric for progress. I recognize that lady is not using it in the way a soldier or reconstructionist might, but it reads like oddly-placed hope.

Lose a teacher, receive a night letter or two, or get a visit from the local TB chief, and it all folds up.

I am not surprised the province still teeters.

[davidbfpo]

A headline that sadly was expected and no doubt is uncomfortable to officialdom and virtually all UK elected national politicians. It starts with:

Huge swathes of Helmand Province, the area of Afghanistan where hundreds of British soldiers were killed in eight years of bloody fighting, are once again in the hands of the Taliban, The districts of Now Zad, Musa Qala and Sangin have been overrun by insurgents after British troops withdrew to the security of Camp Bastion – the last remaining UK base in the province. The return of the Taliban to hundreds of square miles of territory which was previously liberated by British soldiers makes a mockery of Prime Minister David Cameron’s declaration of ‘mission accomplished’ in Afghanistan.

Link:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz36h2BIwVO

There's also a short commentary by Lt.Col. Tootal, ex-Para, who took the first soldiers into Helmand in 2006 and I cite just one sentence:

Now the nation must ask whether our long campaign in the troubled country of Afghanistan has been worth it.

[davidbfpo]

A better report from Sangin in WSJ and here's a taster, citing Suliman Shah, Sangin's district governor:

The situation is bad...The territory seized by the Taliban hasn't been retaken, and the government hasn't made any steps forward. The Taliban will take control of more territory.

In Sangin, lightly equipped Afghan police, including village militia outfits known as Afghan Local Police, say they have borne the brunt of the insurgent onslaught.

Link:http://online.wsj.com/articles/afgha...ban-1404670052

Note the role of the ALP, who fight till the ammo runs out and are overrun (dying one assumes) and the casualty figures:

Afghan officials said 27 Afghan National Army soldiers have been killed and 80 wounded in the recent fighting, along with 81 police killed and 67 wounded. Local community leaders said more than 140 civilians have been killed or wounded in the crossfire, with the bulk of the casualties caused by roadside bombs.