How to be the Biggest Tribe

[Rank amateur]

Finally, the women got frustrated with the men and started telling us where the IEDs were emplaced, where the caches were hidden, and who the culprits were.

I've been meaning to discuss this exact issue in a thread about Afghan geography and COIN, but I don't see this working in Afghanistan. Too many miles of road, too few villages, too many bad guys coming across the border. Even if you get the locals onside, they won't know where the IEDs are and who is placing them.

blockaded all the roads in and out.

Seems to me "imprisoning" the population is the key to all successful COIN. Take away everyone's freedom and the insurgents lose freedom of movement. But fence in the entire population of Astan, and I still think you'll have lots of bad guys running around the mountains.