I wanted to edit my previous post to include the following but I forgot how.
If the story reflects the actual situation, this may not be a hearts and minds, good governance type of thing, this is just a matter of killing bandits. That may be a simpler matter of arranging village self defense forces with reliable back up, simpler but still not so easy.
If it is more a matter of killing bandits, maybe the reasons given for the US unit pulling back reflect somebody overthinking the matter and considering things that don't matter so much if you are simply going after criminal gangs. This is total speculation on my part.
It is hard to effectively kill bandits if you can't pursue them effectively. MRAPs and Humvees don't have the mobility to catch dirt bikes. Helos are great but there aren't very many. Does a way have to be found to match the mobility dirt bike riding Taliban? I read long ago that in the 19th century the Argentine Army could not handle the Indians of the Pampas because they couldn't catch them. They couldn't catch them because the Indians always rode with strings of horses so they could continuously change mounts. When the Army began operating with strings of horses they could handle them. Are we in a similar situation?
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