Hat tip to WoTR for this article by a veteran EOD officer, who seeks to review the challenges posed by IED use and the counter-response:https://warontherocks.com/2017/05/ho...nd-innovation/
Hat tip to WoTR for this article by a veteran EOD officer, who seeks to review the challenges posed by IED use and the counter-response:https://warontherocks.com/2017/05/ho...nd-innovation/
Last edited by davidbfpo; 05-02-2017 at 06:50 PM. Reason: 118,148v
davidbfpo
Just read the article David, thanks for posting.
My response would be that the lessons of Northern Ireland were overlooked. The Catholic population there resented the trappings of occupation and the seeming imposition of martial law, which benefited the adversary Protestant population and its paramilitaries. The sight of armored cars and helicopters would infuriate Catholics and draw the attention of the PIRA which sought to attrite British forces. The British were successful when they used a special forces/intelligence combination. Instead of a visibly heavy presence, plainclothes military and police intelligence officers would spy on the PIRA, whose members would find themselves suddenly arrested or ambushed.
Returning to Afghanistan, it would have been better for Coalition forces to traverse mined areas in helicopters, to barrack themselves securely and counter Taliban subversion with a network of plainclothes intelligence officers and special forces operators, backed by conventional reinforcements if necessary. Moreover, the Pashtuns were marginalized to a degree, with other ethnic and sectarian groups comprising the majority or disproportionately large shares of the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army.
Last edited by davidbfpo; 12-11-2017 at 01:13 PM. Reason: 155,729v
A NYT report 'How ISIS Produced Its Cruel Arsenal on an Industrial Scale' is a must read and sits better here then elsewhere IMHO -as this technology will migrate. The content is very dependent on international NGO input.
Link:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/10/w...sis-bombs.html
Last edited by davidbfpo; 12-11-2017 at 01:27 PM. Reason: 185,174v after four threads merged today
davidbfpo
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