The big problem in Afghanistan

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Friday, September 4, 2009 - 5:44 PM Share

Remember yesterday I mentioned David Wood as a good defense reporter? He has a terrific column today about what is going wrong in Afghanistan. I'll summarize it here, but only if you promise to click on this link and read the whole thing.

Wood begins with a good strong "lede" that manages to combine action and policy:

When a warning crackled over the radio of a suspected ambush ahead, Lt. Col. Rob Campbell swore softly and ordered his three armored trucks to a halt. What happened next illustrates why the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan is failing, why commanders here are asking for more manpower -- and why they are pleading for more time.

Then his main character strides into the picture, along with a succinct statement of the problem:

Leaping out with his M-4 carbine, Campbell, a tall cavalry officer with sandy hair and freckles, strode through the empty, sun-baked fields flanking the road while his men fanned out, checking the ground for IEDs, sweeping the fields for snipers. The Afghan police assigned to patrol this stretch of road? Nowhere in sight.

Campbell comes off as a good, thoughtful officer doing well, but conscious that time is running out. Anyway, read the whole thing -- one of the best things I've read on Afghanistan in awhile.

Meanwhile, NATO aircraft hit some hijacked fuel tankers in northern Afghanistan, killing a bunch of people. Some of them were insurgents, some of them children and other civilians trying to get the fuel the Taliban was distributing from the trucks for free. The total is somewhere between 50 and 90, it appears. My question: Does this air strike pass the Petraeus test, which I saw him apply in Mosul back in 2003-2004: Before taking any action, consider whether it will create more opponents than it stops. Anyway, this makes me wonder if NATO forces got snookered into the attack.

Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

EXPLORE:AFRICA, CAUCASUS, CENTRAL ASIA, EAST ASIA, EASTERN EUROPE, EUROPE, LATIN AMERICA, MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AMERICA, PACIFIC, SOUTH AMERICA, SOUTH ASIA, AFGHANISTAN, CORRUPTION, MILITARY, SECURITY, TERRORISM

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ZATHRAS

6:01 PM ET

September 4, 2009

I Promise to Read the Whole Thing

With regard to the Kunduz air strike, the possibility of panic on the part of the German unit that evidently called it in should be investigated.

If the Germans are as anxious to avoid putting their people in harm's way as they seem to be, it is worth asking what authority they ought to have to call for heavy weapons support on their own. I'll be glad to retract this suggestion if the facts lead to some other conclusion about this incident.

WALKING WOUNDED

8:31 PM ET

September 4, 2009

Wood's Afghan Journal

Wood's been quite prolific of late. Recent columns at:
http://www.politicsdaily.com/category/afghanistan-journal/

Re the NATO/US airstrike on stolen fuel tankers; If I was a villager out to lug 40 or 80 lbs of salvage diesel home for winter cooking, I'd be carrying my rifle, to protect that month's-wage windfall.

If the tankers were in the streambed as reported when hit, escaping fuel oil will ruin the water for downstream villagers. Collateral damage takes many forms.

TYRTAIOS

4:42 PM ET

September 5, 2009

Conducting Sergeant's Business

An amusing story of a field grade officer berating a handful of Afghan police out in indian country. Too bad he himself couldn't converse in the host country language while keeping his carbine at the ready.

I was a sergeant once - I was a LtCol once also. It would have been of anecdotal interest to me, with a few additional lines of follow-up, why the LtCol was conducting sergeant's business in the incident described? Perhaps he was up front seeing for himself what his sergeants were up against?

"I'd rather be a good sergeant than just another officer. Any officer can get buy on his sergeants. To be a sergeant, you have to know your stuff."

Someone described to me once in the late 80's that Afghanistan was a country that historically disappoints -
I think our officers and their sergeants are in for a lot of disappointement.

PIBE04

6:44 PM ET

September 5, 2009

Don Bacon wrote, "We need a

Don Bacon wrote,

"We need a new kind of army, not one which will close with and destroy the enemy, but one which would get close to citizens and help them build a new nation. Sort of armed social workers, you might say, soldiers who are trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly and courteous."

You are right about this and it is a major problem. I think Nagl said something like "soldiers need to be courteous, professional, and ready to kill." It sounds hard to do, but I guess it really is analagous to policework.

www.hooahnews.com

ADMIRAL

3:46 AM ET

September 8, 2009

The real problem

These people hate us completely for good reasons. They will keep hating us even after we leave in total defeat. Yes indeed keep dropping bombs murdering women and children. Great policy if your are Hitler.

Ricks needs to quit drinking the koolaid served up by his masters at the pentagon. I wonder if Ricks is part of the on going information ops used against the US public by the war mongers. I used to like Ricks, but this FP blog is a shill operation. Sorry you went over to them, Tom.