by twit
why does it sound like we just got to Afghanistan?
The men of the 3rd Batallion, 8th Marine Regiment, based at Camp Lejeune, are discovering in their first two months in Afghanistan that the tactics they learned in nearly six years of combat in Iraq are of little value here — and may even inhibit their ability to fight their Taliban foes.
Their MRAP mine-resistant vehicles, which cost $1 million each, were specially developed to combat the terrible effects of roadside bombs, the single biggest killer of Americans in Iraq. But Iraq is a country of highways and paved roads, and the heavily armored vehicles are cumbersome on Afghanistan’s unpaved roads and rough terrain where roadside bombs are much less of a threat.
… to reach the populace, American forces must find unmapped caravan routes that run through treacherous terrain, routes not designed for their modern military vehicles.
American forces have been in Afghanistan since October 7, 2001 … and the military is just beginning to notice that the terrain is different?
U.S. military leaders recognize that they need to make adjustments.
Since Bush didn’t seem to mention Afghanistan in his final press conference as president, we can just cut and paste his all-purpose dodge of responsibility:
”I don’t know if you want to call those mistakes or not, but they were — things didn’t go according to plan, let’s put it that way,” Bush said.
Recent Comments