Michael Yon: The Road to Hell
| Blogs & New Media | October 12, 2008 10:37 pm |
13 October 2008The Wilds, Afghanistan Since leaving the British embed, I’ve gone unilateral. I flew back and forth between Kandahar and Lashkar Gah, drove around and talked with people down south, then flew up to Kabul. In Kabul, I met Tim Lynch and Shem Klimiuk (a retired USMC and ex-Aussie paratrooper, respectively), and we drove in an unarmored truck east to Jalalabad. The canyon-filled drive would be dangerous even if there was no war, but there is a war – a rapidly growing one — and Tim pointed out burnt spots on the road where ambushes had occurred. I was unarmed, and counting on the military experience of my two guides as well as their combined seven years experience in Afghanistan. In the weeks that I would spend with Tim and Shem, we drove more than a thousand miles up and down Afghan roads without the slightest drama, except that Tim scares me with his driving. If you are rich and want the adventure of a lifetime, contact Tim Lynch. You might die. But if you live, you’ll come back with a new perspective on Afghanistan.On our first trip, we drove from Kabul to Jalalabad. The road passes through a village called Sarobi. Sarobi has become known as the place where ten French soldiers were killed on 18 August, 2008, although they were not actually killed in Sarobi, but near Sper Kundy. The French soldiers were on a reconnaissance patrol in the Uzbin Valley, about 40 kilometers east of Kabul. At approximately 15:00 local time, they were spread out over a steep slope and started taking fire from the ridges above. The gunfire was fierce and accurate. After 90 minutes, the French vehicles ran out of ammunition, and they abandoned a counterattack. They fought for four hours without reinforcements, which were slow to come because the French troops lost radio contact and could not call in air support or reinforcements. According to a secret after action report that I have read and was quoted extensively and accurately in the Canadian Globe and Mail newspaper, the loss of radio contact was probably due to the fact that they only had one working radio. Soldiers from the Afghan National Army (ANA) had accompanied the French patrol, but they were apparently worse than ineffective, “lounging on the battlefield” until they finally dispersed, leaving their weapons and equipment, according to the report.Reinforcements eventually arrived, but the fighting continued into the next morning. The French dead were not reco
|
Weekly Standard: How to Win in Afghanistan
| Blogs & New Media | October 12, 2008 1:46 am |
While building up the central government is important, that effort will be in vain without a complementary effort to build systems and institutions at the local level, which can eventually be connected to the national government. Accepting
and working within the decentralized reality of Afghan society is essential to defeating the insurgents.
Beyond that, the changed nature of the war makes necessary four key strategic adaptations. ..
|
VOA: Iraqi Presidency Finally Approves Provincial Election Law
| Blogs & New Media | October 11, 2008 6:32 pm |
Iraq's presidency council has approved a long-delayed provincial election law, paving the way for polls to take place in most regions early next year.
To resolve the latest dispute over the measure, the three-member presidential panel led by President Jalal Talabani said it is asking lawmakers to pass separate legislation to reserve some seats in provincial councils for minorities. The minorities would include Christians, Yazidis and other small religious or ethnic groups...
|
NYT: As Fears Ease, Baghdad Sees Walls Tumble
| Blogs & New Media | October 11, 2008 6:30 pm |
Market by market, square by square, the walls are beginning to come down. The miles of hulking blast walls, ugly but effective, were installed as a central feature of the surge of American troops to stop neighbors from killing one another.
“They protected against car bombs and drive-by attacks,” said Adnan, 39, a vegetable seller in the once violent neighborhood of Dora, who argues that the walls now block the markets and the commerce that Baghdad needs to thrive. “Now it is safe.”
The slow dismantling of the concrete walls is the most visible sign of a fundamental change here in the Iraqi capital. The American surge strategy, which increased the number of United States troops and contributed to stability here, is drawing to a close. And a transition is under way to the almost inevitable American drawdown in 2009. ..
|
WaPo: Western Journalists in Iraq Stage Pullback of Their Own
| Blogs & New Media | October 11, 2008 5:04 pm |
News coverage that once centered largely on the U.S. military experience is shifting, like the country itself, to a story of Iraqis taking the halting, often mundane steps toward building their own government.
More than five years after the U.S.-led invasion, many of the most important stories in Iraq, such as debate over election laws and negotiations over the legal framework that will govern the presence of U.S. troops here after the United Nations mandate expires at the end of the year, are playing out incrementally and often behind closed doors.
Gen. David G. Perkins, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said stories about violence get top billing. Less-sensational events, such as a recent voter-registration drive for the highly anticipated provincial elections expected early next year, go largely uncovered in the Western news media, he said. ..
|
An Iraqi National Policeman shows his officer in charge a weapon found during a vehicle check in eastern Baghdad, Oct. 9, 2008. Photo by Spc. Katrina Faulkner-Brown, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs.FOB LOYALTY — Iraqi National Police (NP) worked to improve vehicle search techniques to speed up car checks and to reduce traffic congestion in a security district in eastern Baghdad, Oct. 8. Coalition forces regularly visit checkpoints throughout Baghdad to ensure that Iraqi Soldiers maintain security to standard and ensure traffic flows effectively.