Nahraf
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An Enemy That Thinks | The Seminal
An Enemy That Thinks
By: Dubhaltach Sunday August 29, 2010 6:46 am
When I heard that Forward Operating Base, FOB Chapman had been attacked again I sat up and started paying a lot of attention. FOB Chapman (and its companion FOB, FOB Salerno), are interesting places, not least because of their CIA connection, their key role in American drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and because the Taliban attack them regularly. Probably the best known of these attacks is the one launched by a suicide bomber on December 30, 2009 in which 7 CIA agents and a Jordanian Military Intelligence office were killed together with 6 wounded. (See also: CIA director confirms that 7 agents died in suicide bombing by Taliban at US base in Afghanistan).
The BBC headlined the most recent attacks as follows — "Taliban disguised as US troops attack Nato bases"
The attacks targeted the US military’s Forward Operating Base Chapman and Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost province near the eastern border with Pakistan, where coalition forces have been stepping up operations against a resurgent Taliban.
Source: BBC News | "Taliban disguised as US troops attack Nato bases". | (Emphasis added), — if you follow the link to BBC news page you will find a video report as well as the text report.
In America The New York Times have a condensed AP report headlined "Insurgents Attack NATO Base and Camp in Afghanistan", a somewhat longer AP report headlined "Afghan militants in US uniforms storm 2 NATO bases" is hosted at Google News.
From the way the reports are written the casual observer could gain the impression that this operation was a severe failure for the Taliban and that they are on the way to being vanquished. For me as a professional military officer with several tours of duty in Afghanistan under my belt the key facts in the reports and the impression I gained from them are somewhat different:
1. The attack was well timed, had several objectives, and lasted for several hours.
2. The attack was a coup de main — that is it involved the use of surprise and simultaneous execution of supporting operations to achieve success.
3. Following from 1 and 2 above the attack was complex:
1. The attack was well organised and executed.
2. The attacking forces used a variety of weapons systems including, inter alia, assault rifles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and heavy weapons such as rockets and mortars.
3. The attack was coordinated.
4. The attackers successfully executed the most difficult of all military operations — they withdraw from the battlefield in an organized fashion while under heavy fire. According to the AP report, the bodies of only 21 attackers were recovered by the defending forces in the aftermath of the attack.
4. The attack very nearly succeeded the use of US uniforms by the attackers meant that some of the attackers got close enough to have a chance to get into the compounds, from the reports at least two of the attackers succeeded in breaching the perimeter of FOB Salerno.
5. The attacks are part of a series of attacks exploiting weaknesses caused by the American strategy of concentrating in Marja and Kandahar.
6. The conclusion to be drawn from 1 — 5 above is that, allowing for local variations, the Taliban are an adaptive foe, capable of altering their strategy to adapt to new circumstance and capabled of exploiting spotting and exploiting their oponents’ weaknesses at short notice to execute complex attacks.
This is an undefeated enemy. This is a flexible and consistently underestimated enemy. This is an enemy that thinks.
An Enemy That Thinks
By: Dubhaltach Sunday August 29, 2010 6:46 am
When I heard that Forward Operating Base, FOB Chapman had been attacked again I sat up and started paying a lot of attention. FOB Chapman (and its companion FOB, FOB Salerno), are interesting places, not least because of their CIA connection, their key role in American drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and because the Taliban attack them regularly. Probably the best known of these attacks is the one launched by a suicide bomber on December 30, 2009 in which 7 CIA agents and a Jordanian Military Intelligence office were killed together with 6 wounded. (See also: CIA director confirms that 7 agents died in suicide bombing by Taliban at US base in Afghanistan).
The BBC headlined the most recent attacks as follows — "Taliban disguised as US troops attack Nato bases"
The attacks targeted the US military’s Forward Operating Base Chapman and Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost province near the eastern border with Pakistan, where coalition forces have been stepping up operations against a resurgent Taliban.
Source: BBC News | "Taliban disguised as US troops attack Nato bases". | (Emphasis added), — if you follow the link to BBC news page you will find a video report as well as the text report.
In America The New York Times have a condensed AP report headlined "Insurgents Attack NATO Base and Camp in Afghanistan", a somewhat longer AP report headlined "Afghan militants in US uniforms storm 2 NATO bases" is hosted at Google News.
From the way the reports are written the casual observer could gain the impression that this operation was a severe failure for the Taliban and that they are on the way to being vanquished. For me as a professional military officer with several tours of duty in Afghanistan under my belt the key facts in the reports and the impression I gained from them are somewhat different:
1. The attack was well timed, had several objectives, and lasted for several hours.
2. The attack was a coup de main — that is it involved the use of surprise and simultaneous execution of supporting operations to achieve success.
3. Following from 1 and 2 above the attack was complex:
1. The attack was well organised and executed.
2. The attacking forces used a variety of weapons systems including, inter alia, assault rifles, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and heavy weapons such as rockets and mortars.
3. The attack was coordinated.
4. The attackers successfully executed the most difficult of all military operations — they withdraw from the battlefield in an organized fashion while under heavy fire. According to the AP report, the bodies of only 21 attackers were recovered by the defending forces in the aftermath of the attack.
4. The attack very nearly succeeded the use of US uniforms by the attackers meant that some of the attackers got close enough to have a chance to get into the compounds, from the reports at least two of the attackers succeeded in breaching the perimeter of FOB Salerno.
5. The attacks are part of a series of attacks exploiting weaknesses caused by the American strategy of concentrating in Marja and Kandahar.
6. The conclusion to be drawn from 1 — 5 above is that, allowing for local variations, the Taliban are an adaptive foe, capable of altering their strategy to adapt to new circumstance and capabled of exploiting spotting and exploiting their oponents’ weaknesses at short notice to execute complex attacks.
This is an undefeated enemy. This is a flexible and consistently underestimated enemy. This is an enemy that thinks.
