pakistani342
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A piece co-authored by Ali M Latifi (one of Afghanistan's most respected journalists, reporting from Afghanistan) on the LA Times here -- sheds interesting light on the strength/weaknesses and strategy of the Taliban.
...
It’s starting to look like the bad old days in Afghanistan.
After six Americans were killed in a suicide bombing this week, and with the U.S. and Britain deploying troops to help battle a Taliban onslaught in strategic Helmand province, Afghanistan looks as shaky as at any point since U.S.-led international forces withdrew into a smaller, supporting role 12 months ago.
The Taliban have shrugged off internal leadership disputes to score a string of military victories. Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani is confronting growing dissent and signs that Afghanistan’s internationally trained security forces cannot hold large stretches of the country without foreign support.
A few months ago, Ghani and U.S. officials were hopeful that Taliban leaders were edging toward peace talks, which nearly everyone agrees is the only way the 14-year conflict will end. With the insurgents gaining momentum, negotiations seem unlikely anytime soon, and even the traditionally optimistic Pentagon says things could get worse in 2016.
Nineteen months after the last Marine unit left Sangin, the district is on the verge of falling back to the Taliban. The insurgents have steadily grabbed control of nearly half the districts in Helmand since this summer and are fighting Afghan forces for several more.
...
“The Taliban strategy seems to be trying to wear the Afghan government forces out, with the assessment that there’s only a limited number of units with good fighting capability,” said Thomas Ruttig, cofounder of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a Kabul-based research group.
...
The Taliban’s gains are a symptom of what analysts describe as leadership failures by Ghani’s administration.
The unity government brokered by Secretary of State John F. Kerry after last year’s disputed election has made almost no one happy. Key government posts, including the minister of defense, have not been permanently filled. The security forces remain plagued by poor logistics and unknown numbers of “ghost soldiers” – troops who exist only on paper so military officers can collect their salaries, Ruttig said.
...
“It is an organization that lacks a political leader and a political agenda, but because of the support and mentorship they received from the outside, they have increased military capability,” said Davood Muradian, founding director of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, a Kabul think tank. “Right now the Taliban might be politically fragmented, but militarily they are more powerful.”
...
It’s starting to look like the bad old days in Afghanistan.
After six Americans were killed in a suicide bombing this week, and with the U.S. and Britain deploying troops to help battle a Taliban onslaught in strategic Helmand province, Afghanistan looks as shaky as at any point since U.S.-led international forces withdrew into a smaller, supporting role 12 months ago.
The Taliban have shrugged off internal leadership disputes to score a string of military victories. Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani is confronting growing dissent and signs that Afghanistan’s internationally trained security forces cannot hold large stretches of the country without foreign support.
A few months ago, Ghani and U.S. officials were hopeful that Taliban leaders were edging toward peace talks, which nearly everyone agrees is the only way the 14-year conflict will end. With the insurgents gaining momentum, negotiations seem unlikely anytime soon, and even the traditionally optimistic Pentagon says things could get worse in 2016.
Nineteen months after the last Marine unit left Sangin, the district is on the verge of falling back to the Taliban. The insurgents have steadily grabbed control of nearly half the districts in Helmand since this summer and are fighting Afghan forces for several more.
...
“The Taliban strategy seems to be trying to wear the Afghan government forces out, with the assessment that there’s only a limited number of units with good fighting capability,” said Thomas Ruttig, cofounder of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a Kabul-based research group.
...
The Taliban’s gains are a symptom of what analysts describe as leadership failures by Ghani’s administration.
The unity government brokered by Secretary of State John F. Kerry after last year’s disputed election has made almost no one happy. Key government posts, including the minister of defense, have not been permanently filled. The security forces remain plagued by poor logistics and unknown numbers of “ghost soldiers” – troops who exist only on paper so military officers can collect their salaries, Ruttig said.
...
“It is an organization that lacks a political leader and a political agenda, but because of the support and mentorship they received from the outside, they have increased military capability,” said Davood Muradian, founding director of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, a Kabul think tank. “Right now the Taliban might be politically fragmented, but militarily they are more powerful.”
