Tragedy underscores Afghan war's realities
By CNN's Tim Lister
The shooting down of a Chinook helicopter in central Afghanistan with the loss of 38 lives - most of them U.S. Navy SEALs - highlights two crucial aspects of the conflict in Afghanistan, as U.S. forces begin to draw down and Afghan security forces start taking the lead.
The first is the growing reliance on U.S. Special Operations Forces to combat the Taliban and other insurgent groups - in operations every night across the country.
The second is that many areas far beyond the Taliban's traditional strongholds in the south remain very insecure, areas where the Taliban have exploited an instinctive wariness of a foreign force among locals - and punished those who dare to work with them.
One such place is the Tangi Valley in Wardak province, where the crash occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning. Soldiers who have served there describe it as perfect territory for insurgents, with steep mountainsides of shale and boulders overlooking orchards and thick vegetation.
Improvised bombs are regularly planted along the one road that runs through the valley, next to the Logar River, and detonated from vantage points above. (NATO officials say that the IEDs' control wires are laid across the river, making pursuit of the insurgents more difficult.)
Tangi is only 60 miles from Kabul, close to the main highway south. But the Taliban (though not al Qaeda or other foreign groups) have long been active in the area.
In 2009, soldiers in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division were deployed to this part of Wardak. They encountered 57 roadside bombs in the valley in just three months, dubbing the road "IED alley" and "Walter Reed Highway," a reference to the Army medical center where many soldiers wounded in Afghanistan have received treatment.
Firefights were an almost daily occurrence.
On his blog this weekend, a former member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade recently deployed to Tangi wrote of the village where the helicopter came down. "Juy Zarin is a village we went to frequently during our deployment and never found anything good while out there. In fact it was a wonderful place to go if we felt like getting into contact."
Back in the 1980s, the Soviet Army was never able to pacify the region, and Soviet convoys were frequently ambushed there.
Earlier this year U.S. forces passed control of the military post in the valley to Afghan troops. Lt. Col. Thomas S. Rickard of the 10th Mountain Division handed over Combat Outpost Tangi to a unit of the Afghan National Army.
"As we lose U.S. personnel, we have to concentrate on the greater populations," Rickard told the U.S. Army website at the time. But the afghan Army did not maintain a permanent presence at the outpost, according to officials of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
As elsewhere, especially in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. forces are now returning to areas previously seen as too remote to focus on or too difficult to defend, where the Taliban and other insurgent groups have filled the vacuum. As they do, the risk of casualties grows - as does the role of U.S. special forces.
The use of U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) in Afghanistan has grown exponentially. In a talk two weeks ago at the Aspen Security Forum, the outgoing commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, Adm. Eric T. Olson, disclosed that SOF carried out "somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 operations" in 2010 alone.
"This is now routine, every night....ground forces getting on a helicopter and flying against a target," Olson said.
The template of such operations includes "a quick reaction force on call to render assistance should things go bad," Olson said. In Friday night's attack, it was the quick reaction force, on its way to assist an ongoing mission by Army Rangers, that perished.
Speaking of the Navy SEALs who took part in the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, Adm. Olson made their role sound almost mundane. "For the people involved it was another mission and another target....This is not a force that sits on the second deck of the fire station waiting for the bell to ring every 10 or 15 years. We trace our lessons back to what we did last night."
But he also recognized the huge burden now falling on Special Operations Forces to subdue the Taliban.
"We are beginning to fray around the edges. We are asking an awful lot of our people," he said at the Aspen conference, adding that SOF units were seeing "a lot of separations short of divorce." But 82% of SOF troops who have the choice of leaving or staying in choose the latter, according to Olson. And more will be asked of them. Of the 33,000 U.S. troops due to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012, none will be special forces.
Special Operations Command - drawn from all four branches of the U.S. military - has grown to a strength of 60,000. With a $10 billion budget it is now larger than the U.S. Coast Guard and about the same size as the entire Canadian Defense Force.
And the caliber of its members reflects its special status. Thirty percent are college graduates. They are more experienced than regular soldiers, with an average age of 30, and they volunteer multiple times. Olson says 60% of SOF have joined since September 11, 2001 - and the aim is to keep them in the military for an average of 20 years.
SOF operations in Afghanistan have at times been controversial, the subject of criticism from President Hamid Karzai because of civilian casualties.
In 2010, then-ISAF Commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal tightened rules of engagement after a series of raids involved civilian deaths, although some units remained exempt from the directive. When he took over, Gen. David Petraeus expanded the use of SOF in an effort to drive the Taliban out of Helmand and Kandahar provinces and blunt the Haqqani network further east.
In testimony to Congress in March, Petraeus said: "We have stepped up the tempo of precise, intelligence-driven operations to capture or kill insurgent leaders....In a typical 90-day period, precision operations by U.S. special-mission units and their Afghan partners alone kill or capture some 360 targeted insurgent leaders."
It appears the Army Rangers were involved in just such a mission in Tangi Valley - closing in on Taliban commanders meeting in a village - when they called for reinforcement.
Special Operations Forces remain the sharp end of a multi-pronged approach in Afghanistan. Olson said the strategy marries "the counter-terrorism line of operation and the engagement line of operation - what's been called village stability operations and the development of Afghan local police trying to return neighborhoods back to the neighbors."
It's become known as "clear, hold, build, transition" to win over what are euphemistically called "under-governed spaces."
Such was the aim of commanders in Tangi two years ago.
Lt. Col. Kimo Gallahue, battalion commander for the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, told the Armed Forces Press Service in March 2009: "We'll take the physical terrain from the enemy ... and we'll take the people away, because the people are the prize in this fight."
But even with the surge last year, many areas of Afghanistan rarely see an ISAF soldier. And officers acknowledge that while a platoon can show a presence, it might take a company or more to persuade villagers they are secure. "Successful counter-insurgency is labor intensive," said one officer.
One soldier deployed to Tangi Valley wrote of his experiences on the website AssgnmentAfghanistan in January.
"Few of the villagers are openly hostile towards us, but they are always mindful of the Taliban, who move through the valley at night," he said. "They are in a delicate situation - we Americans have much to offer them, but they know that we will not be in their valley forever, and they know that the (Afghan National Army) and (Afghan National Police) cannot fight the insurgency alone."
Last year, the newspaper Stars and Stripes reported on a planned meeting for farmers in the district.
Two officials from the ministry of agriculture in Kabul backed out at the last minute, fearing for their safety, and not a single farmer showed up, "leaving a handful of American soldiers and a lone U.S. Department of Agriculture representative, sitting on otherwise empty benches in a stiff breeze, with folding tables full of unopened water bottles and unmade tea," the paper reported.
The phrase commonly used in Afghanistan is: "The Americans have the watches, but the Taliban have the time."
@natlsecuritycnn on Twitter
What are the most effective WordPress plugins to attract the most relevant traffic and maximize website sales?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kmkowalsky/
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular post! It's the little changes that make the most important changes. Many thanks for sharing!
http://www.bugcrowd.com/external_redirect?site=http://bjsnearme.com/
http://fonerwa.org/ksp/sites/all/modules/pubdlcnt/pubdlcnt.php?file=http://www.affordableranking.com
Hello, this weekend is fastidious designed for me,
since this occasion i am reading this enormous informative piece of
writing here at my home.
My web-site live22 (xe88-my.com)
http://belize.thepokemoncompany.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.http://www.affordableranking.com/
Oh my goodness! Impressive article dude! Thank you, However I am experiencing troubles with your RSS. I donít know the reason why I am unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody else getting similar RSS issues? Anyone that knows the solution will you kindly respond? Thanx!!
https://broadhollow.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.http://www.affordableranking.com/
Spot on with this write-up, I really believe that this website needs far more attention. Iíll probably be back again to read through more, thanks for the information!
http://calmh20.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.https://affordableranking.com
http://www.snz-nat-test.aptsolutions.net/ad_click_check.php?banner_id=1&ref=http://affordableranking.com/
After I originally commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I recieve four emails with the exact same comment. Perhaps there is an easy method you are able to remove me from that service? Appreciate it!
https://de.paltalk.com/client/webapp/client/External.wmt?url=https://ocrv.org/rv-inspection-near-me
http://redirect.camfrog.com/redirect/?url=www.ocrv.rocks/oliver-travel-trailer-collision-repair-paint-shop-near-me-orange-county/
Itís hard to come by knowledgeable people on this subject, but you seem like you know what youíre talking about! Thanks
http://legacy.aom.org/verifymember.asp?nextpage=ocrv.biz/rv-repair-shop-laguna-niguel-california/
Excellent article. I certainly appreciate this site. Continue the good work!
https://eridan.websrvcs.com/System/Login.asp?id=48747&Referer=www.b.link/cb5tqp/
Good day! I could have sworn Iíve been to this web site before but after going through a few of the posts I realized itís new to me. Anyhow, Iím definitely pleased I found it and Iíll be book-marking it and checking back often!
http://rylang71w3.blog-gold.com/6382295/5-simple-statements-about-repairing-services-explained
https://www.freedback.com/thank_you.php?u=http://www.ocrv.today/motorhome-paint-shop-near-me/
I'm very happy to discover this page. I wanted to thank you for ones time just for this fantastic read!! I definitely savored every part of it and i also have you book-marked to check out new information in your blog.
http://www.cssdrive.com/?URL=https://ocrv.rocks/rv-slide-out-repair-near-me
https://www.kms.fr/Eprv/Spe/GoPartenaires/?Url=https://ocrvcenter.com/rv-countertop-repair-near-me
https://fkteplice.cz/media_show.asp?type=2&url_back=http://ocrvcenter.com/rv-windshield-repair-near-me/
Very good post! We will be linking to this particularly great article on our website. Keep up the good writing.
http://georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/exit.aspx?url=www.ocrv.world/progressive-rv-collision-repair-shop-near-me/
I'd like to thank you for the efforts you've put in penning this site. I am hoping to view the same high-grade blog posts by you later on as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my own website now 😉
http://www.saco.se/EPiServerMail/Public/CheckLink.aspx?url=https://www.ocrvcenter.com/rv-generator-repair-near-me/
https://consultaca.com/redir/?ca=12115&url=https://quotenearme.com
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reauthorization/reauexit.cfm?link=www.ocrvcenter.org/rv-repair-shop-banning-california/
http://www.studivz.net/Link/Dereferer/?http://theocrv.com/elliott-truck-collision-repair-paint-shop-near-me-orange-county/
Good post. I am experiencing some of these issues as well..
https://yp.ocregister.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=ocrv.art/delivery-truck-collision-repair-shop-near-me/
http://carp.asila.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.bulknearme.com
http://biology.africamuseum.be/BiocaseProvider_2.4.2/www/utilities/queryforms/qf_manual.cgi?url=https://www.quotenearme.com/
http://www.alcoholicanonymous.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=quotenearme.com/
Hey there! I simply would like to offer you a big thumbs up for the great info you've got here on this post. I am returning to your website for more soon.
http://www.mytown.ie/log_outbound.php?business=118705&type=website&url=https://wholesalenearme.com
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be interesting to read content from other authors and practice something from other websites.
http://open-goal.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.quotenearme.com
http://arcticready.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=bulknearme.com/
https://maps.google.com.vc/url?q=https://wholesalenearme.com/
http://hammer.x0.to/cgi/search/rank.cgi?mode=link&id=6289&url=bestlocalnearme.com/
Very good information. Lucky me I recently found your blog by accident (stumbleupon). I've book-marked it for later!
http://acepop.iloveweb.net/php_test.php?a%5B%5D=<a+href=http://masternearme.com/
http://www.cboeliveoptions.net/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=masternearme.com/
https://lcu.hlcommission.org/lcu/pages/auth/forgotPassword.aspx?Returnurl=www.ocrvcenter.com/rv-repair-shop-colton-california
When I initially left a comment I appear to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on whenever a comment is added I recieve 4 emails with the exact same comment. There has to be a way you are able to remove me from that service? Many thanks!
https://toolstud.io/network/redirect.php?url=www.ocrvcenter.com/industrial-vehicle-collision-repair-shop-near-me
I enjoy looking through a post that can make people think. Also, many thanks for allowing me to comment!
http://sutemos.wip.lt/redirect.php?url=ocrvcenter.com/rv-repair-shop-inglewood-california
http://www.wittstock.chemie.uni-oldenburg.de/agef/link_extern.html?link=www.ocrvcenter.com/rv-repair-shop-riverside-california
Excellent article. I definitely appreciate this website. Stick with it!
https://pichak.net/verification/index.php?n=39&url=https://ocrvcenter.com/tank-truck-collision-repair-shop-near-me
http://jiexin.cn/auth.asp?ocrvcenter.com
http://www.meinvz.net/Link/Dereferrer/?https://www.ocrvcenter.com/rv-repair-shop-inglewood-california/
Very good article. I'm experiencing some of these issues as well..
http://www.dorsten.de/Externer_Link.asp?ziel=www.ocrvcenter.com/rv-repair-shop-pasadena-california/
http://friscowebsites.com/Redirect.aspx?destination=http://ocrvcenter.com/motorhome-tv-repair-near-me/
http://kaikrause.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=https://ocrvcenter.com/
Good info. Lucky me I recently found your blog by chance (stumbleupon). I've saved it for later!
http://www.azlawhelp.org/externalsite.cfm?url=//http://www.ocrvcenter.com/western-star-collision-repair-shop-near-me
Excellent article. I am facing some of these issues as well..
http://finediningclub.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.pressdemocrat.com
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon every day. It's always useful to read through content from other authors and practice something from their web sites.
http://sfwater.org/redirect.aspx?url=https://ocrvcenter.com/rv-repair-shop-bellflower-california/
http://cboeliveoptions.net/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=https://ocrvcenter.com
https://sjpcommunications.org/?URL=http://www.ocrvcenter.com/
Pretty! This has been an extremely wonderful article. Many thanks for supplying these details.
https://www.mallygirl.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=https://ocrvcenter.com/
http://weddingwords.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.ocrvcenter.com/
I absolutely love your site.. Pleasant colors & theme. Did you make this amazing site yourself? Please reply back as Iím looking to create my very own blog and would like to know where you got this from or exactly what the theme is named. Kudos!
https://www.curseforge.com/linkout?remoteUrl=https://ocrvcenter.com/rv-interior-remodeling-near-me
https://layoutsparks.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.ocrvcenter.com/moving-truck-collision-repair-shop-near-me/
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It will always be helpful to read articles from other authors and use something from their web sites.
http://www.it.paltalk.com/client/webapp/client/External.wmt?url=https://www.ocrvcenter.com/rv-repair-shop-la-verne-california
https://www.menedzserpraxis.hu/sharing/?menu=email&url=www.ocrvcenter.com/rv-repair-shop-menifee-california/
I used to be able to find good advice from your blog posts.
http://www.urm.org/n/november-splash/?redirect_to=https://www.ocrvcenter.com/motorhome-mechanic-near-me
This is a topic that is close to my heart... Many thanks! Exactly where are your contact details though?
https://www.delawarecpf.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=http://ocrvcenter.com/prostar-collision-repair-shop-near-me/
This is the right web site for anybody who wants to find out about this topic. You realize a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I personally would want toÖHaHa). You definitely put a fresh spin on a topic that has been discussed for years. Wonderful stuff, just great!
http://surveys.montclair.edu/survey/preview.jsp?surveyid=1326825217719&url=http://hootnholler.net/tech-other-growth-stocks-retreat-the-wall-street-journal/
I blog quite often and I truly appreciate your information. This article has truly peaked my interest. I'm going to take a note of your site and keep checking for new information about once per week. I opted in for your Feed too.
http://www.ymg-ssz.jp/cms/modules/wordpress0/wp-ktai.php?view=redir&url=https://ocrvcenter.com/rv-repair-shop-orange-county-california/
http://cliopatria.swi-prolog.org/browse/list_resource?r=ocrvcenter.com/motorhome-body-repair-near-me/
http://searchesinteractive.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=https://ocrvcenter.com/industrial-truck-collision-repair-shop-near-me/
We are free to make a world of justice, peace, and inclusive love.
Roving eyes can cause a associated with heartache for that spouse in the ogled.
Good reader will have an idea where writer may be leading
the group.
https://devot-ee.com/?URL=https://www.ocrvcenter.com/motorhome-repair-near-me
You ought to be a part of a contest for one of the highest quality sites on the web. I most certainly will highly recommend this site!
https://www.saco.se/EPiServerMail/Public/CheckLink.aspx?url=https://www.ocrvcenter.com/fire-truck-collision-repair-shop-near-me/
https://blogranking.fc2.com/out.php?id=1032500&url=https://carrie.komunitascsd.com/page/17/
Aw, this was an extremely nice post. Taking the time and actual effort to produce a top notch articleÖ but what can I sayÖ I put things off a lot and don't seem to get anything done.
http://yellowpages.observer-reporter.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=http://www.ocrvcenter.com/rv-repair-shop-la-palma-california
http://weblib.lib.umt.edu/redirect/proxyselect.php?url=http://handtucher.net/blogs/business/business_and_economy/business_libraries/recreation_and_sports/aviation/?s=H
Hi! I simply want to offer you a huge thumbs up for the excellent information you've got right here on this post. I'll be coming back to your site for more soon.
http://koloboklinks.com/site?url=https://ocrvcenter.com/construction-truck-collision-repair-shop-near-me/
That is a good tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere. Short but very accurate informationÖ Many thanks for sharing this one. A must read article!
http://www.oraung02.iamgold.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=https://forkliftdealernearme.com/
https://www.fms.treas.gov/fmsweb/disclaimer.jsp?ciURL=http://sandyfeetsprayer.com/
https://yellowpages.observer-reporter.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.cateringbusinessplans.com/
buy 36 hour cialis without prescription [url=https://cialisjla.com/ ]cialis generic no prescription[/url] cialis canadian purchase
Howdy! This post couldnít be written much better! Looking through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept preaching about this. I am going to send this article to him. Fairly certain he will have a very good read. Thanks for sharing!
http://www.edesk.jp/atp/Redirect.do?url=https://www.morelifeco.com/
https://legacy.aom.org/verifymember.asp?nextpage=http://www.ocrvmotorcoachsales.com/
https://www.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/no_outbounds.php?o=https://www.developingprospects.com/
https://www.eridan.websrvcs.com/System/Login.asp?id=48747&Referer=http://www.rvmarketingexperts.com
I wanted to thank you for this wonderful read!! I definitely loved every little bit of it. I have you saved as a favorite to look at new things you postÖ
http://6qn.audioresearch.net/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=club-maserati.com
la pela vs cialis [url=https://rcialisgl.com/ ]where can i buy generic cialis[/url] what's in cialis
You're so awesome! I don't suppose I've truly read through a single thing like that before. So nice to find somebody with a few unique thoughts on this issue. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This site is one thing that is required on the internet, someone with some originality!
http://www.monsterbrain.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.wholesalenearme.com/
http://bhhsrhodeisland.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=bulknearme.com
cheapest canadian pharmacy for viagra [url=https://pharmacyhrn.com/ ]creighton university online pharmacy school[/url] london drugs photo center canada
Aw, this was an incredibly nice post. Finding the time and actual effort to generate a very good articleÖ but what can I sayÖ I put things off a whole lot and never manage to get anything done.
http://501trust.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=bestlocalnearme.com
I used to be able to find good info from your content.
https://www.gardenclinic.com.au/Redirect.aspx?destination=http://bestshopnearme.com/
cialis tablet [url=https://krocialis.com/ ]cialis online/canada[/url] overnighted cialis for men
Your style is unique in comparison to other people I've read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you've got the opportunity, Guess I'll just bookmark this page.
http://www.gazzettaweb.net/it/utilities/send_to_friend/?url=http://reviewnearme.com/&version=printable
This is a topic that is close to my heart... Take care! Where are your contact details though?
http://drugdecisions.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=bestlocalnearme.com
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you penning this article plus the rest of the site is very good.
http://sodexofoodsafety.net/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=bonus-books.com
http://cbsautos.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.bjsnearme.com/
Everyone loves it when individuals come together and share thoughts. Great site, stick with it!
http://lasalleblog.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=bonus-books.com
I need to to thank you for this great read!! I certainly loved every bit of it. I've got you book-marked to look at new stuff you postÖ
http://yourdestinyflorida.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=bulknearme.com/
http://www.quills.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=www.reviewnearme.com/
Your style is so unique in comparison to other people I've read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this site.
http://www.scalp-spa.net/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=quotenearme.com/
http://www.georgesfinejewelers.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=bestlocalnearme.com/
You made some decent points there. I checked on the net to learn more about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your views on this site.
http://iheartmillsauto.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=reviewnearme.com
http://www3.famille.ne.jp/~ykad/cgi-bin/search/ykrank.cgi?mode=link&id=51&url=https://wholesalenearme.com
Wonderful article! We will be linking to this great post on our website. Keep up the good writing.
http://wallacegallery.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=hootnholler.net
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I truly appreciate your
efforts and I will be waiting for your next write ups thank you once again.
http://help.dedecms.com/plus/player/index.php?url=https://israelf07y7.livebloggs.com/5758890/the-basic-principles-of-craft-store
Having read this I thought it was extremely enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and energy to put this informative article together. I once again find myself spending way too much time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worth it!
http://www.bshare.cn/share?url=https://eduardok04f7.blogacep.com/5211485/the-best-side-of-rv-body-shop
http://connerl70o8.ivasdesign.com/23931346/5-easy-facts-about-seo-marketing-consultant-described
Your style is really unique in comparison to other folks I've read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just bookmark this blog.