Tempest In A War Zone
Frustration and impatience lead many an otherwise cautious individual to mouth irritations he would later regret. And so it is with U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert M. Gates, who would, in all likelihood, prefer to turn the clock back 24 hours and take the cautionary step of advising himself of the likely fall-out of voicing his irritation with the lacks he sees in his allies fighting alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan.He meant what he said, but he didn't quite mean what he said in the way in which his complaints were interpreted. Got that?
What he attempted to convey was that it was his apprehension that the forces of other NATO countries deployed within southern Afghanistan - which is where most of the insurgent action is, and where, incidentally, Canada, Britain and Holland have their troops stationed and as a result absorbing most of the violent grief to be had there - are not adequately schooled in the art of guerrilla warfare.
He committed that most unfortunate offence for which children can never forgive their mothers - of comparing their qualities to those of the neighbours' kids who happen to be, by comparison, virtuous and compellingly perfect in character, unlike her own. He drew a direct contrast between what he perceives as the success realized by American troops battling in eastern Afghanistan - as opposed to the escalated nature of the violence in the south.
Causing one Canadian retiree to lose his cool. Stating the obvious, retired colonel Mike Capstick, once commander of the Canadian military's Strategic Advisory Team in Afghanistan mentioned another unmentionable; that the precipitous removal of the bulk of U.S. troops from Afghanistan before the job was done of defeating the Taliban was entirely responsible for the current situation.
Other pressing issues called.
"It's absolute total frigging hypocrisy to hear this from a secretary of defence of a country which left less than 500 boots on the ground in Kandahar between 2001 and 2005, creating the vacuum that allowed the current situation to develop" spluttered Col. Capstick. Oops. Nor were the British and the Dutch dreadfully pleased, albeit slightly more diplomatic in their response.
"We can all learn from one another, no doubt. Even more important is that we should work well together", said a spokesperson for the British High Commission in Ottawa. While Dutch Defence Minister Eimert van Middlekoop in high dudgeon demanded an explanation from the U.S. Embassy in the Hague. Tch, doesn't do to offend one's friends and supporters.
Yet there is some truth in what Mr. Gates expressed, that conventional forces trained in conventional warfare are not fully prepared to counter an insurgency, fought by determined fundamentalists subordinate to the very highest authority; their faith and their god. "...I think our allies over there, this is not something they have any experience with."
One might think that the Afghan population itself, those comprising that demographic skilled in fighting during previous invasions, and the younger contingent who most certainly must have some defence capabilities in a country long accustomed to tribal dissensions within a country for whom violence is nothing new, would be capable of handling such responses. Cripes! they're the Taliban.
Mr. Gates's criticism is also levelled at the manner in which foreign troops are imparting military knowledge to their Afghan charges, in training them in conventional military manoeuvres. As well as allied troops demonstrating a sometimes-unwillingness to meet the enemy head on, rather than relying on helicopter gunships dropping bombs on sometimes inaccurate targets.
All of which are meet and moot. Yet, as Cpl. Capstick pointed out: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Labels: Political Realities, Troublespots, World Crises
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, January 17, 2008
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