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U.S. General Maps New Tactic to Pursue Taliban
The commander of American-led forces in Afghanistan said Tuesday that the military had adopted new tactics to combat Taliban and Al Qaeda militants in the country. The officer, Lt. Gen. David W. Barno of the Army, said that in the past three months, American units down to the level of 40-soldier platoons had been dispatched to live in villages where they can forge ties with tribal elders and glean better information about the location and activities of guerrillas. In the past, he said, American forces typically gathered intelligence about hostile forces, carried out focused raids for several days against those targets, then returned to base to plan and prepare for their next mission. "What we’re doing is moving to a more classic counterinsurgency strategy here in Afghanistan," General Barno told reporters at the Pentagon in a videoconference from his headquarters in Kabul, the capital.
Going to occupy the territory, are they? Seems that should be a job for the Afghan army...
General Barno said the new strategy had already paid dividends: Afghan civilians have reported more insurgents’ weapons caches in the past month than had been turned in during the past half year. The new strategy also seeks to complement a renewed effort by the United States, NATO and other allies to expand the number of teams of soldiers and civilians who will fan out beyond Kabul and assist local authorities with security and rebuilding. General Barno said that by the end of this week, 12 of those "provincial reconstruction teams" would be operating. Britain, Italy, Turkey and Norway agreed earlier this month to lead four additional NATO teams by this summer. The teams consist of 60 to 100 people, are tailored to a region’s specific needs, and have become the linchpin of the coalition’s efforts to rebuild Afghanistan while staving off guerrilla attacks.
Posted by: Paul Moloney 2004-02-18
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=26439