War can seem quite acceptable, from a distance. That was the problem leading up to 9-11, the Islamo Fascists saw war with America as some sort of romantic return to a heroic past. The idea of Jihad was becoming very popular and excitement built as the more pure, more righteous Islamist Fighters took on The Great Satan and defeated it with Allah’s blessing. At least that was the story, until 9-11 and the overthrow of these snakes in Afghanistan and the battle royal in Iraq. Both times the terrorists lost, despite predictions of doom and quagmire and rugged terrain.

Now the last remnants of this sick vision are hold up in the tribal areas of Pakistan and launching attacks on our forces and allies in Pakistan. One recent attack, when fully report (H/T Reader Crosspatch), shows how the force multipliers that we invested in through our weapons systems technologies can make 70 fighters able to take on and repulse 500 fighters:

Three days before the attack, 45 U.S. paratroopers from the 173d Airborne, accompanied by 25 Afghan soldiers, made their way to Kunar province, a remote area in the northeastern Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, and established the beginnings of a small Combat Outpost (COP). Their movement into the area was noticed, and their tiny numbers and incomplete fortifications were quickly taken advantage of.

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As recounted by the AP and other media outlets, nine U.S. paratroopers lost their lives — a full fifth of the American contingent.

Further, fifteen U.S. and four Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the attack, meaning that, against an assault and support force of nearly 500 militant fighters, only 21 U.S. and 21 Afghan soldiers were able to fight at full strength — and they succeeded not only in killing dozens of attackers, but in repelling the onslaught completely.

The only quibble I have with the piece is the loose comparison to The Alamo, where another small US force fought an overpowering Army to a standstill for dies, before being overrun. This time there was no defeat. And in fact, this may have been the last straw, the last chance to give Pakistan an opportunity to deal with the snakes inside its borders. Supposedly we are preparing for major strikes inside Pakistan, and are fortifying the border for an expected response from the hornets nest. Here is an interesting piece claiming the word has gone out to Pakistan from America – no more delays:

Background interviews with the officials privy to developments on Pakistan’s shared frontier with Afghanistan revealed that the invasion by the US-led coalition forces is not imminent at this stage but the threat of surgical strikes on militants’ hideouts in the tribal belt was very much real.
The option of surgical strikes is opted to inflict damage on the intended legitimate military targets and to avert the possibilities of collateral damage to the surrounding structures and buildings and those attacks are generally carried out by precision guided munitions and in particular by aircraft.
The officials said that the warning regarding the surgical strikes had been conveyed to Pakistani authorities and it also figured in detailed discussions during the visit of US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen to Islamabad few days ago.

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He said that the troops’ build-up by the coalition forces on Pak-Afghan border was being monitored deeply and the security circles here were engaged in hectic consultations on how to tackle any threatening and serious situation.

“Pakistani officials have warned the U.S. authorities that any direct action by the coalition forces inside Pakistan would serve no purpose and it would only add to the ongoing strife and friction in the tribal areas,” the official said adding that the Americans had been asked to be patient and give time to Pakistan’s efforts to bear fruits vis-a-vis war on terror.

Some of these sources are of questionable credibility, but I see it this way: they have to be at least on par with some of the whacked liberal ‘news’ sites who predicted doom in Iraq for over a year. Anyway, the attacks inside Afghanistan show that patience is futile. The new Pakistan government has tried appeasement, they got bombs and invasions in return. They tried creating an alliance of local tribes who supported them, they simply got their allies executed.

A border incident a few weeks ago seems to have illustrated how the Taliban has infiltrated the Frontier Corps, an attempt by Pakistan to recreate the Awakening concept that helped turn Iraq around. The problem is (and as an illustration as to why Obama and the other Surrendercrats were and are wrong on The Surge) for an Awakening to work security needs to be provided to the local communities. Each major community needs to be cleared of terrorists through a large presence of forces, and then held.

Pakistan is not able to execute this part of the process, so the Islamo Fascists thrive killing off al potential allies. Awakenings need Surges, and vise versa, in order to succeed. Pakistan is still not accepting the fact their border is a haven for attackers, and are quibbling over the fog of war instead of dealing with their problem.

There are continuously signs of turning some of the locals against the terrorist amongst them, but it never seems to be able to sustain itself. At this stage it is time to take some serious action so Pakistan gets serious. Their current plan is producing nothing. They are being intimidated by the terrorists. If they don’t have the drive to do this, we could decimate these people from the air and let the Pakistanis come in and clean up things on the ground.

More here.

Tags: Afghanistan, Border, NATO, Pakistan, Taliban, US Forces