Enemy crushed in two big battles in Afghanistan

CNN:

Two separate battles that militants fought with Afghan and NATO troops in southern Afghanistan over the weekend left at least 100 insurgents dead, authorities said Sunday.

In the first incident, Afghan authorities called in NATO support after they spotted insurgents gathering on the outskirts of Laskhar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, late Saturday night.

NATO troops bombed the gathering that was planning to launch mortar attacks on an Afghan army compound, according to a statement from the International Security Assistance Force.

...

Daud Ahmadi, the spokesman for the province's governor, confirmed the planned attack and said 62 militants were killed in the air strikes.

In the second incident, 46 militants were killed during a three-day operation that began Thursday in the Nad Ali district, also in Helmand.

No Afghan or NATO soldiers died during the operations, said Assadullah Shirzad, the province's police chief.

...

What do both of these battles tell us about the war in Afghanistan? First, it is very dangerous for the enemy to mass his forces for an attack. To do so risks their destruction because of our superior fire power. Second, all that talk about the US losing in Afghanistan is typical pre election drivel aimed at helping Democrat candidates the way it did in 2006. It may also be a set up for a deal that the brits want with the Taliban.

What is clear militarily is that the Taliban are incapable of defeating our forces in combat. They are also incapable of defeating the Afghan army in combat. What they are capable of is usig the ambiguity as to time and place of attack to take over areas where non combatants are incapable of resisting their efforts. What that suggest is that we have an inadequate force to space ratio, It means we need a larger Afghan army and more forces of our own in Afghanistan.

It should be noted that the Taliban are also suffering significant casualties on the Pakistan side of the border right now. When added with he casualties and loss of leadership that hey are incurring in Afghanistan, it will become more difficult for the Taliban to sustain operations. We do need to do a btter job of denying the Taliban resources by a campaign against their money crop of Opium.

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