The Afghanistan Conundrum
by Art Jacobson on Nov. 22, 2009, under Uncategorized
Conundrum: a : a question or problem having only a conjectural answer b : an intricate and difficult problem.
Americans from President Obama and members of his administration down to armchair generals and political junkies puzzle over what to do and how to do it in Afghanistan. No one seems quite sure.
This is odd because once, between October 19th, 2001 and the early months of 2002 we got it exactly right.
“In all, about 350 special forces soldiers, 100 CIA officers, and 15,000 Afghan troops succeeded where the British in the nineteenth century, and the Soviets in the 1980’s had failed…..When the Special Forces teams left the country the United States would eventually have spent a mere $70 million.”
The story of the bravery, sacrifice and endurance of a relative handful Special Forces soldiers is the substance of Douglas Stanton’s “Horse Soldiers,” from which I quoted above.
If you are a fan of the sort of military history that vividly recreates the heart of battle (I’m thinking here of Sir John Keegan) then this book is a must-read. If nothing else it is as exciting as one of Alistair Maclean’s action thrillers.
The focus of this book is on two combat teams of thirteen men each. Captain Mitch Nelson’s team rode with the forces Abdul Rashid Dostum. Captain Dean Nosorog’s team rode with Atta Mohammed Noor.
These men were not fighting isolated and alone. The helicopter pilots and crews of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment flew re-supply missions in zero visibility and at altitudes where chopper blades claw for a grip.
Overhead were the circling B-52s with the smart bombs that functioned as the teams’ heavy artillery. Of course in order to be effective the teams’ Air Force combat controllers had to get close enough to their targets to locate the exact location of bunkers that needed to be destroyed.
This meant riding their little Asian horses at night, along narrow mountain tracks where a misstep meant plunging over the edge. On more than one occasion they had to ride until their saddle sores bled.
“To win wars against enemies like the Taliban, which are often stateless in their affiliation, you adapt. You eat what they eat, sleep where they sleep, and think like they think. This was the essence of the Special Forces soldiers’ training and experience.”
…..Doug Stanton.
