A force of U.S., British and Canadian troops has trapped several hundred Taliban gunmen in a valley 40 kilometers west of Kandahar. The Taliban can surrender, try and fight their way out, or wait for the Western troops to come clear them out, one house at a time. This operation is part of a campaign that has already gone on for several weeks. So far, there have been over a hundred NATO casualties (and five dead). Several hundred Taliban have been killed so far. This is all part of the NATO Winter campaign, to take advantage of the fact that Afghan warriors typically take shelter in villages during the Winter, if only because they do not, like NATO troops, have the special Winter clothing and robust supply system (aircraft and helicopters) to keep them alive out there.
The dreaded Afghan winter has turned out to be more of a problem for the Taliban and al Qaeda types than for Western forces.
Luckily, we've figured out a way to get the jihadis out in the open away from their villager shields:
[The] usual tactic is to surround the compound holding the Taliban and civilians, bring up the interpreters and either negotiate, or call the Taliban names ("you wankers are hiding behind women's skirts...") until they come out to fight (and get killed.)
Remember, the only good jihadi is a dead jihadi. Any we leave alive are just more that we'll need to kill next year when spring comes and the enemy leaves their shelters to kill again.
