Afghan and NATO forces killed or wounded several hundred Taliban who had come together south of Kandahar, and tried to take over seven villages. As usual, an examination of the dead, and interrogation of prisoners, showed that most of the gunmen were from Pakistan, recruited from Pushtun tribes, and religious schools for boys. Not exactly a great source of skilled warriors. Give them an AK-47, a few days training, a pep talk by a preacher and send them across the border. If they don't come back, and many don't, declare them martyrs for the cause.
The press continues to speak of this event as evidence of the persistence of the Taliban resistance in Afghanistan.
But really, it isn't "resistance" when the cannon fodder is imported from Pakistan, now is it?
This is about the persistence of the jihadi ideology that allows a discredited ideology in Afghanistan to fight on despite the casualties the cause endures inside Afghanistan.
Which is why we can't settle for a tactical victory over al Qaeda in Iraq, Afghanistan, or even Pakistan. We need to destroy the ideology that allows thugs to recruit idiots to go and die in a foreign land.
Yes, the tactical victories are important, but unless we destroy the ideology, much like young men travel to Afghanistan to kill again and again, young jihadis will again reach our shores to kill us again in large numbers.
