The U.S.-led coalition has unleashed a new offensive against one of Afghanistan’s most lethal militant networks and plans to ramp up operations next year along the border with Pakistan to better secure the Afghan capital before the American drawdown gathers steam, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday.
The first 10,000 surge troops to be withdrawn, with a third of them being combat troops, will be out by the end of December. The remaining 23,000, or so will be out by the end of summer 2012. So using what we have now is important to knock the enemy back on their heels before winter sets in. I assume we will continue to hammer them over the winter and through the spring and summer.
Not that the south is calm. But the enemy is weaker there:
More than 2,000 coalition servicemembers, including U.S. Marines and Afghan forces, are closing in on an area around Kajaki Dam, a key power generating plant in Helmand province.
The response to the new offensive suggests the Taliban have been weakened in the south, once their stronghold
The Taliban's weak response is in contrast to earlier offensives in the south, such as operations in Marjah and Sangin, where coalition forces faced intense fighting as insurgents tried to hold key terrain. Those areas are now relatively secure.
We can win this.
