Oh good grief. Amateur hour should not be rewarded:
The Taliban ambush, while not very sophisticated, was effective. The fighters open fire on the convoy with machine guns and assault rifles from multiple positions. It does not appear that IEDs, RPGs, recoilless rifles or other heavy weapons were used to target the convoy. Although the Taliban was firing from locations that included buildings, the fighters did not appear to take advantage of rooftops and instead fired from ground level.
Yet the Taliban was able to successfully destroy multiple vehicles in the attack. First, the fighters hit a fuel tanker, then several military vehicles were hit. As the segment ends, multiple vehicles are ablaze along the a stretch of the road. At the end of the scene, the Taliban fighters casually walk away.
This is no way to win a war. Well, no way for our side to win a war.
That ambush is an example of why I have been eager to have better air power in support of Afghan forces:
Effective air power to provide recon and surveillance, logistics, transport, medical, strike, and close air support is needed to defeat the Taliban.
One of the effects of effective air power is that it limits the ability of the Taliban to mass troops against small outposts and limits the time Taliban can afford to attack a target before they have to retreat and scatter to avoid air power intervening decisively in the battle.
The Taliban felt no sense of urgency to scatter, and so could take their time to make even a relatively poorly planned and executed ambush work.
Air power isn't a silver bullet solution to the Taliban threat. But it is a no-brainer part of the solution.
Of course, we have to be careful when you consider that the Taliban have the best air defense system in the world.
We have no place for September 10th thinking about Afghanistan.
