Winter Campaign

The United States-led coalition in Afghanistan has increased air power, increased training of Afghans, pushed advisors down to the Kandak (battalion) level, and has gone after the drug network with an interdiction campaign that supplies the Taliban with money and supporters.

And there will be no let-up with the end of the traditional warmer weather "fighting season:"

Coupled with our air interdiction campaign, this strategy will allow Afghan defense forces to keep pressure on the Taliban through the winter.

In the past we've done these winter offensives with good effects because the enemy had to hunker down over the winter more so than the better equipped and supplied pro-government forces who could go after the enemy in their winter lairs.

Forced out of their lairs, survival in the field until spring is problematic.

And if you wonder why we still fight there, the latest DOD report on Afghanistan explains:

The purpose of the U.S. campaign from 2001 to the present has been to prevent future attacks on the U.S. and its Allies homelands; we will not accept the use of South Asia as a sanctuary for terrorist activity and planning. To accomplish this objective, we have sought to stabilize Afghanistan. The goal is a stable, independent Afghanistan at peace with its neighbors.

If we walk away, will Afghanistan stabilize on its own and prevent jihadis from establishing a sanctuary again?