Fuzzy War?

After much consternation, General McCrystal is finally getting the troops into Afganistan he requested from the Obama administration. This will constitute the backbone of General McCrystals new strategy to counter a resurgent Taliban influence in the complicated conflict in Afganistan. Their new rules of engagement on the battlefield, however have caused some anxiety.

Counter-intuitive as it first seemed to an admitted hawk like myself, I now have high hopes for the strategy. The new rules of engagement tighten the reigns of the use of leathal force by soldiers to reduce civilian casualties, and means to demostrate the ability of the goverment to provide basic services and securtity. No doubt that the restrictive rules put our soldiers at increased risk, even more so when the enemy will use our rules of engagement against them. Taliban combantants will drop thier weapons and taunt allied troops, and hide behind civilians to harrass our troops and store their supplies. Allied air power and artillary have been curtailed to prevent collateral damage, and advance warnings remove the element of surprise. As fustrating as this must be, it may proove worth the risk. It appears that the fight really is for the hearts and minds of the Afganistan people now, and it may already be paying dividends. The ongoing operation in Marja was aided by civilian intel describing opposing force stregnth and location of mines and deadly IEDs. There is no arguing that this saved lives. Although modeled after successfull strategy in Iraq to engage support from tribal leaders, and early results have been encouraging, it is no garranty of long term success here, as the recent gains are only half of the strategy. The apparently corrupt government in Kabul still needs to demostrate its ability to fill a power vacume created by the removal of the Taliban and forfill its obligations to its citizens with basic services and secruity, the REAL measure of success for the Afgan people.

As the millitary portion of the strategy moves on with advance warnings to the residents of Kandahar, all eyes will be on the governments efforts in Marja. This long war may hinge on the efforts to gain the support of the tribal population outside of the major poplulation centers. The new stratagy in Afganistan, along with the increased use of drones and non-conventional special forces raids in Pakistan and Keyna certainly reduce our footprint, but in my mind create a "fuzzy War" strategy that will be difficult for the guage due to the secrecy surrounding the non-coventional tactics. However, the Obama admisitration should be commended over the din of his party's pressure, as this strategy just may prove to get the results we need to eventually hand over the reigns and get our troops home.