My time in Fallujah was during the height of the battle there....Fall 2004 - Spring 2005. The place was the " Wild West ". When we spoke with Command, they would tell us that we should get used to the place, as we would likely be coming back here for a good long time....They estimated it would be 5-10 years worth of fighting before Fallujah and Anbar Province would be calm. This was the reality of the world we lived in.
Now, we look back at " The Surge " and how our President and his ilk stated "it would not work"...they were on the TV each night deriding the commander on the ground, General Petraeus, who was betting his career that he knew better than a bunch of idjits like Senator "Barry from Chicago" who didn't have a clue. By the end of 2007, Iraq had turned a corner, and those who had served in battle knew better than a bunch of Washington Liberal Elite Dems.
Flash forward to today - POTUS has had to eat his words as the strategy he said wouldn't work, did. Not only worked, but succeeded wildly. Iraq is not like middle America, but it sure as hell isn't like it used to be....The Tribal leaders turned on the foriegn fighters and that was the end of their stupid games.
Now, we are seeing the same idea work in Afghanistan where the local tribal leaders in Helmand Province are turning against foreign fighters, just like they did in Iraq.
One large serving of crow for the idjit-in-charge as he was too stupid to listen then and too sanctimonious to come out and and admit it worked again. John McCain was right both times but doesn't need to say so as the sober satisfaction of having the Honor to stick to your principles is something he knows well, and something "Barry-from-Chicago" will never know.
Rare security deal sealed in southern Afghanistan: Officials
AFPJanuary 4, 2011
Afghanistan - International forces have brokered a rare deal with elders in an area of southern Afghanistan to keep the Taliban out in return for commitments on patrols and development, officials said Tuesday.
The agreement was struck in a part of the Sangin district of Helmand province, one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the nine-year battle between Taliban militants and NATO-led troops, who now number around 140,000.
The pact, thought to be the first of its kind for several years, covers Sarwan Qala, one of the biggest villages in Helmand and its surrounding rural area, where around 4,000 families are thought to live.
Under its terms international forces will only conduct operations in co-ordination with Afghan troops, local officials said.
"The elders will not let foreign Taliban enter the area, Afghan Taliban will not be allowed to conduct attacks in the area," Helmand provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi said, describing the deal.
"Government will launch uplift projects like clinics, schools and road construction in the area.
"ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force) will not conduct any arbitrary operations in the area. If there is a need for an operation, ISAF will only conduct operations in co-ordination with Afghan security forces."
The agreement is thought to be the first of its kind since a controversial deal struck by British forces with insurgents in nearby Musa Qala which broke down in 2007.
The new agreement was also confirmed by coalition forces in Helmand, although a spokesman for the mainstream Taliban strongly dismissed the announcements, calling them "propaganda".
Major General Richard Mills, ISAF's commanding general in the region, said he was "cautiously optimistic" it could succeed.
"The tribal elders presented the Afghan government and coalition leaders a document signed by seven Taliban commanders who agreed to follow the direction of the elders (to stop fighting)," an ISAF statement said.
"In exchange, the elders asked that Afghan forces lead searches of area compounds, that all patrols in the area are partnered and for commitments for short-term and long-term reconstruction and development projects."
© Copyright (c) AFP
Now, we look back at " The Surge " and how our President and his ilk stated "it would not work"...they were on the TV each night deriding the commander on the ground, General Petraeus, who was betting his career that he knew better than a bunch of idjits like Senator "Barry from Chicago" who didn't have a clue. By the end of 2007, Iraq had turned a corner, and those who had served in battle knew better than a bunch of Washington Liberal Elite Dems.
Flash forward to today - POTUS has had to eat his words as the strategy he said wouldn't work, did. Not only worked, but succeeded wildly. Iraq is not like middle America, but it sure as hell isn't like it used to be....The Tribal leaders turned on the foriegn fighters and that was the end of their stupid games.
Now, we are seeing the same idea work in Afghanistan where the local tribal leaders in Helmand Province are turning against foreign fighters, just like they did in Iraq.
One large serving of crow for the idjit-in-charge as he was too stupid to listen then and too sanctimonious to come out and and admit it worked again. John McCain was right both times but doesn't need to say so as the sober satisfaction of having the Honor to stick to your principles is something he knows well, and something "Barry-from-Chicago" will never know.
Rare security deal sealed in southern Afghanistan: Officials
AFPJanuary 4, 2011
Afghanistan - International forces have brokered a rare deal with elders in an area of southern Afghanistan to keep the Taliban out in return for commitments on patrols and development, officials said Tuesday.
The agreement was struck in a part of the Sangin district of Helmand province, one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the nine-year battle between Taliban militants and NATO-led troops, who now number around 140,000.
The pact, thought to be the first of its kind for several years, covers Sarwan Qala, one of the biggest villages in Helmand and its surrounding rural area, where around 4,000 families are thought to live.
Under its terms international forces will only conduct operations in co-ordination with Afghan troops, local officials said.
"The elders will not let foreign Taliban enter the area, Afghan Taliban will not be allowed to conduct attacks in the area," Helmand provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi said, describing the deal.
"Government will launch uplift projects like clinics, schools and road construction in the area.
"ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force) will not conduct any arbitrary operations in the area. If there is a need for an operation, ISAF will only conduct operations in co-ordination with Afghan security forces."
The agreement is thought to be the first of its kind since a controversial deal struck by British forces with insurgents in nearby Musa Qala which broke down in 2007.
The new agreement was also confirmed by coalition forces in Helmand, although a spokesman for the mainstream Taliban strongly dismissed the announcements, calling them "propaganda".
Major General Richard Mills, ISAF's commanding general in the region, said he was "cautiously optimistic" it could succeed.
"The tribal elders presented the Afghan government and coalition leaders a document signed by seven Taliban commanders who agreed to follow the direction of the elders (to stop fighting)," an ISAF statement said.
"In exchange, the elders asked that Afghan forces lead searches of area compounds, that all patrols in the area are partnered and for commitments for short-term and long-term reconstruction and development projects."
© Copyright (c) AFP
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