Taliban switching to roadside bomb tactics - NATO

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L13172736.htm


Taliban switching to roadside bomb tactics - NATO

MONS, Belgium, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Taliban fighters in Afghanistan are turning to sophisticated roadside bombs as they revert to classic guerrilla tactics against NATO, the alliance's top operational commander said on Tuesday.

NATO Supreme Allied Commander John Craddock said the devices targeting NATO's 34,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan were not yet as deadly as those used by Iraqi militants, but were being steadily refined.
...

"We have a growing problem with IEDs," Craddock told a news briefing at NATO military headquarters in southern Belgium, referring to the roadside bombs known as Improvised Explosive Devices which have also plagued the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

"They are becoming more sophisticated," he said, without specifying how many casualties they had caused.

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. A little information swapping going on --

Iraq teaches them about IEDs, and they teach Iraq about how to shoot down helicopters.

Fighting two separate wars is a real drag. We can't be fighting two wars at once. We need to go after Iran so we can lump them all into one BIG war in Irafganistiran.

[A Simple Game]

5. "one BIG war in Irafganistiran."

Duh, and I thought that * was an idiot for wanting to start a third war.

[bemildred]

2. Now that the cat is out of the bag, they will never go away.

At least as long as the armor stays around, anyway.

[Bigmack]

3. I was a little concerned about...

.. the learning curve as applied to the Iraqis. They seemed a little slow on the uptake. Recently, they've caught up to the curve... maybe even a little ahead of the curve, what with the new copper shaped-charge penetrators they're using against US armor.

The Afghans/Taliban have already showed their stuff with Russians, and this new development shows they still have the capacity to take in new information and technology and apply it to their own situation.

This teaches me two things:
All god's children can learn... even if they're god's brown children.

and

The US is the best teacher in the world for schooling insurgents to fight occupiers.

Note: Large portions of grim :sarcasm: included.

[saigon68]

4. as they revert to classic guerrilla tactics against NATO

This should go on for years and years and years