Preparations for Kandahar Offensive Continue With Wary Locals

[tekisui]

Source: Stars and Stripes

SHUYENE WUSA, Afghanistan — The local mullah was angry. Despite his warm welcome earlier in the day, he insisted that U.S. and Afghan forces could not stay in his village overnight.

“You don’t need to be here. I’ve already told you that security is good,” Hashim Maulawi told Capt. Jimmy Razuri, commander of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. “But since you don’t believe me, I’m not coming to the shura tomorrow.”

Keen not to antagonize the old man further, Razuri ordered his men and the Afghan forces with them to pack up and go. They spent the night at a compound on the outskirts.

It was wise to keep the mullah happy. The district governor was coming the next morning. It would be the first time an Afghan official would visit Shuyene Wusa in nine years, and a crucial first step in re-establishing government authority over the village. If the religious leader refused to attend, other elders would likely stay away, too, and the troops’ mission would fail.

As coalition forces prepare for a large offensive in Kandahar this summer, much of the groundwork is being laid in the Arghandab valley and other outlying districts where U.S. soldiers and other forces are working to wrest control from shadowy networks of Taliban guerrillas and reconnect villagers with the provincial government.

U.S. and other NATO officials hope the Kandahar campaign will prove decisive in turning the tide against the insurgency in southern Afghanistan, a key goal in the war. The clock is ticking on President Barack Obama’s promise to begin withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan starting in July 2011 and the coalition is already fraying. Dutch troops will leave by the end of this year, and Canada will end its combat role next year.

But here in the Arghandab valley, the soldiers are battling a long history of government neglect and corruption, and trying to win over local leaders who are used to playing all sides.

more: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=69394

[NJmaverick]

1. This is what makes this conflict different from Vietnam

the troops are working with and respecting the Afghan people. It's not about body counts and search and destroy missions.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tekisui]

4. Except the Afghan people that they routinely kill.

[NJmaverick]

6. That is an incorrect statement

[tekisui]

7. Was it not about search and destroy when NATO troops

shot the innocent men and women and then dug the bullets out of their bodies? You can't tell me they were respecting those Afghans.

[NJmaverick]

9. You state accusation like ti's fact and that is wrong

[tekisui]

15. NATO killed civilians in a 'botched' raid

and trued to cover it up by digging out the bullets. Those are facts, not accusations. The point stands.

[Flaneur]

5. It WAS about search and destroy missions only a couple of months ago.

And how about those death squads of ours?

[amborin]

11. respect? Afghans don't want foreign occupiers; nor do they like being killed thru collateral damage

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. They're still looking for the grateful people to hurl flowers at the occupiers.

Alas, our version of "picking up the white man's burden" is about as popular as the Brit and Russian versions.

[Romulox]

10. SURGE!!!!!! nt

[amborin]

12. this is a shameful and counter-productive occupation! plus, it's harming the US, not helping

[robdogbucky]

13. Hey, trip to dentist guy....

How bout this for a different point of view for ya? Are you ever going to read/listen to get a fucking clue or will you spout Pentagon propaganda until your last breath?




Afghans blame both US, Taliban for insecurity
By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press Writer Kathy Gannon, Associated Press Writer – Fri Apr 16, 12:07 pm ET

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – With a U.S.-led offensive only weeks away to clear the Taliban from this key southern city, many residents blame foreign troops and the Afghan government as much as the Taliban for pushing Kandahar toward the brink of chaos — the very thing the military hopes to reverse. The goal of the operation by U.S., NATO and Afghan forces is to shore up a local administration that nominally controls the city and break the grip of warlords and influence peddlers, whose role is widely believed to have opened the door to the Taliban...

..."Ten percent of the people are with the Taliban, 10 percent are with the government and 80 percent of the people are angry at the Taliban, the government and the foreigners," said Mohammed Ishaq Khan, a leader of the powerful Achakzai tribe, which dominates an area that has been the scene of bitter battles between NATO and the insurgents. In advance of the NATO offensive, expected to kick into high gear this summer in residential districts on the edge of the city, the Taliban have stepped up their own campaign, planting more and more bombs and booby-traps around Kandahar and elsewhere in the south.

"The Afghan National Army and the police cannot provide security and this government cannot provide good governance," said Karim Khan, a tribal leader from nearby Panjwai district, where successive NATO and Afghan operations have failed to dislodge the Taliban. "Warning of the (upcoming) operation only gives the Taliban a lot of time to plant bombs that cause problems for everyone."

A Taliban commander, interviewed by The Associated Press in the heart of the city, said fighters move about freely, slipping in and out of Kandahar and hiding in private homes. "Eight years ago we were in the mountains," said the commander, who calls himself Mubeen. "But now we are in the cities, towns and villages because we have the support of the people. Without their support we couldn't do it."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100416/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_city_in_fear_1




Just my dos centavos


robdogbucky

[tekisui]

16. Who are you addressing that to?

[robdogbucky]

14. More

"...With both sides preparing for a summer showdown, anxiety is running high among Kandahar's people.

"We just don't know what to think," said day laborer Abdul Ghani as he dug drainage ditches in the city. "We know there is no security today. We only want peace. When the Taliban were here, I could get a job. Now I can get a job, but the difference is today there is no security. We are not politicians, we are not soldiers. We just want peace."

Azizullah, a frail 60-year-old who like many Afghans uses only one name, is convinced "the foreigners cannot bring us peace."

"Most people are not for one side, not for the Taliban and not for the government. But one thing we have to say is that during the Taliban's time, security was stable. There were no kidnappings, no robberies, no killings. But now we are always afraid..."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100416/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_city_in_fear_1


rdb