> Daniel Unruh schrieb am 16. Mai 2002 17:12
> [...] und durch den schnellen Sieg in Afghanistan
aus dem leitartikel in der washington post von der heutigen
onlineausgabe:
GIs Battle 'Ghosts' in Afghanistan
Search for Elusive Enemy Frustrates Americans
(soldiers of the 101st Airborne, accompanied by a Washington Post
reporter)
[...] The Americans are not the first to encounter such a dilemma in
the mountains of Afghanistan. During their long, futile war here in
the 1980s, Soviet soldiers referred to their Afghan adversaries as
dukhi, the Russian word for ghosts, invisible spirits who attacked
without notice only to disappear again into the countryside. Now
American, British and Canadian ground troops deploy around the
country for targeted strikes searching for their own dukhi.
[...]
"It's a frustrating war," Lt. Col. Patrick L. Fetterman, the
commander of Operation Iron Mountain, said at the beginning of the
mission last weekend. "The reason it's so frustrating and aggravating
is because the enemy is not fighting. We're trying to find him and
he's trying to avoid us. So any time we go out, he fades away. It's
just like Vietnam. Any time he finds a weak spot, he flows in like
water."
[...]
'Like Vietnam'
The sound of an explosion cut through the silence at 3:40 a.m. on
Monday. Most of the soldiers were asleep on the ground, but Smith,
the sergeant major, was up in an instant.
"Is that an explosion?" he called out into the darkness.
"Yes, Sergeant Major," answered Spec. Brian Buss, the radio man.
Within moments, information came over the radio. Another rocket had
been fired at the U.S. base at Khost -- this time landing just 400
yards from the target, closer than before. With the CIA's unmanned
Predator and other reconnaissance airplanes overhead, it did not take
long to pinpoint where the rocket came from -- about five miles to
the west, well outside the Crocodile operation area.
"They felt pressure from us here so they launched from somewhere
else," Smith said. "Can't stop a three-man team from running around.
All they did is move further west. . . . How do you stop that?"
More details began trickling in. Fetterman was up, as were most of
his top staff members. There was nothing for them to do but seethe.
They had no vehicles for chasing the assailants and, besides,
intelligence reports indicated that the rockets were generally set
several hours before going off, meaning the enemy was almost
certainly long gone.
Several of the soldiers offered their ideas, which mostly revolved
around putting more men on the ground. Smith focused on the rules of
engagement, which prevent soldiers from shooting unless they are
being threatened. The three suspicious men they saw did not qualify.
"The only way is to say, if they act stupid, take them down," he
said. "Problem is, you can't do that. Not in this country. 'Cause
everyone acts stupid."
"[Expletive] bastards!" fumed Leach, the intelligence officer.
"Life was a lot easier when everyone wore a uniform," Fetterman said.
"Then you know who you can kill and not kill," Smith agreed.
Fetterman got a report from aides. Not a single car came through the
two roadblocks overnight. "We had no movement in here last night.
That means their 'intell' is better than ours. They know where we are
and we didn't know where they are."
Fetterman sat back and reflected some more. "It's very much like
Vietnam -- partial success," he said. "We pushed them out but they're
smart enough to figure out how to react to what we're doing."
"It's one of those times when you accomplish your task but fail the
mission," added Capt. Daniel Kidd, 28, a top aide to Fetterman.
Smith did not like that assessment. "We didn't fail our mission," he
retorted sharply. "Our mission was to search and clear Operation Area
Crocodile. We did that."
But he did not sound all that convinced. He scrunched up his face in
frustration. "Well, it could have been worse. They could have
launched from right over there."
The sun began to creep above the horizon. The soft dawn light
revealed a field filled with rustling soldiers with no enemy to
fight. The temperature began to rise, hinting at the broiler to come.
And the infantrymen continued to hash out what had happened.
Smith was still perturbed. How could they do their job, he wanted to
know, if the military was not prepared to do what was necessary? "Our
job is to close with and destroy the enemy," he said. "You can drop
bombs on them all [expletive] day. But until we're ready to accept
putting out squads -- "
"We're not willing to do that," interjected Fetterman.
"I know that."
"We got into their decision cycle," Fetterman offered, again
searching for the positive outcome. "We made them do something they
didn't want to do. We got some more intell."
"But bottom line, we didn't kill the [expletives]," Smith said. He
scowled again. The conversation faded to grim silence. Off in the
distance, they suddenly heard a burst of machine-gun fire. And then
another. It came from the direction of the city, miles away, possibly
factional fighting among the locals. Nothing related to their
mission. Nothing for them to do. They sat down again and waited for
the helicopters to take them back to their base.
"Ah, this sucks," Smith sighed. "Didn't get to kill nobody and they
still got to fire their rocket."
Then he posed the ultimate question to the group. "When have we
completed our mission in Afghanistan?"
No one had an answer.
Die amerikanische Armee hat gegenüber der Washington Post eine
offensichtlich etwas realistischere Einschätzung der Lage als Du.
Inzwischen wissen sie wieso die Sowjets geschlagen wurden. Ich
zitiere den Kommandierenden Offizier, Lt. Col. Patrick L. Fetterman,
101st Airborne: "It's just like Vietnam".
Geschichte der 101st Airborne:
http://www.campbell.army.mil/101avnbde/History.htm
Das sind Elitetruppen, keine dahergelaufenen Penner oder so
Pfadfindertruppen von der Bundeswehr. Von einem schnellen Sieg ist da
nicht die Rede, im Gegenteil, ein Ende der Operationen ist nicht mal
ansatzweise in Sicht.
> [...] und durch den schnellen Sieg in Afghanistan
aus dem leitartikel in der washington post von der heutigen
onlineausgabe:
GIs Battle 'Ghosts' in Afghanistan
Search for Elusive Enemy Frustrates Americans
(soldiers of the 101st Airborne, accompanied by a Washington Post
reporter)
[...] The Americans are not the first to encounter such a dilemma in
the mountains of Afghanistan. During their long, futile war here in
the 1980s, Soviet soldiers referred to their Afghan adversaries as
dukhi, the Russian word for ghosts, invisible spirits who attacked
without notice only to disappear again into the countryside. Now
American, British and Canadian ground troops deploy around the
country for targeted strikes searching for their own dukhi.
[...]
"It's a frustrating war," Lt. Col. Patrick L. Fetterman, the
commander of Operation Iron Mountain, said at the beginning of the
mission last weekend. "The reason it's so frustrating and aggravating
is because the enemy is not fighting. We're trying to find him and
he's trying to avoid us. So any time we go out, he fades away. It's
just like Vietnam. Any time he finds a weak spot, he flows in like
water."
[...]
'Like Vietnam'
The sound of an explosion cut through the silence at 3:40 a.m. on
Monday. Most of the soldiers were asleep on the ground, but Smith,
the sergeant major, was up in an instant.
"Is that an explosion?" he called out into the darkness.
"Yes, Sergeant Major," answered Spec. Brian Buss, the radio man.
Within moments, information came over the radio. Another rocket had
been fired at the U.S. base at Khost -- this time landing just 400
yards from the target, closer than before. With the CIA's unmanned
Predator and other reconnaissance airplanes overhead, it did not take
long to pinpoint where the rocket came from -- about five miles to
the west, well outside the Crocodile operation area.
"They felt pressure from us here so they launched from somewhere
else," Smith said. "Can't stop a three-man team from running around.
All they did is move further west. . . . How do you stop that?"
More details began trickling in. Fetterman was up, as were most of
his top staff members. There was nothing for them to do but seethe.
They had no vehicles for chasing the assailants and, besides,
intelligence reports indicated that the rockets were generally set
several hours before going off, meaning the enemy was almost
certainly long gone.
Several of the soldiers offered their ideas, which mostly revolved
around putting more men on the ground. Smith focused on the rules of
engagement, which prevent soldiers from shooting unless they are
being threatened. The three suspicious men they saw did not qualify.
"The only way is to say, if they act stupid, take them down," he
said. "Problem is, you can't do that. Not in this country. 'Cause
everyone acts stupid."
"[Expletive] bastards!" fumed Leach, the intelligence officer.
"Life was a lot easier when everyone wore a uniform," Fetterman said.
"Then you know who you can kill and not kill," Smith agreed.
Fetterman got a report from aides. Not a single car came through the
two roadblocks overnight. "We had no movement in here last night.
That means their 'intell' is better than ours. They know where we are
and we didn't know where they are."
Fetterman sat back and reflected some more. "It's very much like
Vietnam -- partial success," he said. "We pushed them out but they're
smart enough to figure out how to react to what we're doing."
"It's one of those times when you accomplish your task but fail the
mission," added Capt. Daniel Kidd, 28, a top aide to Fetterman.
Smith did not like that assessment. "We didn't fail our mission," he
retorted sharply. "Our mission was to search and clear Operation Area
Crocodile. We did that."
But he did not sound all that convinced. He scrunched up his face in
frustration. "Well, it could have been worse. They could have
launched from right over there."
The sun began to creep above the horizon. The soft dawn light
revealed a field filled with rustling soldiers with no enemy to
fight. The temperature began to rise, hinting at the broiler to come.
And the infantrymen continued to hash out what had happened.
Smith was still perturbed. How could they do their job, he wanted to
know, if the military was not prepared to do what was necessary? "Our
job is to close with and destroy the enemy," he said. "You can drop
bombs on them all [expletive] day. But until we're ready to accept
putting out squads -- "
"We're not willing to do that," interjected Fetterman.
"I know that."
"We got into their decision cycle," Fetterman offered, again
searching for the positive outcome. "We made them do something they
didn't want to do. We got some more intell."
"But bottom line, we didn't kill the [expletives]," Smith said. He
scowled again. The conversation faded to grim silence. Off in the
distance, they suddenly heard a burst of machine-gun fire. And then
another. It came from the direction of the city, miles away, possibly
factional fighting among the locals. Nothing related to their
mission. Nothing for them to do. They sat down again and waited for
the helicopters to take them back to their base.
"Ah, this sucks," Smith sighed. "Didn't get to kill nobody and they
still got to fire their rocket."
Then he posed the ultimate question to the group. "When have we
completed our mission in Afghanistan?"
No one had an answer.
Die amerikanische Armee hat gegenüber der Washington Post eine
offensichtlich etwas realistischere Einschätzung der Lage als Du.
Inzwischen wissen sie wieso die Sowjets geschlagen wurden. Ich
zitiere den Kommandierenden Offizier, Lt. Col. Patrick L. Fetterman,
101st Airborne: "It's just like Vietnam".
Geschichte der 101st Airborne:
http://www.campbell.army.mil/101avnbde/History.htm
Das sind Elitetruppen, keine dahergelaufenen Penner oder so
Pfadfindertruppen von der Bundeswehr. Von einem schnellen Sieg ist da
nicht die Rede, im Gegenteil, ein Ende der Operationen ist nicht mal
ansatzweise in Sicht.