War On Terrorism

[Skipper Steve]

What's going on? Are we making progress? It's hard to tell. :confuse2:

[BuzzBuzzard]

All depends on which spin doctor you listen to.

[Skipper Steve]

What I thought - - so, basically nothing is happening but spin?

[BuzzBuzzard]

Make no mistake, things are happening. I guarantee you bombs are falling. Real progress, who knows. Where's Duque? Isn't he the student of all this stuff?

[Duque]

Originally posted by BuzzBuzzard
Make no mistake, things are happening. I guarantee you bombs are falling. Real progress, who knows. Where's Duque? Isn't he the student of all this stuff?

That's me. But I just get my info from reading lots of stuff.

In the past week, the U.S. has started conducting massive carpet bombing of front-line Taliban positions. Up to that point most of the bombing had been targeted attacks with guided missiles and other "smart" weaponry. The anti-Taliban forces were complaining they weren't making any progress because the air strikes were too selective and weren't doing enough. So, as of roughly a week ago, Air Force B-52s (BUFFS - acronym for Big Ugly Flying Fellows) began dropping tons of old-fashioned "iron" bombs on the Taliban troops. In addition, along with the Russians, the U.S. has started coordinating their actions with the Northern Alliance and other anti-Taliban forces a lot better. The Russians have even sent the Northern Alliance/United Front a bunch of light armored vehicles and weapons, due to the fact that they're rather poorly armed compared to their Taliban foes.

Why wasn't this coordination done before, and why did the U.S. wait so long to unleash the full power of the Air Force? Good question. Some, like John McCain, have been complaining about the administration going in a little half-assed, and I think he has a good point.

Also - Special Forces units have supposedly been stepping up forays into Afghanistan, and even established a forward base within the region. The New Yorker reported that 12 members of Team Delta (popularly known as Delta Force, which doesn't really exist ;) ) were wounded in a raid on the compound of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar. It hasn't been reported anywhere else (except by the Taliban), and since the New Yorker isn't the first periodical I think of when I think of breaking news, and the Taliban has been known to lie, it's not all that credible.

[Skipper Steve]

Most of the reserves that I know who were called think this will go on for over a year. Are they right?

[Duque]

Originally posted by Skipper Steve
Most of the reserves that I know who were called think this will go on for over a year. Are they right?

Really depends on the Afghan opposition forces. There's roughly a month before winter sets in, and winter in the mountains of Afghanistan is particularly harsh, especially for a lot of these opposition troops whose primary transports are horses.

It's a good bet that it'll drag on to next spring, at the least.