They don’t mention this in FM 3-24, but it’s actually pretty easy to create an insurgent. Here’s how: An American patrol gets lost near the Pakistani border and finds itself conducting a KLE, or “key leader engagement” in the wrong village. The usual bunch shows up: snot-nosed kids, giggling teenagers and local layabouts, but definitely [...]
Archive for June, 2011
How to Make More Taleban
Posted in Afghanistan on June 29, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Not with a Bang but a Whimper
Posted in Afghanistan on June 28, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Has counterinsurgency failed in Afghanistan? Two stories from an embed: — An American ISAF patrol discovers an IED on a treeless hillock near the Pakistani border. EOD is called in. Their Black Hawk lands on a local farmer’s wheat field, ruining his harvest. Dismayed villagers gather around to look at the destruction. The Americans, fearing [...]
