Afghanistan…what the President couldn’t tell you.
In 2001, when U. S. and Northern Alliance forces removed the Taliban from power, it was done by the CIA and Special Forces teams targeting the Taliban, who were dug in across open desert. Thousands were killed by air strikes. How could a small contingent of Special Forces soldiers and CIA operatives defeat thousands of dug in Taliban, that the Northern Alliance had not been able to budge? American intelligence and air power accomplished what thousands of on the ground troops couldn’t do, and this same premise will work in 2009. Last night, in the President’s speech, he didn’t mention Special Forces or drones. Their involvement is classified, as well it should be.
The President, because of sensitive relations with Pakistan, couldn’t tell us the success that the CIA and Special Forces teams have had in destroying Taliban and al-Qaida in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. The on-the-ground intelligence provided by these stealth teams has lead to the elimination of many of the high-ranking Taliban in Pakistan as well as Afghanistan, and has disrupted the al-Qaida command structure. Hopefully, the 30,000 troops that will be deployed will have as many 12 man Special Forces teams as are available.
We know that the military has put a high priority on the production of new specially equipped drones. These new drones have multiple cameras which can give the controller in Las Vegas a clear view of a square mile of land. Within the next two years hundreds of these new unmanned aircraft will be deployed. If the controllers in Las Vegas have the proper intelligence to go with this new wave of aircraft it will change the nature of the Afghanistan conflict.
Special Forces, the CIA, and the drone program are the keys to winning in Afghanistan. Because the country is so rugged and the population is so diverse, physical control over the entire landmass is impossible. Ask the Russians, who had four times as many troops on the ground as we did. What we must do to “win” in Afghanistan is to create a deadly combination of an on-the-ground intelligence network and integrate it with air power within Afghanistan and with hundreds of drones along the border with Pakistani and into the border region of Pakistan. When we accomplish those objectives we will have rendered al-Qaida and the Taliban impotent, and we will have won the war.
