All these lame newspaper headlines and TV bulletins annoy me. As if “victory” was somehow assured, and easy, instant, and lasting. The editors at these papers and stations are just dishonest and seeking to weirdly mollycoddle their audience.
StratFor is adamant that the Taliban’s withdrawal from the cities was “strategy, not rout”.
the Taliban decided to turn the tables. Their sudden withdrawal from Afghanistan’s cities suggested they had cracked under the pressure of U.S. bombing and Northern Alliance offensives. But before their withdrawal from Mazar-e-Sharif, and while still under heavy U.S. bombardment, the Taliban had no trouble repulsing Northern Alliance offensives. Forces elsewhere in northern Afghanistan had yet to see a U.S. bomb.
Instead, they withdrew systematically and with only minimal rear-guard action where needed. In doing so, the Taliban were able to save their core troops, leaving behind mostly marginal and untrustworthy allies. This core force has melted into the Afghan countryside, returning to the guerrilla tactics that defeated both the British and Soviet empires.
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