British forces … admitted that intense fighting against the Taliban meant they were using up missiles, rockets and spares at an alarming rate … hat they are having to call in air strikes by American B1 bombers and other aircraft on a daily basis … The intensity of the air support needed to keep the Taliban attacks at bay is far beyond anything Government ministers expected when they authorised the deployment in January. US Air Force data show that Musa Qalah has been bombed by USAF B-1s, A-10 ground-attack aircraft and RAF Harriers on almost every day this month. US aircraft have attacked the town on more than 20 occasions and there was only one day this month that US aircraft did not bomb targets in Helmand province.
[The Taliban are] veteran guerrillas, well armed, who could count on the tacit support of tens of thousands of tribal militias. What made Tony Blair think he could beat them with just 4,000 soldiers? The Soviets lost with 120,000 … in Helmand the British are consuming ammunition faster than at any time since the second world war … Within three months of their full deployment, British troops have reportedly had to abandon the “platoon house” strategy of securing bases in isolated towns and villages. They were being pulverised by Taliban mortars … To have to kill 200 young Afghans to secure a village for a day indicates that hearts-and-minds is not working.
To Taliban sympathizers, Musharraf directed an explicit message, saying: “I have done everything for the … Taliban when the whole world was against them. We are trying our best to come out of this critical situation without any damage to Afghanistan and the Taliban” … Musharraf sees the Taliban as a pro-Pakistan counterweight to Indian influence in Afghanistan and wants to keep it strong in case Afghan President Hamid Karzai is overthrown and Afghanistan collapses into chaos … Even if Musharraf wanted to remove Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces from Pakistan, his ability to do so is limited by the political pact that he made with a five-party Islamic alliance in 2004 to win state elections in the two key border provinces … Al-Qaeda and Taliban activity is openly supported by local officials there, and Pakistani groups allied with Al-Qaeda are thriving, notably Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Related
