Sunday, May 20, 2007
Civilian deaths prompt Nato rethink!
Read this Winning the "Hearts and Minds" of the local populace is one of the most important factors in insurgency warfare for many reasons.You need to get the population on your side to deny the enemy freedom of movement,intelligence,"safe houses",weapon hides and all the operational requirements to conduct a guerrilla campaign.If the population is against the insurgents and refuses to assist them with even the lowest things like providing them with food,water and shelter,then their job becomes a lot more difficult if not impossible.By alienating the Afghan people with massive numbers of civilian deaths,the NATO battle plan has seriously dented any chance of victory for the coalition forces.Also the inane policy of destroying the poppy fields and not providing an alternative crop,thus taken away many farmers ONLY source of income,has driven many Afghans to take up arms against our troops,NOT fighting for the Taliban but fighting for their families survival!-The commanders in Afghanistan need to have a complete rethink of their battle plan ASAP before they turn the whole population against them with their heavy handed approach and more of our servicemen die needlessly!
