Articles by Herschel Smith

A recent report by Mal James bears complete reiteration here.

At all bases the “Marines operate in there” is an expression they use in “River City” to describe what happens when a Marine is killed or injured. All contact with the outside world ceases to be available all phone lines and Internet connections are cut until the next of kin are notified.

At Forward Operating Base in Now Zad, it is almost the norm, rather than the exception. Life continues for the Marines, another day passes and it is one day closer to going home. The majority of the Marines I talked with “going home,” meant safe and still intact, whilst they all grieve for fallen comrades there is also an acceptance that what they do entails risk.

Whilst they may be Rambo one minute, the next minute reflection replaces reality. When we arrived at Now Zad, 2/3 Marines Golf Company had already lost 2 Marines and a further 7 had been wounded in action, including 3 double amputations. All had been killed or injured as a result of IED’s. Any foot patrol was forbidden as the risk was to high to quote Captain Martin of Golf Company, “We will not walk in the area”.

Now Zad is a ghost town, not a soul lives there, or has done for the past couple of years, where once approx 15,000 Afghans once lived, not a soul is there. The British and Estonians have held ground there and the Marines are now on their third rotation there. With a casual ease Marines would point to a spot 100 yards away and say there is a high possibility that the Taliban are there now and watching us. What separates the two is often just a minefield of IED’s. They are so randomly set and spread out that even the Taliban to a degree now will not enter certain areas.

And so in temperatures that destroy any remaining part of your soul, a stand off exists in Now Zad. As if it was the 1st World War, a no mans land of death separates the adversaries. The only thing that moves between the two sides apart from bullets, mortars and rockets are the wasps. For some reason Now Zad has a plague of them. Any water or liquid and you are surrounded by them, and for someone like me who has a certified terror of bee’s let alone wasps, this was no happy place.

Showers and the basic laundry facility was closed between 11am and 2 pm, not to conserve water but to minimize wasp attacks. Hesco barriers and concrete walls may stop Taliban attacks but not wasps.

Unlike large bases back at Leatherneck and Bastion or even in the capital Kabul, FOB Now Zad has no luxuries, most rooms are plywood boxes with no air conditioning, and the temperature inside the rooms can easily reach 42 degrees Celsius close to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. There is no dining facilty for meals apart from some netting on poles, two meals a day are served out of trays, miss the meal time and it is MRE’s. I saw the trays of food just lying around in the dust like discarded waste next to a dumpster, no doubt tomorrows meal.

Water is measured in degrees of bath water, and tepid is something you actually crave. There were fridges around, but they were closely guarded secrets and rarely if ever would anyone ever offer Greg and I a cold drink, they were just too precious, I did not begrudge them this as it made me realize how hard it actually is for them. And how pathetically easy Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen have it at the bigger bases, where 24 hour meals are available and signs on the fridges ask you to limit yourself to two cold cans of soda a meal, but no one ever counts.

And yet not one Marine at FOB Now Zad wanted to be anywhere else but there, at the frontline in the fight against the Taliban. In adversity they become a true “Band of Brothers”, and to be honest you never hear a word of despair or frustration from them.

The only thing they do not like is “River City” because it means one of there own has fallen.

Regular readers know how I have harped on Now Zad, the lack of troops, and the lunacy of having Marines deployed there with more trauma doctors than regularly supplied with Marines because of the risk of IEDs.  More troops are being deployed to the Now Zad district, but we were still skeptical that the troops were going directly to battle the Taliban surrounding the city of Now Zad and currently engaging the Marines.

We were right, and the Marines still live in hobbit holes, exist in far worse conditions than their brethren at the larger bases, and fight the enemy to a standoff in a city deserted because of Taliban violence.  It is a lack of strategic vision, this notion of deploying entire Battalions of Marine infantry aboard Amphibious Assault Docks waiting to be used as force in readiness, when readiness never comes because of policy decisions, Marines are losing their legs in Now Zad, and the Taliban have done us the favor of separating themselves from the population where we can kill them unimpeded and without causing civilian casualties.  We still aren’t taking the campaign seriously.

Prior: Now Zad category

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It was a bloody day in Baghdad.

Iraqis gather as fire fighters respond to a massive bomb attack near the Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. A series of explosions struck the Iraqi capital Wednesday, targeting primarily government and commercial buildings, killing scores of people and wounding many more, Iraqi officials said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A series of bombings rocked Iraq’s capital within one hour Wednesday, killing at least 95 people and wounding 563 others, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

The six explosions marked the country’s deadliest day since the United States pulled its combat troops from Iraqi cities and towns nearly two months ago and left security in the hands of the Iraqis.

In one attack, a truck bomb exploded outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The blast blew through the front of the building, sending some vehicles flying and leaving others in mangled twists of metal in the area, which is just outside the restricted International Zone, also known as the Green Zone.

Nearby, Iraqi security forces stood with shocked expressions as ambulances screamed past.

Another truck bomb went off outside the Ministry of Finance building.

In central Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded on Kifa Street, and another bomb exploded in the Salhiya neighborhood, where on Tuesday security forces had avoided injuries by successfully defusing a truck bomb. Wednesday’s other two bombs exploded in eastern Baghdad’s Beirut Square, officials said.

“The terrorism attacks that took place today require, without a doubt, the re-evaluation of our plans and our security mechanisms to face the challenges of terrorism,” Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a written statement.

Omar at Iraq The Model mentions based on his sources that the casualty count could in fact be much higher.  He also mentions that major general Qasim Ata blamed the Iraqi security forces for the unfortunate setback in security. According to the Iraqia state TV, he said the incompetent units that failed to prevent the attacks have had their ranks infiltrated.

Michael Rubin writing at NRO’s Corner weighs in saying,

The blame for the terrorist bombing in Baghdad, today, rests solely on the terrorists who planted the bomb.

The terrorists, however, very much exploit an environment made possible by the “Anti-Surge” withdrawal timeline sought by Obama during his campaign and, unfortunately, agreed to by the Bush administration in its twilight weeks.

Whenever national security and military strategy is determined by Washington’s political calendar, rather than the situation on the ground in various areas of operation, the results are disastrous. Creating security vacuums is never wise. Hopefully Obama will recognize the very real linkages between Iraq and Afghanistan in terms of insurgent tactics and strategy.

Normally I agree with Michael, but do not in this instance.  I think the diagnosis points more towards the felt need for legitimacy on the national stage.  When the U.N. agreement expired there needed to be another agreement, or so the administration thought.  Enter the Iraq-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA.  We have well documented the absurd restrictions on U.S. forces under this agreement (and its application by the ISF and Maliki administration), to the point that the U.S. forces are under essential house arrest.  But there are serious questions as to the readiness of the ISF to take over security.

The problem isn’t the timeline for leaving, but what we’re allowed to do there in the mean time.  Relegation to the countryside means that we must await ISF request for assistance, and even then must operate under intense scrutiny by the ISF.

But as we have pointed out, not only does allowing the ISF to utilize U.S. air assets and intelligence gathering capabilities place the U.S. at risk (the ISF have not been trained to and don’t know how to use U.S. air assets), but the best way to allow the ISF to understand its true state of readiness is for daddy to take away the car keys and see just how far junior thinks he can get without help.

Success in maintenance of security would confirm the ISF readiness.  Failure confirms that the SOFA must be undone in order to re-institute U.S. effectiveness.  Maliki can re-evaluate all he wants.  It isn’t about plans or security mechanisms.  It’s all about the SOFA – and about an ISF and administration that is apparently still to sectarian to matter to the people down on the street.

While U.S. forces are safely squirreled away aboard large bases, the ISF is just now figuring out what it means to be responsible for the security of a country.  It’s what they wanted, isn’t it?

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Today my article The Globalization of Jihad in Palestine was visited.  It isn’t odd that a page was visited – this happens 800 to 1000 times a day for this site.  What is a little odd is the referring URL, a legitimate jihadist web site.

The Ansar AlJihad Network (or the Ansar al-Mujahideen Network).

We don’t know what the discussion thread is about, since one must be a member to participate or even see the thread.  But what’s even more interesting about this visit is the location of the reader.

Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania.

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The video below is yet another disheartening account of the complete lack of professionalism and seriousness of the ANA.  The one mistake that the British forces made is in trusting the night watch (what the U.S. Marines would officially call Guardian Angel, but unofficially simply call ‘duty’) to remain awake without a Brit watching him and providing their own security.  This was a huge mistake.  There is more difficulty in getting the ANA to take the home searches seriously.  General McChrystal’s edict disallowing ISAF forces from entering homes is problematic.

CBS Reporter Lara Logan observes of the Marines currently engaged in the Helmand Province:

These are the skinniest Marines I have ever seen, and I’ve been in some rough places with Marines, like Ramadi in Iraq, where more Americans died than any other part of the country.

But here, I stare in amazement — and some horror — at the uniforms hanging off their lean bodies. There isn’t an inch of excess anywhere. Every uniform is worn thin and faded, hanging off wily frames that still manage to haul over a hundred pounds of gear and weapons and patrol for miles.

These Marines have what they need to fight — and just enough to survive.

They don’t seem to care. I don’t hear them complaining or even talking about it. They make do with what they have and get on with it. It’s as if they don’t even think about it much anymore.

This is why Marine infantry is a young man’s work, not old men, and not women.  And this is also why the same tactic used by the CIA in Afghanistan against the Russians – supplying mules to the Taliban – will also be used against the Taliban now by supplying them to the Marines.

Prior:

Scenes from Operation Khanjar II

Concerning Marines and Mules

Infantry: A Young Man’s Work

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Several days ago this report appeared about the U.S. Marines in Now Zad.

Cpl. Justin Thompson crawled out of his rat hole dug deep into a wind-beaten, barren hilltop. Stepping over mounds of protective sand bags, he watched the sun rise over the Now Zad valley, a Taliban stronghold.

Thompson is part of a small Marine force that keeps watch over the deserted town of Now Zad.

About 10 miles (16 kilometers) away, Marines from the same company are fighting to drive the Taliban out of the town of Dahaneh. But Marines stationed on ANP Hill are removed from the battle, relegated to keeping an eye on insurgent movements elsewhere in the Zad valley.

Three years of intense fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces have chased away Now Zad’s 30,000 inhabitants, leaving what had been one of the largest towns in southern Helmand province deserted.

The Marine company lacks the firepower to force the Taliban out of their positions just a mile away. So the Marines of ANP Hill keep watch over the area from their lonely outpost.

“Things can drag pretty slowly up here,” said Thompson, of Manchester, Tenn., who is on duty six hours out of every 18. His unit has been stationed on ANP Hill for over three months, with that many still to go. The position’s name, ANP, stands for Afghan National Police — even though no Afghan government official or police official has been stationed in the valley for years.

“The biggest thing here is not shooting the people who don’t need to be shot,” says 1st Lt. Malachi Bennett, of Tampa, Fla., the outpost’s commander and _at 26_ one of the oldest men on the hill. He says the platoon has been making some progress at befriending residents on the outskirts of town and luring them away from the Taliban.

“At first, villagers looked at us like animals from a zoo,” Bennett said early this week from the command post, where the briefing room is an earthen pit with an old Russian anti-aircraft battery that serves as a beam to hold the ceiling. “Now they come to talk to us on patrols.”

Life on ANP Hill is Spartan. The Marines have no air conditioning despite temperatures that can reach 125 degrees Fahrenheit. The men sleep alone or in pairs in tiny dugouts barely 4 feet high that they’ve dubbed “Hobbit Holes,” a reference to J.R.R. Tolkien’s dwarflike character.

“It’s great, I love being up in the outpost,” Thompson said. “You get to know everybody, and there’s less hassle, it’s much more relaxed.”

Afghanistan is Thompson’s third deployment. He’s spent seven months “with some intense war stories” near Haditha in Iraq in 2006, and another “pretty peaceful” seven months in Fallujah in 2008.

Helmand is different from Iraq, Thompson said, because the Marines have learned their lessons from years of counterinsurgency. “In this type of fight you can’t be ‘gung-ho, kill everything,'” he said. “You’ll just be turning more people against you.”

Thompson jokes with his friends about injury, or death, during patrols.

He feels sorry for the villagers and children he meets on patrol. “We’re here to kick butt,” he says. “But you also want to do what you can to make their life a little bit better.”

For now, Thompson feels international forces are spread too thin to make much of a difference.

“Once they put a lot of Marines out here, it will get a lot better,” he says.

And The Captain’s Journal has been arguing almost violently for more Marines in Now Zad for quite some time.  Just today this report appeared about Now Zad (otherwise called Nawzad).

NAWZAD, Afghanistan, Aug 16 (Reuters) – U.S. Marines and Afghan officials hoisted the Afghan flag over a formerly Taliban-held district of southern Afghanistan on Sunday, signalling success in their latest advance days before a presidential election.

The 10,000 Marines in the Taliban’s opium-producing heartland of Helmand province are the largest wave of reinforcements sent by President Barack Obama this year as part of an escalation strategy designed to turn the tide in the 8-year-old war.

They have moved quickly into formerly Taliban-held areas, part of an effort to replicate the tactics used in Iraq of establishing a strong presence in small bases in towns and villages in Helmand.

Last week, 400 Marines, with 100 Afghan troops, launched operation Eastern Resolve II in the Nawzad district, one of about 10 districts of Afghanistan considered to be under Taliban rule.

“We have succeeded in regaining the district after years of Taliban control,” provincial governor Gulab Mangal said at a flag-raising ceremony in Nawzad, introducing a new district chief for the area. “We will make sure that our Afghan troops, with international forces, hold the ground and provide security.”

The district centre, high in the mountains in the northwest of Helmand, is all but completely destroyed after years of fighting — first by British forces and more recently by U.S. Marines — against Taliban fighters.

Much of the population has fled, and only about 100 people were on hand to attend a muted flag-raising ceremony. All shops and businesses in the town were closed, their walls pock-marked with bullets and buildings wrecked.

You can color The Captain’s Journal skeptical.  The Taliban are around, they need to be chased and killed.  More Marines have been deployed – apparently – to Now Zad.  This was too late for Corporal Matthew Lembke who lost both legs and later died while we were literally begging for more troops in Now Zad and also while entire Battalions of Marine infantry floated aboard Amphibious Assault Docks on MEUs wasting their time.

The ANA troops will not be able to take on the Taliban and hold Now Zad without Marines.  They will fail due to incompetence.  Have enough Marines been deployed to justify this loud (and perhaps unseemly) display of hoisting the flag and declaring victory?  We doubt it.

Prior: Now Zad Category

More Marines to Now Zad and Election-Centric Counterinsurgency

Patrolling Now Zad

Combat Action in Nuristan and Now Zad

No Excuse: Marines Losing Legs in Now Zad

What Now Zad Can Teach Us About Counterinsurgency

Combat Video From Now Zad

Marines Take the Fight to the Enemy in Now Zad

Video of U.S. Marine Operations in Helmand and Now Zad

Close Air Support of Marines in Now Zad

Major Combat Operations in Now Zad Afghanistan

Marine Operations in Now Zad Afghanistan

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The U.S. Marine are staying on the offensive in the Northern part of the Helmand Province, in Dahaneh.

U.S. Marines in Afghanistan are meeting fierce Taliban resistance as they push deeper into the strategic Helmand province town of Dahaneh.

Surface-to-surface missiles and Harrier fighter jets have pounded insurgent positions in the surrounding hills.

Marines launched a pre-dawn raid Saturday against a Taliban position on the southern edge of the town, storming a fortified compound. They blew up two towers from which insurgents had fired rockets and mortars at U.S. troops the day before.

Marines found marijuana plants growing in the courtyard and confiscated trigger plates used to manufacture roadside bombs.

U.S. troops launched the assault on Dahaneh early Wednesday, hoping to disrupt Taliban supply lines and establish Afghan government control over an area held by the Taliban for years.

In Why we must chase the Taliban we observed that we will not be able to cede the mountains to the Taliban as safe haven and still protect the population.  We recommended that:

We must use our technological advantage – night vision, air power, sniping skills, infantry patrols – to kill them in the mountains.  Night time patrols into the mountains, along with pre-deployed Marine scout snipers, would be just the ticket.  And the ROE must be robust, where offensive actions can be taken (i.e., Marines don’t have to wait for the Taliban fighters to brandish a weapon).  No one – NO ONE – is backpacking for recreation in these mountains.  Give chase and kill the insurgents.

In the spirit of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force, Harriers are targeting the Taliban.  This is a good first step, but it’s too easy to evade air power.

Here is a report about continued combat action in Dahaneh.

The Taliban fighters fleeing via vehicle will be back if the Marines don’t stay, and in any case, whether they deploy to a new location or return, they must be chased and killed.  We can only play whack-a-mole for so long under the doctrinal rubric of population-centric counterinsurgency and the hope that marginalization of the insurgents will cause them to lay down their weapons.

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Let’s try a series called weekend reading, and this one will be #1 (in hopes that there will be more).  It’s our foray into instantly-blogging rather than trying to carefully craft single article releases for our readers.  It may succeed, or it may fail due to lack of discipline.

First off, there is a relatively new blog called The Afpak Channel with the AfPak Daily Brief.  They have a long list of notable bloggers, and were kind enough to link The Captain’s Journal.  We appreciate the link, and the AfPak Daily Brief is certainly worth checking out.

Second, Reuters is carrying a concise but well done history of the Taliban.  Sit down in a hardback chair with a cup of coffee and take this one on.

Third, The CSM has a piece taking on the issue of drones, and whether the direct targeting of Taliban and AQ leaders is legal?  The Captain’s Journal has absolutely no problem with targeting Taliban and AQ leaders, but let’s perform a thought experiment for a moment.  The whole tactic rests upon death from above targeted towards known HVTs, while those HVTs themselves aren’t holding a weapon or posing a threat.  Didn’t General Kearney want to charge a couple of Army snipers with murder a while back who did the same thing?  How about this idea.  Let’s apply the same rules of engagement to the generals and CIA chieftains making the decisions during drone strikes as we do the Soldiers and Marines in the field.  That’s fair, isn’t it?  If not, then why not?  Can you make a case that this isn’t fair?

Fourth, Richard North at Defence of the Realm is required reading every day.  His latest piece awaits the howls that are sure to come when the Brits lose their 200th soldier in Afghanistan.  Neither we nor Richard likes tracking this, and Richard doesn’t like to see British casualties.  But that’s why Richard always argues for more troops, better equipment and better strategy.  Richard is the conscience of the military bloggers / new media in the UK.  You can always turn to him for unvarnished prose.

Fifth, there is our own loyal reader Warbucks who might have to change his vacation plans to the mountains of Afghanistan based on our advice to chase the Taliban into the mountains.

Sixth, I had wondered how long it would take PETA to weigh in protesting the practice of using live pigs to train Marines on the amelioration of battle injuries (see also this).  No, advancements in technology would be be able to replace this.  No amount of technology can be used in lieu of the use of live anesthetized pigs due to the anatomical similarities.   What would PETA have us do – lose more Marines and keep the pigs alive?  Nothing these people do is serious.  They’re good for entertainment, and that’s about it.

Lastly, enjoy Dave Matthews telling us about Stella and Alligator Pie.

In Follow and Kill Every Single Taliban we covered and commented on the view of the local Afghans we are trying to protect in this population-centric counterinsurgency campaign in which we are engaged in Afghanistan.  Thus far, we haven’t the troops and helicopters to engage in the chase.  God must be very patient with us, because we get yet another example and object lesson of why we must chase the Taliban (Operation Eastern Resolve).

Day two of Operation Eastern Resolve is drawing to a close. We are with Golf Company, with the 2/3 Marines, they have had a pretty busy day. And camera man Mal James and I spent some time with the Marines in this very dangerous town. It got off to a little bit of a rough start.

We’ve been hearing Taliban fire all around us, coming into contact with the Marines. I can hear it right now.

These Marines are working with another squad, another platoon as they work their way down this village trying to clear this place. But the Taliban aren’t giving up.

The Marines are going house to house, they’re going compound to compound to make sure that there are no militants remaining and they’re doing it while the Taliban that the Marines didn’t kill yesterday try to kill these Marines today.

Morning patrols faced some fairly stiff resistance — the Taliban firing from positions in the mountains surrounding the town, as well as sniping positions in town as well.

Not an easy job, but they’re doing it, and the sense today is that a corner has been turned. Hot temperatures here today though, and some very tired Marines here tonight.

The snipers in the city are one issue.  If they stick around they will be killed by the Marines.  The firing positions in the mountains are a different issue.  Protecting the population will be impossible if we don’t give chase.

We must use our technological advantage – night vision, air power, sniping skills, infantry patrols – to kill them in the mountains.  Night time patrols into the mountains, along with pre-deployed Marine scout snipers, would be just the ticket.  And the ROE must be robust, where offensive actions can be taken (i.e., Marines don’t have to wait for the Taliban fighters to brandish a weapon).  No one – NO ONE – is backpacking for recreation in these mountains.  Give chase and kill the insurgents.  This is the best protection of the population that can be effected.

There is discussion about whether to target the population centers in Afghanistan with counterinsurgency forces, or focus on the rural areas and smaller villages.  Really, this discussion and debate have been going on for years, starting back during the Russian campaign.

The Russians focused on the population centers (e.g., Kandahar, Kabul, etc.).  The Taliban owned the roads, the villages, and the mountains.  Thus they were able to recruit, train, raise funds, and interdict logistical lines.  In short, the cities became like prisons for the Russian troops.  Focusing on the cities was a losing strategy for Russia, and it will be as well for the U.S.  On the other hand, a winning strategy doesn’t relegate the population centers to Taliban control either.  Enough troops must be deployed to address the needs of both the rural and urban areas.

The case of Now Zad is especially unique, in that the population has deserted Now Zad and the Taliban control it as their R&R getaway.  It isn’t even necessary to work to separate the insurgents from the population – they have done that for us in Now Zad.  We can kill Taliban in Now Zad unhindered.  Yet the campaign in the Now Zad district remains under-resources, at least until now.

Hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers have moved into southern Afghanistan to protect citizens during upcoming elections, military officials said.

Afghans will go to the polls on August 20 to vote in second presidential election since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. Provincial elections also will be held that day.

About 400 Marines and 100 Afghan soldiers moved to the Now Zad district in Helmand province Wednesday morning, a U.S. military statement said.

“Our mission is to support the Independent Election Commission and Afghan national security forces. They are the ones in charge of these elections. Our job is to make sure they have the security to do their job,” said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commanding general of the Marine Expeditionary Brigade in Afghanistan.

“While we encourage every Afghan to exercise his right to vote, who he or she votes for is none of our business.”

The area in which the operation was launched has been known to be a Taliban stronghold, and American, British and Afghan forces have been involved in fierce battles with Taliban militants there in recent weeks.

The Captain’s Journal has rejected population-centric counterinsurgency in favor of lines of effort.  But if we’re not conducting population-centric counterinsurgency at the moment, we are conducting election-centric counterinsurgency.  There is much focus on the upcoming election – too much, in fact.  The election will prove to be far less important than the campaign against the Taliban and other important issues such as corruption within the Afghan National Police.  Furthermore, the question for Now Zad will not be whether the election comes off, but what happens to the additional troops once the election is over.

In other parts of the Helmand Province, Marines are entering Dahaneh for the same reasons – the election.

The Marines are in the Now Zad district so that the people can vote.  They should be there to kill Taliban and make sure that the people can return to their homes and be about their lives.