Comments on: That Porous Afghan Border http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/04/27/that-porous-afghan-border/ Online Defense and Acquisition Journal Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:37:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Nils Hansen - Germanyhttp://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/04/27/that-porous-afghan-border/#comment-8674 Nils Hansen - Germany Fri, 29 May 2009 17:53:25 +0000 http://www.dodbuzz.com/?p=6007#comment-8674 There is one possiblity to distinguish the taliban from other people crossing the border on footpaths.Just seal the border with wire fences. The fences should encircle areas some kilometres deep into afghan teritory. The fences have to be marked cleary as sign for a fire free zone. Anyone who wants to cross the border has to avoid these areas and has to use a checkpoint. Offenders who perpetrate the fenced zone can then be detected electronically and destroyed by artillery without further identification, because their entrance into that zone has cleary been an unlawful act. There is one possiblity to distinguish the taliban from other people crossing the border on footpaths.

Just seal the border with wire fences. The fences should encircle areas some kilometres deep into afghan teritory. The fences have to be marked cleary as sign for a fire free zone. Anyone who wants to cross the border has to avoid these areas and has to use a checkpoint. Offenders who perpetrate the fenced zone can then be detected electronically and destroyed by artillery without further identification, because their entrance into that zone has cleary been an unlawful act.

]]> By: Charles Phillips, LtCol USAF Rethttp://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/04/27/that-porous-afghan-border/#comment-7704 Charles Phillips, LtCol USAF Ret Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:14:23 +0000 http://www.dodbuzz.com/?p=6007#comment-7704 Counterinsurgency is a very tough game - my definition includes "a campaign where the logistics of the enemy are on safe ground". Suddenly, Afghanistan looks a lot more like Vietnam - Pakistan has given up on their tribal areas and they are now safe for Taliban fighters. The Taliban can get resupply easily and, even though Pakistan has abandoned the area, we still have a lot of restrictions on openly operating there. Our folks appear to be attempting to extend the authority of the central government out to the suburbs of Kabul, while guarding engineers who are building roads to speed heroin to market. Unless we can openly attack Taliban camps in Pakistan - this will turn into a contest to see who wears out first. We don't have a good track record in that sort of contest. Counterinsurgency is a very tough game — my definition includes “a campaign where the logistics of the enemy are on safe ground”. Suddenly, Afghanistan looks a lot more like Vietnam — Pakistan has given up on their tribal areas and they are now safe for Taliban fighters. The Taliban can get resupply easily and, even though Pakistan has abandoned the area, we still have a lot of restrictions on openly operating there.
Our folks appear to be attempting to extend the authority of the central government out to the suburbs of Kabul, while guarding engineers who are building roads to speed heroin to market.
Unless we can openly attack Taliban camps in Pakistan — this will turn into a contest to see who wears out first. We don’t have a good track record in that sort of contest.

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