For U.S. Soldiers at a Remote Base in Afghanistan, Lots of Combat but No Clear Gains or Losses

[bigtree]

January 2, 2009

COMBAT OUTPOST KEATING, Afghanistan

{snip}

The Afghan counterinsurgency effort is stuck at an impasse at this small coalition outpost in eastern Nuristan province, the first line of defense from nearby insurgent safe havens across the border in Pakistan. Originally built to house a provincial reconstruction team tasked with integrating poor yet fiercely independent mountain communities about 15 miles from the Pakistani border, Combat Outpost Keating itself has turned into the grindstone of a combat mission no longer measured in clear gains or losses.

Deteriorating security in the surrounding Kamdesh area has shut down the road that once connected the outpost to villages deeper in the mountains, at the expense of aid and reconstruction. United Nations food and relief shipments have ceased. At the same time, the U.S. presence has served as a "screen" to allow development to push forward in population centers elsewhere in the region, according to Col. John Spiszer, who commands the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade in northeast Afghanistan.

"It's hard to maintain, but we can do it," says Spiszer. "We can maintain forces there easier than the enemy can do it. Part of the counterinsurgency is persistence, and it takes time. We're making strides, but they're very slow."

Of the 3,500 to 4,000 Army troops from the 10th Mountain Division scheduled to begin arriving this month, Spiszer says that as many as 500 will reinforce his area of operations, which also includes the provinces of Laghman, Nangarhar, and Kunar, now the single most violent in the country.

For the time being, he adds, it's a matter of keeping a "foothold for future operations."


read more: http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/iraq/2009/01/02/for-us-soldiers-at-a-remote-base-in-afghanistan-lots-of-combat-but-no-clear-gains-or-losses.html


related:

Tweaking the Occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4753974&mesg_id=4753974

[thunder rising]

1. Great! Glad to see we have them on the run!

[Winterblues]

2. Those in Afghanistan will learn the pleasure of filling sand bags I bet.

Not so much in Iraq because they spend all their time in Hummers or ATVs and don't dig in that often. In Afghanistan they dig in wherever they go..As an 11 Bravo from Vietnam I sympathize with them . I hated filling them f*#king things, but loved having them. Every single night each person in our team had fifteen bags to fill plus dig a hole five feet deep. Every single night...