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The Afghan Way of War
The Afghan's wage war in their own unique way, and it is
quite different from what we normally think of as war. First, it is important to
remember that Afghanistan is largely a warrior society, especially among the
majority of the population living out in the countryside. An Afghan goes to war,
not as a soldier, but as a warrior. As such, the Afghan warrior places more
importance on honor and showing off than following orders and "accomplishing the
mission." American troops carefully plan their operations and everyone follows
their orders. Afghans will do what strikes their fancy and pay more attention to
perceived slights than getting the job done. Afghans have a feudal sort
of military organization. All the lads going off to war from a village,
neighborhood or valley will follow the most charismatic and most battle
experienced of their group. This guy will be the leader. Not an officer in our
sense, but, well, the leader. Very democratic, but the leader might not know a
lot about tactics or other military matters. These local groups, rarely more
than a few dozen strong, will band together with similar size groups from their
region under an even more famous and charismatic leader. This gets you a group
of a few hundred fighters and an organization roughly comparable to what we call
an infantry battalion. At this point, money becomes important. Whoever leads
several of these battalions is usually wealthy, or is an exceptional battlefield
commander who is backed by people with money. Someone has to pay for the food,
trucks, ammunition and whatever else a popular commander can scrounge up (like
medical supplies, artillery, tanks, helicopters, housing and even cash.) Several
battalions gives what is called an "army" (we would call it an infantry brigade)
and leader is often called a warlord by Western reporters. The warlord's
troops do not understand the concept of a Western army's discipline and ranks.
In a Western army, any officer can order any soldier to do something. In an
Afghan army, a soldier only obeys those leaders he knows. An Afghan warlord
cannot be ordered to take part in an operation, but must be convinced via a war
council. And even his assent does not always translate into consistent
performance on the battlefield. Lacking the discipline of a Western army, an
Afghan leader has to be very careful when it comes to casualties among his
troops. This accounts for the unique way in which Afghans fight battles.
Traditionally, Afghan warfare has been more about making an impressive show than
getting right down to a hack fest and a lot of dead bodies. A warrior society
won't last long if the warriors are too eager to get killed. These days, a loud
and impressive display of firepower, but not a lot of casualties, best
represents your typical Afghan battle. When someone does lose, and gets taken
prisoner, they are often set free in a later exchange of prisoners. Afghan
warfare can get very nasty. If the defender strongly resists, and inflicts a lot
of casualties, the attacker will often massacre a lot of local civilians,
especially if they belong to a different ethnic group. The five year war
between the Taliban and Northern Alliance has largely consisted of the more
powerful Taliban trying to run the Northern Alliance troops out of Afghanistan
(or getting them to switch sides.) Each Spring, the Taliban would begin
gathering troops for a Summer offensive. A dozen or more Taliban brigades (often
over 20,000 troops) would head north to clean out another Northern Alliance held
region. Meanwhile, both the Taliban and Northern Alliance depended on local
men-with-guns to hold the passes to their valleys or the high ground overlooking
the roads the enemy trucks must travel to get to the local village. Most of the
"troops" the Taliban and Northern Alliance claim are the men who stay home. But
some of these guys do go off and join the "field army" for a few weeks or
months. These are the lads in the trucks rolling off to attack, or help defend,
some piece of real estate. Real military power in Afghanistan comes from
how many armed men you can put into trucks and move to other areas to attack or
defend. Some artillery and a few tanks are also useful, but ammunition for these
big guns is scarce, so the big stuff is largely for morale effect. Afghan
campaigns are chess games, where each side shifts it's truck columns around to
counter enemy moves. Geography and climate has a lot to do with how
battles are fought. Most of central Afghanistan is mountainous, with many
fertile valleys. When there is only one pass into a valley, you can fortify that
and hold off a larger force. When Winter comes, unsuccessful attackers usually
have to go home. Trucks have a hard time bringing food to the troops when the
snows start, and in the cold weather you also need heavier clothing and fuel to
keep warm. Those defending their valley grow their own food, and can bring in
small stuff like additional ammunition, over mountain trails. Why doesn't the
attacker use those mountain trails to get into the valley? Because the locals
know the trails better and can guard them with a few men. Which brings
us to another aspect of Afghan warfare; keeping the casualties down. An Afghan
commander can see his troops leave for home real quick if too many of them get
killed or injured in combat. Most Afghan battles result in very few casualties.
When one side sees that it is outclassed and likely to be defeated, it just
takes off in the night. If the defender is protecting their valley or town, they
will start negotiating a surrender. Actually, surrender is too strong a word.
The preferred move is to switch sides. This is why some areas are "Taliban
territory" but not "Taliban controlled." The surrender options come down to
becoming a Taliban ally (without Taliban troops occupying your area) or part of
Taliban controlled Afghanistan (with the religious police and all the other
stuff.) When up against professional soldiers, the Afghans don't change
their style. They will get their women and children out of the way, and then go
after the soldiers. The Afghans won't attack unless they stand a good chance of
success. They will flee from more powerful units. Instead they will attack
supply trucks and smaller patrols. If you want to fight the Afghans and win, you
have to find them first. But don't expect them to stand still and duke it out
with a more powerful opponent. If professionals realize they are fighting
warriors, and not regular soldiers, the Afghans can be beat. Otherwise, you are
playing into the Afghan's strengths, and you will lose.
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