Sponsored Content
« Where Does "Tank" Abbot Go To Get His Reputation Back? | Main | And Now FARC, Too? »
June 02, 2008

Taliban Loses to Adam Sandler for "Best Scraggly Beard" at MTV Movie Awards and Also to "Precise, Surgical" Special Forces Strikes, but Mostly the Strikes

For reasons unfathomable to me, Reuters termed this a "remarkable victory for firebrand Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr."

Missions by special forces and air strikes by unmanned drones have "decapitated" the Taliban and brought the war in Afghanistan to a "tipping point", the commander of British forces has said.

The new "precise, surgical" tactics have killed scores of insurgent leaders and made it extremely difficult for Pakistan-based Taliban leaders to prosecute the campaign, according to Brig Mark Carleton-Smith.

In the past two years an estimated 7,000 Taliban have been killed, the majority in southern and eastern Afghanistan. But it is the "very effective targeted decapitation operations" that have removed "several echelons of commanders".

This in turn has left the insurgents on the brink of defeat, the head of Task Force Helmand said.

"The Taliban are much weaker," he said from 16 Air Assault Brigade headquarters in Lashkar Gah.

"The tide is clearly ebbing not flowing for them. Their chain of command is disrupted and they are short of weapons and ammunition."

Last year's killing of Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban chief, most likely by the Special Boat Service, was "a seminal moment in dislocating" their operation in southern Afghanistan, said Brig Carleton-Smith, 44, who has extensive operational experience in Afghanistan and Iraq and has commanded elite Army troops.

...

Taliban fighters are apparently becoming increasingly unpopular in Helmand, where they are reliant on the local population for food and water.

They have also been subjected to strikes by the RAF's American-made Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle and the guided Royal Artillery missile system, which have both proved a major battlefield success.

"I can therefore judge the Taliban insurgency a failure at the moment," said Brig Carleton-Smith. "We have reached the tipping point."


digg this
posted by Ace at 04:20 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Jordan61: "I'll say this much about Kohl's, they actually hav ..."

Puddinhead: "Spongmonkeys were the pair of horribly annoying, d ..."

Aetius451AD Work Laptop: "Jimmy John's is way down on my list of sandwich pl ..."

Ian S.: "[i]150 stores left today after peaking with almost ..."

... : "Contempt of Congress is the step before Contempt o ..."

TheJamesMadison, on just the weirdest trip with John Boorman: "531 Why are you fasting, TJM? Posted by: Bulgaroc ..."

Wierzbowski formerly QID: "150 stores left today after peaking with almost 5k ..."

Christopher Taylor [/i][/i][/s][/s][/b][/b][/u][/u]: "[i]Not too bad, even after they raised the prices[ ..."

Gaystopo Elite: "This idea of expanding to all markets, being all t ..."

Bulgaroctonus : "Why are you fasting, TJM? ..."

You had your day for dead GIs, now here's a month to celebrate men who are sexually aroused by feces: "Burger King went The Gay around 2019 or so. I rem ..."

TheJamesMadison, on just the weirdest trip with John Boorman: "524 Jimmy John's is way down on my list of sandwic ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64