-H/T Long War Journal
The power of the Taliban has always been made clear to the people of Musa Qala. Never an organisation to play down its style of governance, the Taliban, just a year or so ago, hung and strung the bodies of several town elders from the tall, thin town monument in a very vile and public punishment.
It was a show of retribution against the community leaders who had been negotiating with the British Army over a deal to remove the Taliban from the town following a bloody season of violence.
Also read Decapitation Campaign: Liquidating the Taliban Leadership
I also suggest reading this and this together while recalling the recent Rorke's Drift article.
Finally, while comprehending the different terrain, ROE, available weapons systems and desire to mitigate casualties among our own, I would like to respectfully, but highly, recommend that this is what got us in trouble in Iraq. It seems that Petraeus' command cannot come soon enough.
Update: And in the "But I repeat myself" category, I once noted that Afghan front had enjoyed six years of limited activity because the Iraq front had forced AQ et al to share their resources, human, material and monetary. Please recall Zawahiri once begging Zarqawi for money ($100k) in 2006. That was partly because the main line AQ international financial system had been broken up, but also because one of the traditional ways of financing the Jihad was through "donations" brought by recruits, most of whom were going to Iraq at the time to fight with the "sheihk of slaughter".
It is a long standing tradition from the Qu'ran and more recent writings from Tamiyya to Sayyid Qutb admonishing young men to sell off their goods and bring the proceeds to support the war. Not to mention the admonishment to those who are unable to go to the fight to give as much as possible to support the war. This is typically collected from family, friends and neighbors and carried by these recruits.
Now, a recent report indicates that recruits for the war, once destined for Iraq, are now finding their way in droves to Pakistan and on to Afghanistan.
My grandmother always said to be careful what you wished for because you just might get it.
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That and the fact that the hostage-ransom racket was way more productive in Iraq's urban cities full of Germans and French who net very good ransom values. Juicy targets. Afghanistan? Not so much tourism there or reconstruction work which requires foreigners or journalists to be present.
Heck, you might even get one of those European nations to release a mass murderer of Americans from their jails with the right hostages.