Tweet
https://www.studentnewsie.com/war-in...he-norm-14860/
War in Afghanistan: Inside Attacks Becoming the Norm
January 4, 2013 · 0 Comments
In the late stages of the war in Afghanistan, there are an increasing number of insider attacks against occupying forces. While the Taliban tends to take credit for these attacks, they have admitted that the attackers do not at first come from within their own ranks.
The New York Times reports that one such inside attack came from an individual named Mahmood, who approached the Taliban asking them if they would protect him if he survived an attack on Americans from his outpost. While the Taliban was skeptical they accepted Mahmood’s offer. The report goes on in more detail:
The Taliban veterans he contacted were skeptical. Despite their public insistence that they employ vast ranks of infiltrators within the Afghan Army and the police, they acknowledged that many of the insider attacks they take credit for start as offers by angry young men like Mahmood. They had seen many fail, or lose their nerve before even starting, and they figured that Mahmood, too, would prove more talk than action or would die in the attempt.
“Even the Taliban didn’t think I would be able to do this,” Mr. Mahmood said in an interview.
He proved them wrong days later, on the morning of May 11, when he opened fire on American trainers who had gone to the outpost in the mountains of Kunar Province. One American was killed and two others were wounded. Mahmood escaped in the ensuing confusion, and he remains free in Kunar after the Taliban welcomed him into their ranks.
It was, he said, his “proudest day.”
These sorts of attacks are a game changer in the war in Afghanistan, and not only do they represent a physical danger to Americans stationed there, but they also act as a disruption to the morale of those same people. If you cannot trust the Afghans who are supposedly on your side, then you might be in for some serious trouble.
“A great percentage of the insider attacks have the enemy narrative — the narrative that the infidels have to be driven out — somewhere inside of them, but they aren’t directed by the enemy,” said a senior coalition officer on condition of anonymity.
One major issue is the fact that while the Taliban have invaded security forces before, the story of Mahmood shows that they do not always has to. They are approached by many within the system.
“I have intimate friends in the army who have the same opinion as I do,” says Mr. Mahmood. “We used to sit and share our hearts’ tales.”
War in Afghanistan: Inside Attacks Becoming the Norm
January 4, 2013 · 0 Comments
In the late stages of the war in Afghanistan, there are an increasing number of insider attacks against occupying forces. While the Taliban tends to take credit for these attacks, they have admitted that the attackers do not at first come from within their own ranks.
The New York Times reports that one such inside attack came from an individual named Mahmood, who approached the Taliban asking them if they would protect him if he survived an attack on Americans from his outpost. While the Taliban was skeptical they accepted Mahmood’s offer. The report goes on in more detail:
The Taliban veterans he contacted were skeptical. Despite their public insistence that they employ vast ranks of infiltrators within the Afghan Army and the police, they acknowledged that many of the insider attacks they take credit for start as offers by angry young men like Mahmood. They had seen many fail, or lose their nerve before even starting, and they figured that Mahmood, too, would prove more talk than action or would die in the attempt.
“Even the Taliban didn’t think I would be able to do this,” Mr. Mahmood said in an interview.
He proved them wrong days later, on the morning of May 11, when he opened fire on American trainers who had gone to the outpost in the mountains of Kunar Province. One American was killed and two others were wounded. Mahmood escaped in the ensuing confusion, and he remains free in Kunar after the Taliban welcomed him into their ranks.
It was, he said, his “proudest day.”
These sorts of attacks are a game changer in the war in Afghanistan, and not only do they represent a physical danger to Americans stationed there, but they also act as a disruption to the morale of those same people. If you cannot trust the Afghans who are supposedly on your side, then you might be in for some serious trouble.
“A great percentage of the insider attacks have the enemy narrative — the narrative that the infidels have to be driven out — somewhere inside of them, but they aren’t directed by the enemy,” said a senior coalition officer on condition of anonymity.
One major issue is the fact that while the Taliban have invaded security forces before, the story of Mahmood shows that they do not always has to. They are approached by many within the system.
“I have intimate friends in the army who have the same opinion as I do,” says Mr. Mahmood. “We used to sit and share our hearts’ tales.”