Big news in Afghanistan. A Canadian general is taking the reins in the south. From the Toronto Star:
"A change in tact and tactics for international coalition efforts in southern Afghanistan is coming with the changing of the guard, according to the Canadian now in control of international military efforts in the region.
Maj.-Gen. Mark Lessard yesterday took over leadership of Regional Command South, the designation given by the International Security Assistance Force to Afghanistan's six southernmost provinces."
And there's the problem. As one commander rotates in to replace the outgoing commander, he brings his war to Afghanistan. So the forces in the south will get to fight Mark Lessard's war this year and then a year from now they'll learn to fight some Dutch or British or American general's vision of what needs to be done in southern Afghanistan.
If it sounds like tactical schizophrenia, it is.
"We blocked in 2007," Lessard said of the last year's activities. "In 2008, we're going on the offensive."
Lessard, who I'm sure bears no resemblance to the commandant of the "Police Academy" movies, is clearly in a shoot'em up mood.
"A change in tact and tactics for international coalition efforts in southern Afghanistan is coming with the changing of the guard, according to the Canadian now in control of international military efforts in the region.
Maj.-Gen. Mark Lessard yesterday took over leadership of Regional Command South, the designation given by the International Security Assistance Force to Afghanistan's six southernmost provinces."
And there's the problem. As one commander rotates in to replace the outgoing commander, he brings his war to Afghanistan. So the forces in the south will get to fight Mark Lessard's war this year and then a year from now they'll learn to fight some Dutch or British or American general's vision of what needs to be done in southern Afghanistan.
If it sounds like tactical schizophrenia, it is.
"We blocked in 2007," Lessard said of the last year's activities. "In 2008, we're going on the offensive."
Lessard, who I'm sure bears no resemblance to the commandant of the "Police Academy" movies, is clearly in a shoot'em up mood.
4 comments:
Unfortunately it may also mean more of our soldiers coming home in body bags.
Gives Harper an opportunity to extend the mission as our general is in charge now.
The recent Chatham House report on Afghanistan specifically noted this fractured command structure as one of NATO's core flaws in the ISAF mission. One guy wants to negotiate, the next one wants a defensive posture, then he's replaced by a guy who thinks he can win with big guns. Is it any wonder that the population is disaffected, reconstruction is stalled and the Taliban are resurgent?
Crazy way to run a war, if you ask me.
Crazy? That might be an understatement. Sketch comedy is okay, sketch warfare not so much. Lessard, I guess, needs to show the other NATO boys that he's really got a pair. Maybe he's the one who ought to be running the roads, trolling for IEDs.
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