Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires

[OZ]

Out of the age newspaper

We were there to assess their fighting capability and to retrieve Soviet equipment. It was 1979 and the Afghans were fighting a superpower with tactics they had used against the British before the First World War. Watching them fight was like watching an old western: the cowboys would come into a valley and down would come the Indians. My task was to teach them modern guerrilla tactics. Without them, they would be exterminated.

I tried to go without preconceptions, but it was hard. Before leaving Britain, everyone said be careful, they are barbaric, they'll chop you up. My boss at MI6 gave me a Flashman novel about Muslim brutality - his idea of a joke. After a few months adjusting, however, I found the Afghans to be pleasant. We got along. I respected their bravery; they respected the way I instructed them.

I had more difficulty coping with the physical terrain. When I arrived in Peshawar, an Afghan military leader warned me, "I hope you are fit, my men march very quickly." No problem, I thought. I was used to marching. But my God; up, up, up we went. We entered the Hindu Kush mountains and started climbing. Above 3000 metres the oxygen started to thin. The Afghans were used to it, but anyone else feels really light-headed.

As fighting terrain, it is an absolute nightmare. It's a natural fortress. You can't get very far with vehicles; you get bogged down and the passes are too steep. The Russians had a bloody awful time. They really got stuck.

None of this matters to the Afghans: they have it all organised, moving from one village to the next, where they have bases stocked with food. This is how they have fought and won wars for the past 200 years. They carry as little as possible and cover ground much faster than a Western force could. We didn't use tents. We lived in caves or slept rough. There were guys carrying just a weapon, three magazines and some bread, wrapped in a shawl. There is no way a Western soldier carrying heavy equipment could keep up with them.

For a foreign army, establishing a supply route would be very difficult. To try to carry food and water up those mountains, some of which are 4000 metres high, would be madness. Because of bacteria, you have to carry bottled water and each litre weighs a kilo. On some days, we were going through up to 15 litres. A soldier marching in those hills is going to burn between 4000-5000 calories a day. You need high-calorie, Arctic rations. Meat doesn't last more than a couple of days. I contracted hepatitis from bad food.

And, of course, there is the weather. Towards the end of this month, the winter will start setting in. It begins with rain; then it freezes, then it snows. By the middle of October the snow will be neck high. A journey that takes three days in summer will take 10 in winter. The freezing conditions rule out helicopters: the mist in the valleys invites crashes.

The Afghan fighters are like mountain goats. I heard someone on the radio say, "Yeah, we can put in a load of four-man teams." That's ridiculous. The Hindu Kush is a vast expanse. What can a four-man team do that you can't do with a satellite? Never mind a needle in a haystack; it's like a needle in the middle of Wembley stadium.

Besides, a Western taskforce would stick out like a sore thumb in the Hindu Kush. Most of the Afghan fighters wear sandals with old tyre treads, so a Western boot print is instantly trackable. Once identified, the soldiers are sitting targets. We trained the Afghans in the art of "shoot and scoot"; they would lay a little ambush, let rip and disappear. They picked it up very quickly. Before long, they had learned to let the Russian convoys get half way up a pass and then blow a hole through their middle. The lucky ones died instantly. The unlucky were chopped to pieces in the aftermath. In the Hindu Kush, don't expect to appeal to the Geneva Convention.

The Taliban don't have much in the way of weapons. Their best defence is their terrain. When I first arrived, all they had were old 303s, sniper rifles and some bolt-action guns. Very few had Kalashnikovs - they weren't used to semi-automatics. Now of course, they are much more sophisticated. They might have a few Stingers left - one of the best, shoulder-held, surface-to-air missiles. But whether they're serviceable or not is debatable. They have a lot of old ZSU23s, one of Saddam Hussein's favorite weapons, which can be used in ground or air support. It's a three-barrel, 50-calibre machine gun, usually arranged in groups of two, three or four, and it's fearsome. They drive their Toyota pick-ups around with these things mounted on the back.

Then there are the landmines. In the early 1980s, they cleared a buffer zone between Pakistan and Afghanistan - an area equal to four days' walk - then put in observation posts on the high ground and mined it all. It is possible that the ground is still mined. They are small mines, the size of tennis balls, made of plastic so you can't detect them.

As for the composition of the army, most of the men were 17-24 years old. In some ways, the Afghan soldiers were no different from young guys everywhere; there was camaraderie. They might go and smoke a bit of opium, but for religious reasons they wouldn't drink. They would get up at first light for prayers and would cover some distance before the sun came up. They would stop five times a day for prayer, although never during battle. They were normal Muslims, not fanatics.

Still, in terms of their efficiency as an army, their biggest problem was the mullah influence. Because of the doctrine that it's a great honor to die in a holy war, they were fearless and took risks that Western soldiers perhaps would not. This is not the point of a military exercise, which is to defeat the enemy and live to fight another day. If you are reckless with your life, you risk depleting the army before it has won. But it was almost impossible to raise this issue with them.

It is, in my opinion, extremely unlikely that bin Laden is hiding in the mountains. He must have a base from where he can communicate. He can't communicate from inside the Hindu Kush. He is more likely to be on the north-west frontier of Pakistan, a heavily populated area that the West will be loath to attack. It is like the IRA tactic of hiding behind women and children; of hiding in a kids' playground. Besides, he will want to be somewhere where he can get CNN coverage of the attack on America.

Most of the Afghan military leaders I encountered operated from the comfort of Peshawar in Pakistan. They didn't fight, because they wanted to be around when the fighting was over.

If it comes to a ground war, I believe the Western forces will have a very slim chance of victory. The last army to win in Afghanistan was that of Alexander the Great; everyone else has been mauled.

The Afghans are a formidable enemy. I should know. We in the West pointed them in the right direction and with a little help they went a long way.

Tom Carew, former SAS

[This message has been edited by OZ (edited 09-22-2001).]

[This message has been edited by OZ (edited 09-23-2001).]

I think the Bush administation should change the name of the mission from Infinite Justice to The Empire Strikes Back.

[OZ]

LOL

that would be much better then Infinite Justice

[Mr Memory]

Keep in mind that the Russians by that time
were ragtag, ill-fed, and "fighting" for
the corpse that was the Soviet Union. I'm
no advocate of a kitchen-sink ground war
over there . . . that's not the idea. The
idea is to isolate and pick off the creeps screwing
with the American Way of Life -- no easy
task, but worth doing. I like
the idea of neat, Moussolini-like deaths
for selected offenders. Meathook feel good?

The problem with these executions;

How do we possibly inflict the pain to these people that they honestly deserve?

I don't see enough PAIN involved...

Need a slow acid burn...

[Phoenix]

reno LOL damn that was funny.

at least in the old days Lucas came up with cool titles like that. Now for next year, he's (in a fit of perhaps wheatgrass induced madness???) calling eps 2, ATTACK OF THE CLONES....ouch

I'm far from an expert on drugs, and I stopped reading "High Times" many moons ago.
But years ago, Aghanistan was famous for its hash, the black, gooey stuff that was far superior in quality to the grainy, green Blonde Lebanese stuff that was so prevalent in my neck of the woods. Anyway, do any of you drug connoisseurs know if Afghanistan hash is still readily available in "the Empire?"

[cash]

right u you reno: Funny thing was in the mid 60s its price was pegged to that of gold.
Best hash on the planet.

reno: Sounds to all that your expertise is in MANY FIELDS !!!

[oscar]

reno, black and gooey and simply was and still is the best. Below was taken from the CIA Factbook:

Afghanistan is world's largest illicit opium producer, surpassing Burma (potential production in 1999 - 1,670 metric tons; cultivation in 1999 - 51,500 hectares, a 23% increase over 1998); a major source of hashish; increasing number of heroin-processing laboratories being set up in the country; major political factions in the country profit from drug trade.

[bayshore kid]

good write-up, oz. if this resorts to a ground war, it will be tough on allied troops. my brother is in the active duty navy and he said physical fitness is a joke there and it's pretty much "exercise on your own". now i can't speak for the army or marines but i'm willing to say the terrain of afganistan is cetainly more than the average soldier can handle.


here's wishing we can handle most of our business with long-range tomahawk strikes and air assualts because i really don't want to see further loss of american life.

Bayshore

[TTinCO]

oscar is correct-Their major export now is poppy (aka Heroin). We will do these people a favor by bombing them-Just how miserable is it?

[bazanster2]

Wonder how night vision abilities and thermo imaging will influence the fighting.
The fact that we're going to be fighting going steeply uphill is somewhat a tactical disadvantage.
This is our fighting force first time in the difficult terrain, while the enemy knows the land like the back of their hand. Thus they may be able to use that to tactical advantage also. There may be certain passages that must be taken to advance up the mountain were they may lay in waiting.
Like the strategy seen discussed. Sending in small groups of commando's to do watch their movements and targeting air strikes. See them retreating deep into caves while being bombed with only a few senties to watch the movements of the enemy below.
Perhaps having troops with nightvision advance up the mountains with the cover of Attack Helo's.
This will be an interesting Military campaign.
We'll all be staying tuned in.

baz

[oscar]

If the USA can put bombs in chimminies they can put them in caves. If the cave is visable from the air, THE CAVES WILL BECOME GRAVES.

[OZ]

I think the big thing he said was about the weather. " The freezing conditions rule out helicopters: the mist in the valleys invites crashes.
"

so by the middle of October , you can't fly helicopters

[OZ]

oscar

you only saw the one that did go down the chimminies, how many did thay have to shot before it went down

anyway, the air sucking bombs would be better for caves

[This message has been edited by OZ (edited 09-22-2001).]

[Remington]

To hell with 'Smart' Bombs. Tactical nuclear weapons and Fuel-Air bombs should be the weapons of choice in Afghanistan. Teach Bid Laden and the Taliban what true terror really is. If they believe the US to be 'Satan's' country, we should not disappoint them.

[bazanster2]

Oz,

Did notice that comment. Not much time to left to use that stategy this year. So if we wait, we'll be in freezing cold with snow up up to our necks going up icy Mountains.
As far as bombing their caves, really don't know how easy there are spotted or how effective bombing would be at inflicting casualties. The extent of the caves and the overall network involved.
Think thermal imaging is one of our strongest tactical advantages.
To drop a nuclear bomb is not a good idea. The fallout would be windsweep into neighboring counties. It would rise the stakes considerablly. How would Muslim Nations respond? How would the rest of the World respond to the use of nukes?
The scope of this war is already global. Members of terrrorist networks in the last few days have been arrested in Japan, Germany, Engalnd and of course here. A network of spies and terrorist, set to attack US interest globally.
Really, the US is in a much more vulnerable position. They don't have "World Trade Centers" to lose. They have Mountains, sand and rocks. We have large sophisticated and complex oil refineries for example, that take years to rebuild. Just a few strategic hits along the powerlines in the NorthWest Corridor would be devestating. Oil tankers would be sitting ducks in and out of port. How would one watch all the small boats at sea or prevent hijackings of private airplanes.
Wall Street Journal Sept. 18th (B-1)lead article asked "Are We Prepared for the Unthinkable? How well are we prepared for a biological or chemical warfare? Here in this county? How hard has everyone thought about these possible consequences of war?
So even if we bomb them into a parking lot and get BinLaden, the underlying reasons for the terrorism will still exist. So after this war and our sense of Justice is fulfilled, if and when it ends, perhaps we can deal with what's causing all this terrorism.

baz

[DOGS THAT BARK]

Oz I really enjoyed your hands on perspective.Has been my experience also it is damn near impossible to defeat an enemy on the ground on their turf.Don't know if it would work as well in caves as tunnels but a little dose of Napalm may be in order.