Air Power and Artillery Support Needed In Afghanistan by Gregory Hilton

I rarely praise The New York Times, but they are offering excellent advice today. Our goal should be victory in as short a time as possible, and we should use every advantage we have. We are suffering combat deaths because close air and artillery support is often rejected. An example was in Kunar, “’We are pinned down,’ a Marine major explained to his Afghan counterpart as they waited helplessly. ‘We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We’ve lost today.’ In the end, four Marines, eight Afghan troops and an Afghan interpreter were dead, and 22 others wounded.”
The Taliban should know the coalition forces will fight them with complete air dominance. The rules of engagement allow the Marines to fire only when they see an insurgent with a weapon. The insurgents are literally firing from a house, dropping their weapons and then walking away in broad daylight. Also, they are using their fellow Afghans as human shields.
AP photos show our troops acting as shields for innocent Afghans as the citizens cower behind them. This is a ridiculous situation. We will never achieve victory at this rate. The Taliban are motivated, driven, evil, willing to die and zealots. The Afghan government and Afghan troops are Keystone Cops at best. If we do not destroy the Taliban we will be there forever.