Soldiers in Afghanistan find success, safety on foot

[NJmaverick]

KANE IZAT, Afghanistan — The airborne soldiers of Company B walk. Then they walk some more. Through snow and mud, across apple orchards and frigid rivers, in the shadow of menacing, snow-capped peaks, when the soldiers need to get somewhere, the road is almost never an option.

Roadside bombs have been the biggest killer in Afghanistan for coalition troops, and as armor has improved, the bombs have gotten bigger and more sophisticated.

Capt. Kirby Jones, the commander of the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment’s Company B, sees a simple solution to this: Never drive. Anywhere.

“We almost always walk,” he said. “I see two benefits to that: You get to interact with the people and you don’t get blown up.”

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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68465

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Well, they better start walking to the exit from that lost war.

[Echo In Light]

2. +1

[NJmaverick]

3. Important to ignore all the signs of success

[Robb]

4. In defense of DU's kneejerk posting brigade

...this is an interesting human interest story, but doesn't really point to any improvement in the situation. :shrug:

[NJmaverick]

11. Why I find good about this story is the willingness of this unit to be flexible and adapt

One of the advantages insurgents usually have over the military is the insurgents tend to be pragmatism personified and military command tends to be inflexible. The willingness of a unit commander to forgo the fancy MRAPs and other toys for a common sense response is certainly a good sign.

[Robb]

14. The lesson of Lexington and Concord.

I'll buy that.

[Mudoria]

5. +1

[ixion]

6. "turning the corner", "got them on the run", "last throes"

yada, yada, yada.

There is no success as a hostile occupier fighting a motivated group of guerrillas. I'm sorry, but history is pretty clear on how these things normally work out.

[Echo In Light]

7. Funny how being anti-war is somehow synonymous w/"knee-jerk."

:wtf:

[Robb]

8. Apologies if you feel that was directed at you.

There are many anti-war posters who produce thoughtful and reasoned posts.

[Echo In Light]

13. No prob. Hell, it's not as though I un-rec'd the thread or anything

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Success being what? A successful PR campaign by the Pentagon?

[NJmaverick]

17. That would be an incorrect statement

[Captain Hilts]

9. Interesting. Thanks for this. nt

[theoldman]

12. Perhaps I am too optimistic but I think that Afghanistan will be stabilized.

It may take 10 to 20 years and it will never be a democracy. It never really was a war of choice and I still think we have no choice today.

[NJmaverick]

15. If things keep going the way they are going

I see the Taliban coming to the peace table. A negotiated peace with the Taliban is probably the best outcome and I think at this point the probable one.

[bigtree]

16. I appreciate these accounts

. . . they don't find much traction here, though.

If they can't keep the roads open, they have no way of operating effectively at all. I'm sure walking is more of a symptom than a solution.

[Orsino]

18. "Success" = "a country not safe to drive around in"?

I guess I have to be glad that commanders aren't sending our troops to die without some sort of plan, but this is a weak, weak definition of success.