Reports have come that 2 US Special Forces soldiers have been killed and one injured. These troops were aiding Afghan forces in a battle with the ISIS. They were operating in Nandgarhar, the same area where the USAF had dropped the MOAB.
As per the US estimates there are about 700 Islamic state fighters holed up in the mountains. The Afghans estimate their number closer to 1500. afghanistan was the graveyard of the Soviet Army. At that time the United States created the Taliban to fight the Soviet army.
Little did the CIA and the American military realize that their protege will turn against them.
The two soldiers were killed when they were on a special mission along with Afghan Troops against Islamic state fighters. It's a sobering thought that till October, 16 a total of 2386 soldiers of the US army are killed and another 20049 wounded.
15 years have elapsed since America intervened in Afghanistan and the war is nowhere close to victory. The Taleban seem to be going from strength to strength, as can be seen from the fact that more than 140 Afghan soldiers were killed in Northern Afghanistan.
This has led to the resignation of the Afghan Defence Minister and the Army Chief. General Nicholson is a respected Soldier, but I am afraid he also will not be knowing how to bring the battle to a successful conclusion
Supporting Afghanistan
General Mattis and General Nicholson landed in Kabul after the massacre and announced that they would stand by their Afghan allies.
Unfortunately, there is no plan with the US Army as to how to defeat the terrorists in Afghanistan. The US Army has extensive battle experience against insurgents in a Guerrilla war.
They have been battling the enemy in Vietnam and Iraq, but it appears that this vast experience has no meaning while dealing with the Taleban and the Islamic state in Afghanistan
Pakistan factor
One of the main reasons the US Army is unable to win in Afghanistan is because sections of the Taliban and even the Islamic State get sanctuary in Pakistan.
They gave a haven to Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden. Despite this, the American army has let Pakistan off the hook.
Successive US presidents are unable to get Pakistan out of their system, still believing that Pakistan was their ally. The American general staff has to realize that the clue to winning in Afghanistan is Pakistan. Till that realization comes, hundreds of American soldiers will be dying in a futile battle in Afghanistan.
