the horace mann Plunging into Afghanistan - Horace Mann School

Featuresbers of the Special Air Service and theSpecial Boat Service, the British Queen’selite commandos and six intelligence operativesfrom the CIA were deployed tothe region. Learning from previous mistakesin Afghanistan, the CIA workedwith members of the Mujahideen to drawthem from Bin Laden’s grip.This latest attempt at stabilizing thelawless region is the most successful sofar. However, despite the evident technologicaladvantage of the United States andits allies, Delta Force did not achieve itsmain goal of capturing or killing Bin Laden,though the elite warriors did succeededin killing or capturing most membersof Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the region.President Obama has now been leftdealing with a situation with which fewhave succeeded. The president must decideif the United States and its armedforces will remain in the region until theyentirely wipe out the remaining fighters.The main problem is that intelligence reportsfrom CIA and Delta Force have discoveredthat Bin Laden and his top advisorAyman Al-Zawihiri, have escaped tothe turbulent, northwest region of Pakistan,called Waziristan. If Barack Obamagoes ahead with his plan to deploy 30,000more troops to the area, it will be crucialfor the troops to cross the border towhere Bin Laden and his closest allieshave escaped.As President Obama plans to bringan end to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, heand the members of the JCS must realizethat we are fighting a mobile force. An intelligencereport by military personnel inthe field following the final days of DeltaForce in Tora Bora states that we lost BinLaden and Ayman-Al Zawihiri on December13th, 2001, when Bin Laden hadallegedly been working on a peace treatywith members of the Mujahideen whohad allied with the United States. However,during this time, Bin Laden, his topadviser, and other members of Al-Qaedaescaped over the Pakistani border. Therefore,as of December 13th, 2001, membersof the U.S Special Forces, whose missionwas to capture or kill Bin Laden, hadno business in Afghanistan. It is crucialto listen to intelligence reports and actaccordingly if we want to capture OsamaBin Laden. Unfortunately, this abhorrentdisregard for military intelligence datesback to the beginning of the Bush administration,when the President’s DailyBrief landed on his desk at his Crawfordranch entitled, “Bin Laden DeterminedTo Strike in US.” These blunders haveled us to our current state; approximately38,000 troops are deep in Afghanistanand our targets in Pakistan. Continuingthis course of action would lose us thewar. Despite progress in the occupationof Tora Bora, it is time that we address thePakistani government for its approval tocross the border and hunt down Bin Ladenin Waziristan. Looking forward in thiswar, we must use strategy, technology, intelligence,and even brute force. Ignoringthese key components as we have donefor the past eight years will prevent progressand allow the enemy combatantswho fled from battle at Tora Bora to reestablishthemselves in an untouched andunregulated land. The war in Afghanistanis no longer in Afghanistan. HMRdigitaljournal16HM Review Vol. XIX