Kandahar? Offensive To Start In June - Doesn't The Element Of Surprise Mean Anything Anymore?.....

[global1]

The long-awaited Nato-led offensive to regain government control of Kandahar will begin in June a military official has said. To be called Operation Omaid. Operation Omaid, or hope, is the cornerstone of Gen Stanley McChrystal's troop surge strategy to reverse the eight-year-old Taliban insurgency's momentum.

Thousands of American and Afghan troops are being sent to the city and surrounding province, which is home to the Taliban movement and has threatened to slide into anarchy. However, the Taliban, which controls swathes of the province, has threatened strong resistance and responded to the announcement of the offensive earlier this month with a string of suicide bombings. Troops are arriving and key routes have been secured, with up to 70 significant Taliban commanders seized or killed ahead of the operation a senior Nato military official in Kabul claimed."There's roughly today on the ground about 8,000 coalition troops and 12,000 Afghans in the Kandahar fight," he said. A new US brigade will increase international troop strength to 11,000 by June. Thousands of international troops, led by a Canadian task force, have been garrisoned in the province since 2006, but security has only worsened. The official said: "We have never had the force density in Kandahar to really own all the extreme approaches.

"With forces that have gone in there we have been able to really slice down on a lot of the traditional avenues into Kandahar itself." The June start date is timed to try and finish the fighting phase before Ramadan begins in August. Resistance is expected to be stiffest in the rural districts of Arghandab, Panjwayi and Zhari, while the city will be largely secured by Afghan police and soldiers.

Really - what happened to the element of surprise? Why are we telling the Taliban when we're going to hit them? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Unless - the threat is enough to make them want to vacate the city. But - we're giving them plenty of time to prepare. Go figure.

[Zywiec]

1. Maybe warn the civilians?

:shrug:

[el_bryanto]

3. That makes sense actually

Sure to be rough there for a little while.

Bryant

[Oregone]

4. Yes, these are smart-warnings, like our smart-bombs.

Only the civilians hear them, and they miss the enemies. They are made from the inverse energy of our fantastic smart weapons, which only kill bad dudes.

[theophilus]

2. Also, give the less "motivated" Taliban a chance to get off the jihad leaving the

"bitter enders", I know...I hate that term, too.

[anigbrowl]

5. Surprise is one tactic; intimidation and misdirection are others

When the allies were planning D-day they figured there was no way to conceal the fact that they intended a massive military push, but they did go to considerable lengths to confuse the Nazis about where and how it would take place; so when the time came the Nazi defense was poorly positioned and unable to respond effectively. Actually, a good few of the German generals guessed correctly what would happen based on their own military insight; luckily they were unable to convince Hitler and his cronies to listen.

[pinboy3niner]

6. They do NOT want to engage enemy fighters . . .

in a large, built-up, civilian population center (with risk of high civilian casualties in addition to mil. casualties). Much saner to let Taliban slip away in advance, secure the city, and engage them elsewhere.

[NeedleCast]

7. Reduces civilian causalties

Gives people a chance to evacuate before the nasty business starts.

Not that we should still be over there anyway...

[Blue Meany]

8. Perhaps this is misdirection... n/t