Boy, isn’t this warfare 101, where you must protect your supply chain if you want to press forward in the fight? Obviously the militants recognized the value of taking out this bridge, and I am just curious why there wasn’t a Pakistani or private force guarding the thing? And if we don’t trust these forces, and we can’t send troops over there to do it ourselves, then at least use our surveillance capability (like Task Force ODIN maybe?) to watch the bridge and give the appropriate forces a heads up? If we are getting 75% of our supplies and fuel from Pakistan, and that stuff is only going through a few routes, then hey, we need to ramp up the security on this stuff. And with thousands of more troops expected to come into the country by summer, logistics protection must get squared away now. Thanks to Doug for finding this article. –Matt
Edit: And check out this news which I attached below this story. The timing of both of these incidents are interesting.
“Kyrgyzstan is ending U.S. use of a key airbase that supports military operations in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan’s president was quoted as saying Tuesday.” Read the rest below.
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Militants sever U.S., NATO supply line
NATO spokesman says alliance in no danger of running out of food, fuel
The Associated Press
updated 8:14 a.m. PT, Tues., Feb. 3, 2009
PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Islamist militants blew up a bridge in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, cutting a major supply line for Western troops in Afghanistan in the latest in a series of attacks on the Khyber Pass by insurgents seeking to hamper the U.S.-led mission against the Taliban.