Tribal Engagement

"I have been back in America for the past week and it is obvious my prediction that Marjah would unfold in the same manner as the Now Zad fight of last summer was too optimistic. I still think my read on the overall strategy is correct but clearly the fight for Marjah is more difficult and will be more expensive then I had hoped. What is most alarming about the limited number of casualties we have sustained to date in Marjah is the appearance of skilled Taliban snipers on the battlefield. As I have pointed out is previous posts there is nothing more intimidating to humans than another human who has the skill and ability to kill. Bombs, rockets, drones, mines, are all deadly but are easily dealt with psychologically. Skilled human killers are bad for morale hunting them down should be an urgent priority. I thought these cats would have been identified and dealt with before the main assault which clearly did not happen. Soon when an active sniper is identified all the current rules of engagement will be ignored and the area around that sniper will become a free fire zone."
FRI