Word: maizan
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...ways to avoid such unintended consequences, as that commander at Forward Operating Base Maizan in Zabul province noted, is to remember why foreign troops and internationals are in Afghanistan. "Winning hearts and minds," that catchphrase of counterinsurgency, can be easily misunderstood. The aim of Western soldiers in Afghanistan is not to win affection for themselves or their armies but to build support for the Afghan government...
...soldiers are spread thin on the ground, and the Taliban is taking advantage," says Lt. Col. Kevin McGlaughlin, who heads the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Qalat, the provincial capital. Maizan is one of the places they're targeting, and McGlaughlin has begun to notice that Taliban attacks are becoming more sophisticated...
...eight-hour trip between the two cities had been considered a safe journey. No longer. Taliban checkpoints have been set up in several places, and trucks transporting goods to the provinces have been detained. Taliban fighters have even taken control of the district center of Argandab, not far from Maizan. In Maizan and other districts, Taliban have attacked Afghan police officers and troops, while Coalition soldiers have seen nearly twice as many IEDs, ambushes and mortar attacks this summer as they did for the comparable period last year. For the moment, the Taliban have been reluctant to mount frontal assaults...
...situation in Maizan reflects the reason NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer last week asked member states to send another 2,500 troops to take on the rising insurgency. McLaughlin would love to have more troops in Zabul, but he says the province is still not understaffed. "Is Zabul going to change a little because of Operation Medusa? Yes. But it makes sense to take a risk in Zabul in order to make our point in Kandahar." Lt. Col Daniel Petrescu, who heads Task Force Calugareni in Qalat, adds that "where Kandahar goes, goes Afghanistan. So by stabilizing Kandahar...
...while Operation Medusa rolls on, back at FOB Maizan, the U.S. and Romanian troops struggle to fill the time between mortar attacks with chores, video games, books, and of course, learning to play the fiddle...