bobdina
03-25-2010, 02:14 PM
Commander of Task Force Helmand - 'we're winning but it's not over yet'
A Military Operations news article
25 Mar 10
The Commander of Task Force Helmand said today that while much has been achieved over the last few months by his soldiers, particularly on Operation MOSHTARAK, the fight with the Taliban is not over yet.
Soldiers set off from helicopter insertion site
Royal Welsh soldiers set off from the helicopter insertion site on a mission in support of Operation BAMBIRIK
[Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Brigadier James Cowan and 11 Light Brigade, which he commands, will start leaving Helmand in the next few weeks to be replaced by 4th Mechanized Brigade.
Speaking to the British media today from Lashkar Gah via satellite link, the Brigadier stressed that:
"Although we're winning, it's not over yet. Although I think we've achieved a fair amount in the last few months, the enemy has not gone away yet and the success of this campaign will not be shown for some months, perhaps years, to come. This is a long term activity that we're involved with here."
Brigadier Cowan went on to say that what has been particularly encouraging is the extent to which Operation MOSHTARAK has enabled Afghan, British and other ISAF forces to clear central Helmand of the enemy. He continued:
"There is still more to be done and in the next few weeks we will be leaving Musa Qal'ah which will give us around 600 soldiers which we will reinvest inside central Helmand, particularly in the Babaji area.
Soldiers return to base
Royal Welsh soldiers head back to Patrol Base Shaheed after a firefight with insurgents
[Picture: Major Paul Smyth, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
"Then we will be able to fill out that Battle Group area so we really do hold the centre, all the way from Garmsir in the south to Gereshk in the centre of Helmand."
The Brigadier said that he thinks this means the enemy will turn away from a normal insurgency to more asymmetric means. He said he thinks there will be attempts at spectacular attacks and in Lashkar Gah and Gereshk there have been some of those already, although, he added, working in urban environments has not been the Taliban's most comfortable environment and they have not been very good at it in the past.
The Brigadier added that there has been success in deterring suicide bombers with the Afghan National Security Forces recently successfully taking back a hotel in Lashkar Gah which had been taken over by suicide bombers.
He said the enemy will also seek political spectaculars and propaganda coups with allegations against the coalition forces which will have to be countered.
Regarding the period that 11 Light Brigade have been operating in Helmand, Brigadier Cowan said that they have been building on the principle of General McChrystal, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and US forces in Afghanistan, to protect the people.
Soldiers on operations in the Afghan desert
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers engaged on Op KPACHE AZUDI in the Bolan Desert
[Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
This is being carried out by creating protected communities, such as Nad 'Ali, which six months ago was largely controlled by the Taliban, but, after Op MOSHTARAK, a series of checkpoints and new patrol bases being built has allowed for a greater protected community to grow.
He said that patrol bases have now been built to protect the community of Gereshk from attack and that Musa Qal'ah, once the most violent town in Afghanistan, is somewhat of a success story, with new patrol bases offering the district centre a greater degree of security than it had previously known.
Brigadier Cowan then spoke about Sangin, saying it was undoubtedly their biggest challenge. Building on the work of previous brigades Brigadier Cowan said that patrol bases have been built and canal bridges destroyed to attempt to improve security for the community. He added:
"Sangin is by no means a solved problem. There is a great deal more work to be done. But what 3 RIFLES and 2 RIFLES before them have achieved has been quite remarkable. It has been at some cost but what they have managed to do is set up Sangin district centre on a secure footing for subsequent brigades to take forward."
Brigadier Cowan said that the ingredients needed for a protected community were a persistent security presence, which is possible by training Afghan National Security Forces and bringing in ISAF troops from elsewhere, such as Musa Qal'ah, and comprehensive surveillance to be able to observe and control areas; the final ingredient and the most important one, he said, was the people themselves:
Soldier searches for IEDs
A soldier from 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh's Fire Support Company searches for improvised explosive devices during a patrol in Nad 'Ali
[Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
"In a population-centred counter-insurgency, empowering the people is essential. The local leaders are the people who should lead on achieving security and through the district governors we have been creating a comprehensive network of village security shuras so every community is responsible for its own destiny."
Brigadier Cowan said that they are also trying to give young men alternatives to joining the insurgency and through the Provincial Reconstruction Team projects have employed around 4,000 people.
He also said that another part of creating protected communities was to address intimidation through 'intimidating the intimidators'. He explained:
"If the enemy cannot fight us directly they will begin to undermine the communities by intimidating people directly such as getting them to stop working for us.
"The most powerful method of intimidating the intimidators is for the population to stand up to the insurgents. We've seen some incidents of this recently and I'm quite encouraged by the extent to which the population is starting to have the confidence to say no to the insurgents."
He added that part of the success in stopping insurgents intimidating the people will be through 'owning the night' and patrolling at night to stop insurgent activity.
An Afghan soldier greets a local village elder
An Afghan soldier greets a local village elder attending a shura with British and Afghan forces
[Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Regarding the IED threat in Helmand, Brigadier Cowan said the numbers of IEDs have reached a plateau but that the vast majority of IEDs laid are victim-operated. He said:
"In my view, given the simplicity of the technology, we will never fully defeat this threat through simply applying technical means. What we have got to do is apply counter-insurgency methods and we will do that by winning over the people and getting them to understand that it's in their interests not to have IEDs laid. And that is because there are far more civilians, sadly children, killed by IEDs than soldiers."
Brigadier Cowan said at the end of today's conference:
"This is a hard fight and it will continue to remain so. This is not a campaign that anyone expects to win anytime soon. This will take time and we will stick at it and show the strategic patience that we have done so far.
"I'm confident that over the period of the next campaign season we will see progress but we shouldn't expect things to be easy.
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/CommanderOfTaskForceHelmandwereWinningButItsNotOve rYet.htm
A Military Operations news article
25 Mar 10
The Commander of Task Force Helmand said today that while much has been achieved over the last few months by his soldiers, particularly on Operation MOSHTARAK, the fight with the Taliban is not over yet.
Soldiers set off from helicopter insertion site
Royal Welsh soldiers set off from the helicopter insertion site on a mission in support of Operation BAMBIRIK
[Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Brigadier James Cowan and 11 Light Brigade, which he commands, will start leaving Helmand in the next few weeks to be replaced by 4th Mechanized Brigade.
Speaking to the British media today from Lashkar Gah via satellite link, the Brigadier stressed that:
"Although we're winning, it's not over yet. Although I think we've achieved a fair amount in the last few months, the enemy has not gone away yet and the success of this campaign will not be shown for some months, perhaps years, to come. This is a long term activity that we're involved with here."
Brigadier Cowan went on to say that what has been particularly encouraging is the extent to which Operation MOSHTARAK has enabled Afghan, British and other ISAF forces to clear central Helmand of the enemy. He continued:
"There is still more to be done and in the next few weeks we will be leaving Musa Qal'ah which will give us around 600 soldiers which we will reinvest inside central Helmand, particularly in the Babaji area.
Soldiers return to base
Royal Welsh soldiers head back to Patrol Base Shaheed after a firefight with insurgents
[Picture: Major Paul Smyth, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
"Then we will be able to fill out that Battle Group area so we really do hold the centre, all the way from Garmsir in the south to Gereshk in the centre of Helmand."
The Brigadier said that he thinks this means the enemy will turn away from a normal insurgency to more asymmetric means. He said he thinks there will be attempts at spectacular attacks and in Lashkar Gah and Gereshk there have been some of those already, although, he added, working in urban environments has not been the Taliban's most comfortable environment and they have not been very good at it in the past.
The Brigadier added that there has been success in deterring suicide bombers with the Afghan National Security Forces recently successfully taking back a hotel in Lashkar Gah which had been taken over by suicide bombers.
He said the enemy will also seek political spectaculars and propaganda coups with allegations against the coalition forces which will have to be countered.
Regarding the period that 11 Light Brigade have been operating in Helmand, Brigadier Cowan said that they have been building on the principle of General McChrystal, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and US forces in Afghanistan, to protect the people.
Soldiers on operations in the Afghan desert
Royal Tank Regiment soldiers engaged on Op KPACHE AZUDI in the Bolan Desert
[Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
This is being carried out by creating protected communities, such as Nad 'Ali, which six months ago was largely controlled by the Taliban, but, after Op MOSHTARAK, a series of checkpoints and new patrol bases being built has allowed for a greater protected community to grow.
He said that patrol bases have now been built to protect the community of Gereshk from attack and that Musa Qal'ah, once the most violent town in Afghanistan, is somewhat of a success story, with new patrol bases offering the district centre a greater degree of security than it had previously known.
Brigadier Cowan then spoke about Sangin, saying it was undoubtedly their biggest challenge. Building on the work of previous brigades Brigadier Cowan said that patrol bases have been built and canal bridges destroyed to attempt to improve security for the community. He added:
"Sangin is by no means a solved problem. There is a great deal more work to be done. But what 3 RIFLES and 2 RIFLES before them have achieved has been quite remarkable. It has been at some cost but what they have managed to do is set up Sangin district centre on a secure footing for subsequent brigades to take forward."
Brigadier Cowan said that the ingredients needed for a protected community were a persistent security presence, which is possible by training Afghan National Security Forces and bringing in ISAF troops from elsewhere, such as Musa Qal'ah, and comprehensive surveillance to be able to observe and control areas; the final ingredient and the most important one, he said, was the people themselves:
Soldier searches for IEDs
A soldier from 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh's Fire Support Company searches for improvised explosive devices during a patrol in Nad 'Ali
[Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
"In a population-centred counter-insurgency, empowering the people is essential. The local leaders are the people who should lead on achieving security and through the district governors we have been creating a comprehensive network of village security shuras so every community is responsible for its own destiny."
Brigadier Cowan said that they are also trying to give young men alternatives to joining the insurgency and through the Provincial Reconstruction Team projects have employed around 4,000 people.
He also said that another part of creating protected communities was to address intimidation through 'intimidating the intimidators'. He explained:
"If the enemy cannot fight us directly they will begin to undermine the communities by intimidating people directly such as getting them to stop working for us.
"The most powerful method of intimidating the intimidators is for the population to stand up to the insurgents. We've seen some incidents of this recently and I'm quite encouraged by the extent to which the population is starting to have the confidence to say no to the insurgents."
He added that part of the success in stopping insurgents intimidating the people will be through 'owning the night' and patrolling at night to stop insurgent activity.
An Afghan soldier greets a local village elder
An Afghan soldier greets a local village elder attending a shura with British and Afghan forces
[Picture: Staff Sergeant Mark Jones, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Regarding the IED threat in Helmand, Brigadier Cowan said the numbers of IEDs have reached a plateau but that the vast majority of IEDs laid are victim-operated. He said:
"In my view, given the simplicity of the technology, we will never fully defeat this threat through simply applying technical means. What we have got to do is apply counter-insurgency methods and we will do that by winning over the people and getting them to understand that it's in their interests not to have IEDs laid. And that is because there are far more civilians, sadly children, killed by IEDs than soldiers."
Brigadier Cowan said at the end of today's conference:
"This is a hard fight and it will continue to remain so. This is not a campaign that anyone expects to win anytime soon. This will take time and we will stick at it and show the strategic patience that we have done so far.
"I'm confident that over the period of the next campaign season we will see progress but we shouldn't expect things to be easy.
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/CommanderOfTaskForceHelmandwereWinningButItsNotOve rYet.htm