The NY Times reports that US Military has fully withdrawn its forces from the Korengal Outpost, Afghanistan. It's been called the Valley of Death due to the US inability to make progress there. Winning many of smaller battles but slowly losing more and more people to War attrition.
Does this portend an American retreat? What does this development mean?
This is also due to the new focus on protecting the Afghan cities. But as a powerful symbol of war with the Taliban this is a retreat and a realization that there are limitations to what the military can accomplish in some areas.
Korengal Outpost was located in the remote Mountain valleys that have a deep Taliban presence as well as a hostile populace.
TIME Magazine has a small but good Photo Gallery with captions on the Korengal Valley.
No one knows what — or who — lies at the end of the 6-mile-long valley because no one has been able to make it that far.
US has lost 42 soldiers fighting in the Korengal and 100s more were wounded.
It's been a long 8 years in Afghanistan and it would be a pity to just give up after all the blood that was spilled by our brave servicemen and women, by our NATO friends, by the Afghan military, and by the countless thousands of Afghani civilians. But as President Obama doubtless knows, this is an endless war and the Surge's effects will be temporary. The Taliban has roots in the populace and will crawl back to fight endless battles like in the Korengal Valley. And at some point we the American people will really need to ask ourselves - is it really worth any more blood on all sides? Is Victory really possible here or do we have to allow the Afghan people sort it all out on their own?
Would giving Afghanistan up potentially condemn many people at the very least to a prolonged Civil War, and more likely to life under returning Taliban? Yes. But how much longer can we fight a War of Attrition and hope for a chance to change the situation that has not changed after 8 years? Not much longer in my view.
We did what we could, with the best intentions. We wanted to give the people of Afghanistan a chance. I think we have given them a taste of what could be if they decide to continue fighting Taliban. Many older Afghanis know the life without the Taliban and the life before the Soviet invasion. Afghanistan was a progressive country for the region. They can continue on that path and if they manage to persuade their fellow countrymen that radical Islam is not the way to go, we will always support them in the future.