We have recently seen a major turf war over Afghanistan war strategy, with the firing of General Stanley McChrystal. The Kremlinology of it is very complex.
The Los Angeles Times has an interesting and informative article on it now:
A successful effort would support the contention made by Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials who are skeptical of the military strategy in Afghanistan: Special operations troops, with their small footprint and skill at tracking and killing the enemy, can be more effective than conventional forces in the difficult conflict the U.S. faces in that country.
LA Times
So, Vice President Joe Biden has been speaking about the death squads in Kandahar.
See my diary of half a month ago, that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been speaking about the death squads too.
U.S. special operations troops in Afghanistan have stepped up a campaign to kill or capture insurgent leaders, senior U.S. officials say, an effort that began in March
This step up in intensity, as "shaping operation" for the Kandahar operation, started in March, and now admitted by anonymous officials in the LA Times, is very specifically what I was diarying about half a month ago.
Law of War and Death Squads
Soldiers may kill and capture the enemy. Once the enemy is captured, they may not be killed or treated inhumanely. We have been a large-scale violator of this. Torture is a violation of it.
a campaign to kill or capture insurgent leaders, senior U.S. officials say
"Kill or capture insurgent leaders" is a deeply overloaded phrase when spoken by the United States. It lies under justifications for torture. It lies under justifications for drone strikes. It lies under justifications for targeted assassinations worldwide.
Once the enemy is captured, they may not be killed. This distinguishes how a death squad works, from an army.
But Special Forces are special. Anyone with "kill or capture insurgent leaders" authorization is special.
Militias under Ahmed Wali Karzai are of course special, and our Special Forces in Afghanistan are working in joint operation with them.
Normal rules about the conduct of war do not apply to us. So we say. We have invented reasons that normal rules do not apply, and "kill or capture insurgent leaders" is underneath our invented reasons.
A soldier would kill or capture the enemy, on the battlefield. A death squad would, in a well planned raid, break into the enemy's home at night, capture them, tie them up, interrogate them, and then shoot them. It is against the law of war to operate this way.
Special Forces, Afghan Militias, and the Beginning
We used Special Forces in joint operation with Northern Alliance militias from the very beginning of the invasion of Afghanistan. We did this to avoid invasion by large numbers of troops. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is usually blamed for the strategy. At that time, it was not pretty.
Debate about the strategy is still very much in play. Vice President Joe Biden has been speaking in favor of a stronger return to the original strategy.
A successful effort would support the contention made by Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials who are skeptical of the military strategy in Afghanistan: Special operations troops, with their small footprint and skill at tracking and killing the enemy, can be more effective than conventional forces in the difficult conflict the U.S. faces in that country.
Physicians for Human Rights, way back in 2002, informed us what the strategy of Afghan militias in joint operation with U.S. Special Forces resulted in. The information was mostly but not entirely discounted or ignored.
The United States is again using joint operations of U.S. Special Forces and Afghan militias, this time militias under Ahmed Wali Karzai, as strategy for our current large Kandahar offensive.
The tempo of these operations, as the LA Times notes, is increasing. It was "shaping operations." It would now be increasing to "decisive force."
Information about the not-prettiness of our current Kandahar operations is not easy to find in our media. But it does exist.