Quote:
Originally Posted by S-2
"Certainly, the Taliban will be keen to advance from these positions, but they will also concentrate on destroying NATO's supply lines from Pakistan into Afghanistan. The Taliban launched their first attack in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Monday, destroying a convoy of oil tankers destined for NATO's Kandahar air field.
'If NATO's supply lines are shut down from Pakistan, NATO will sweat in Afghanistan,' a member of a leading humanitarian organization in Kabul told Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity. 'The only substitute would be air operations, but then NATO costs would sky-rocket.'"
This interesting point, which harkens to implications of convoy security ala the Kuwait-Baghdad Express now in operation, coupled with the revelations of disharmony within Pakistan between al-Qaeda, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Afghani Taliban, the Bajeur and Mehsud tribes is provocative.
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Umm... something doesn't seem right about the claimed road-network vulnerability (and I don't mean your observation, S-2, which is made on the premise that the vulnerability does exist). Given the precarious road conditions on the Bolan Pass, I somehow doubt that NATO forces have left their life-line on the road. The bulk of the logistics is still air-lifted, I believe. Maybe the "major humanitarian organization" is worried about
its logistical lines?
