Nederland en Afghanistan 77

Le Monde bericht: 'The "Iraqization" of Afghanistan Worries the French Army. The French military consider that the recrudescence of fighting in recent days in Afghanistan illustrates an ever more marked "Iraqization" of the situation. According to them, the behavior of Taliban and associated forces follows a double development: increased recourse to terrorist methods and a hardening ability opposite Western troops. The fighting during which two French Special Forces soldiers of the 1st RPIMa (Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment) of Bayonne were killed on Saturday May 20 exemplifies that phenomenon.
Suicide attacks, which are a method a priori far removed from the Afghan mentality, bear the mark of an influence and an expertise most likely imported from Iraq, deems one military specialist. Now Taliban fighters systematically use "IED"s (improvised explosive devices). In that particular, "one finds everything," he remarks, "from the most simple to the most sophisticated": like the infrared beams that set off a delayed explosion in the middle of a convoy of vehicles. He believes there's been a "transmission of expertise," with foreign experts coming to Afghanistan as well as Taliban who have very likely been trained in other conflicts (Iraq, Chechnya).
In liaison with the General Delegation for Armament (DGA), troops are equipped with electronic scramblers, but their performance is not perfect since, while preventing an explosion, they don't allow for the detection of explosive devices. On a tactical level, the Taliban are indulging more and more in attacks with a high number of fighters (100 to 200) using sophisticated combat methods: "Their ambushes are well set-up; they know the habits of Western forces and are clearly battle-hardened," indicates the same source.' Lees verder:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052506H.shtml Of: http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3216,36-775877@51-768888,0.html