Flit

Zhari fighting season 2010

Courtesy of Tom Ricks, a new monograph on U.S. small unit actions in Afghanistan in the 2010. Three successful platoon-level fights from the old Canadian hunting grounds in Zhari District are described in detail, south of Senjaray, FOB Wilson, and Howz-e Madad respectively. That was the first "fighting season" that the US had full control over Zhari: survivors of Canadian efforts on the same ground in the four summers previous, 2006-2009 (which notably, are not referred to at all) may be interested to see what changed... and what didn't.

Points I enjoyed: the unsuccessful attempt of the Senjaray-area Afghan police to spring some detained insurgent "farmers" (lived that one), and the successful use of a M1128, otherwise known as a Stryker MGS, to suppress an enemy position. The wheeled 105mm gun-armed M1128 was at one time considered the future of the Canadian heavy armoured vehicle, until Afghan experience convinced the army to go back to actual tanks again. Guess it wouldn't have been totally useless in the grape fields after all.