There is no day that there is no negative news from Afghanistan.
The US continues to talk about how to bring the victory back to that country and President Trump spoke at the beginning of the mandate to raise the military level of additional 6000 units, beyond the 9000 indicated by Obama, with fewer restrictions on military operations purpose of bringing home victory. The military was demanding more forces, but the political party set the limits.
It is not clear to date if the Pentagon has a plan, with these minimal human resources, to end the Afghan confrontation with a victory or if they want to retreat after reaching a minimum goal after seventeen years of war.
At the same time, the Taliban continue their advance throughout Afghanistan, the city of Ghazni was lost by the Afghans and then reconquered with very high losses and they are reluctant to accept truces or sit down at the negotiating table.
There is an indispensable point for the US: Afghanistan can not be the basis in the future where to plan further attacks on the US.
After 17 years of war, the "Global War On Terrorism", started with the invasion of Afghanistan, did not have the desired effects; Al Qaeda is still healthy and the place of Osama bin Laden was taken by his son Hamza who married the daughter of Atta, one of the terrorists of the twin towers and the Isis, today, consists of at least 30.000 belonging, despite the losses suffered in Syria and Iraq, willing to martyrdom all over the world.
The two organizations now think to unite to strengthen the two movements.
The American strategy to beat terrorism must be rethought: you can not beat an opponent who operates in the field of so-called "hybrid" with tools designed to defend, there are no holistic or COMPREHENSIVE approaches that can be effective, the results achieved in they are the testimony.
The hybrid must be fought with counter-terrorism.
Terrorism, which is invisible, according to the classic strategies of contrast needs: intelligence, control of the territory, support of the population.
In the era of globalization it is necessary to add network control and counter information.
In Afghanistan, the control of the territory and the support of the population was minimal, the result was not, consequently achieved.
Nor could the additional military 6000 represent the turning point.
It's time to change pace before it's too late.
In the 17 years of war, the Afghans and the Taliban remained constant and settled actors and spectators of the events on the ground.
The coalition forces, who fought in that territory instead, alternated with semiannual, annual, perhaps biennial cadences.
Few individuals have reached two / three years of total presence, staggered in 17 years.
The discontinuity of the presence of the subjects, in the hypothesis that they have had contact with the population, has prevented the "governance" of the assigned territory.
Regular forces, through all possible adaptations have made the maximum allowed, now it is necessary to close the game.
It is not possible to abandon Afghanistan sic and simpliciter, but it will be necessary to accompany it on the long road to achieving a minimal stability, with internal and external supports.
Almost no one knows that the number of contractors in Afghanistan it is twice the military personnel deployed.
We have forgotten that already in Colombia, it was i contractors, to help the government fight the insurgents for many years with low media visibility.
Using strategies already implemented in the past, it could probably help us to get out of the impasse where we hunted ourselves.
(photo: US Air Force / US Marine Corps)
