Over the weekend, the Washington Post
published a report that noted strong divisions between British and American military advisers over how best to prosecute the coalition's counterinsurgency campaign in the northern part of Afghanistan's Helmand province. The dispute highlights continuing disagreements on Afghan War strategy even among the closest NATO allies.
Helmand province is
the heartland of the Taliban insurgency (.pdf) in southern Afghanistan. Bordering Pakistan, where the Taliban has its base of operations, it has a population of over 1.4 million extremely poor Pashtuns, most of whom live in small towns and villages along the Helmand River. The economy is largely agricultural and produces half of Afghanistan's opium, making it a haven for various insurgent and criminal groups. Until 2005, there had been no significant Afghan government or coalition presence in the province. Not surprisingly, Helmand was heavily infiltrated by the Taliban, who terrorized locals into supporting them instead of the barely functioning local government. ...