09/08/2006
stampa
invia
From July 31, 2006, the NATO/ISAF mission, in which Italy is participating, officially
assumed command of war operations on the Southern Afghan front, up to this time
conducted by the USA Enduring Freedom mission (which will maintain command of
operations on the eastern front until the end of the year). “Operation USA ‘Mountain
Advance’ will now be substituted by maneuvers of the ISAF command,” declared the
commander of the ISAF mission, British general David Richards, referring to the
anti-taliban military offensive launched by the forces of Enduring Freedom last
June 15: more than 800 taliban combatants, or presumed taliban, killed in a month
and a half of ground battles and aerial bombardments such as have not been seen
since 2001.
Italy doesn’t fight but is part of the force. Now, then, to combat the taliban and to patrol, mop up, and bomb villages of
the six southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Zabul, Nimruz, and Daykundi,
are NATO soldiers with the green patch of ISAF on their arms: the same one worn
by the carabinieri and Italian alpine troops drawn up in the most secure zones of Herat and Kabul.
ISAF Italian troops do not participate directly in combat in the South (where
the British, Canadian, Dutch, Danish, Estonian, Rumanian, and American ISAF contingents
are engaged), but nevertheless they are part of the same mission, openly a mission
of war. Even if they remain “on the bench,” they are still part of the team.
To run this war mission, among other things, at the side of the British general
David Richards, there is the Italian general Giuseppe Gay.
The Commander of ISAF: “The killing of civilians is inevitable.” The ISAF mission, originally conceived as a “peace” force, an international
police force that was needed to help the government of Kabul in guaranteeing security
in the country, now having to fight a true and proper war, had to provide
itself with much more aggressive “rules of engagement”: no longer only defensive,
but offensive. No longer “shoot only if attacked,” but “shoot first.” Even at
the risk of civilian victims. “The new rules of engagement, the harshest even
established by NATO, allow ISAF troops not only to defend themselves in an adequate
manner, but to take preventive military actions,” General Richards has explained,
clarifying that “given that the enemy is hidden among the people, at times it
is not possible to avoid losses among civilians.” In effect: “A la guerre comme à la guerre”.
From Enduring Freedom to ISAF: the same war. The first days of the ISAF administration of the war confirms its continuity
with the administration of Enduring Freedom. Last August 1st, the taliban killed
three ISAF British soldiers in an ambush in the province of Helmand. The next
day, as a reprisal, ISAF planes bombed villages in the zone, also hitting a medical
clinic in the district of Sangin and killing 18 people, presumed taliban combatants,
but more probably civilians. On August 3rd, in two separate attacks in the province
of Kandahar, the taliban killed four ISAF Canadian soldiers. In a third kamikazi
attack on an ISAF Canadian convoy, still on the same day and in the same zone,
21 civilians were killed and five soldiers seriously wounded. The day after, ISAF
planes bombed some villages in the neighboring province of Helmand, killing another
25 presumed taliban. Again yesterday, Sunday: an ISAF British soldier was killed
in combat in the province of Helmand and then 17 presumed taliban were killed
in reprisal in a village of the zone.
stampainvia
The “peace” mission assumed command of war operations on the southern front
From July 31, 2006, the NATO/ISAF mission, in which Italy is participating, officially
assumed command of war operations on the Southern Afghan front, up to this time
conducted by the USA Enduring Freedom mission (which will maintain command of
operations on the eastern front until the end of the year). “Operation USA ‘Mountain
Advance’ will now be substituted by maneuvers of the ISAF command,” declared the
commander of the ISAF mission, British general David Richards, referring to the
anti-taliban military offensive launched by the forces of Enduring Freedom last
June 15: more than 800 taliban combatants, or presumed taliban, killed in a month
and a half of ground battles and aerial bombardments such as have not been seen
since 2001.
As the United States commander in Afghanistan General Karl Eikenberry
commented, this is “A clear transferal of responsibility from Enduring Freedom
to ISAF.”
Italy doesn’t fight but is part of the force. Now, then, to combat the taliban and to patrol, mop up, and bomb villages of
the six southern provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Zabul, Nimruz, and Daykundi,
are NATO soldiers with the green patch of ISAF on their arms: the same one worn
by the carabinieri and Italian alpine troops drawn up in the most secure zones of Herat and Kabul.
ISAF Italian troops do not participate directly in combat in the South (where
the British, Canadian, Dutch, Danish, Estonian, Rumanian, and American ISAF contingents
are engaged), but nevertheless they are part of the same mission, openly a mission
of war. Even if they remain “on the bench,” they are still part of the team.
To run this war mission, among other things, at the side of the British general
David Richards, there is the Italian general Giuseppe Gay.The Commander of ISAF: “The killing of civilians is inevitable.” The ISAF mission, originally conceived as a “peace” force, an international
police force that was needed to help the government of Kabul in guaranteeing security
in the country, now having to fight a true and proper war, had to provide
itself with much more aggressive “rules of engagement”: no longer only defensive,
but offensive. No longer “shoot only if attacked,” but “shoot first.” Even at
the risk of civilian victims. “The new rules of engagement, the harshest even
established by NATO, allow ISAF troops not only to defend themselves in an adequate
manner, but to take preventive military actions,” General Richards has explained,
clarifying that “given that the enemy is hidden among the people, at times it
is not possible to avoid losses among civilians.” In effect: “A la guerre comme à la guerre”.From Enduring Freedom to ISAF: the same war. The first days of the ISAF administration of the war confirms its continuity
with the administration of Enduring Freedom. Last August 1st, the taliban killed
three ISAF British soldiers in an ambush in the province of Helmand. The next
day, as a reprisal, ISAF planes bombed villages in the zone, also hitting a medical
clinic in the district of Sangin and killing 18 people, presumed taliban combatants,
but more probably civilians. On August 3rd, in two separate attacks in the province
of Kandahar, the taliban killed four ISAF Canadian soldiers. In a third kamikazi
attack on an ISAF Canadian convoy, still on the same day and in the same zone,
21 civilians were killed and five soldiers seriously wounded. The day after, ISAF
planes bombed some villages in the neighboring province of Helmand, killing another
25 presumed taliban. Again yesterday, Sunday: an ISAF British soldier was killed
in combat in the province of Helmand and then 17 presumed taliban were killed
in reprisal in a village of the zone.This is the “peace” mission in which Italy has decided to continue
to participate.
Enrico Piovesana
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