It Takes 25 Tons to Raze a Village...

25 tons of heavy ordnance that is.

What we have here is a village in its before and after stages that was held by the Taliban in Afghanistan and used as a base of operations for making suicide bombs and IEDs.  US Forces and Afghan forces had swept the town a number of times only to see the Taliban melt into the landscape and/or blend in with the regular population.  Meanwhile, American men were having their legs and other body parts blown off.

The primary complaint in the attached article is that this is no way to go about conducting a counter-insurgency campaign.  And I might agree with that--if American lives were not at risk.  Unfortunately, as in Iraq, the Afghan population has not the cajones to stand up and fight for themselves and allow the Taliban to do what they want when they want, leaving it to the foreigners fight it out on their land while they sit back and do nothing and then complain when heavy handed methods are used to weed the bad guys out of their homes.

Personally, as in Vietnam I would prefer if we stand back and bomb the Taliban and any others who facilitate the Taliban (yes, civilians who allow the Taliban to "take over" their towns) into dust.  I say well done by the US Army/Air Force in this case.  Now I just wish they'd refuse to rebuild the mud huts that were demolished and tell the villagers to go screw--you housed and abetted the Taliban by allowing them into your town and homes and we've spilt enough blood on your soil, tough luck, start making mud pies for your new homes...

US Army Razes Village and Saves American Lives...