The war in Afghanistan, started in October 2001, was being waged in an unprecedented manner. That form of conduct is now known as the “Afghan model”. Below I will shortly outline which components constitute that model and how it emerged in the Afghan operation following the terrorist’s attacks on September 11th, 2001. I will then analyse how effective the model proved in achieving the political and military goals of the campaign.
At a glance
- Grade: 1.7 (1.0 is the best grade)
- Evaluates the Afghan model at tactical and strategic levels
- Examines the Northern Alliance’s role as a local partner
- 17 sources in the bibliography
Contents
1. What is the Afghan model?
2. How did the Afghan model emerge in the Operation Enduring Freedom?
3. How effective was the Afghan model in the fight against the Taliban/Al Quaeda?
4. Conclusion
Objectives and Themes
This essay examines why the Afghan model emerged during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 and evaluates its military effectiveness against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It considers the interaction of political objectives, military constraints, local alliances and air power, and distinguishes tactical from strategic effectiveness.
- The components of the Afghan model
- US political objectives after September 11, 2001
- The CIA, the US military and the Northern Alliance
- Special Operations Forces and precision air strikes
- Tactical and strategic assessments of the campaign
- The consequences of reliance on local allies
Excerpt from the Book
How did the Afghan model emerge in the Operation Enduring Freedom?
Before tracing the course of how the Afghan model emerged it is reasonable to contemplate the objectives the Bush administration wanted to achieve with a military operation in Afghanistan. Soon after the terrorist attacks of September 11 President Bush proclaimed the aim, to get hold of Usama bin Laden and other key leaders of the Al Quaeda network – e.g. Ayman al Zawahiri – as well as to destroy their infrastructure and training camps in Afghanistan. Moreover, as the Taliban quickly signalled their reluctance to cooperate on this issue, the Bush administration realised the need to overthrow the Taliban regime, preventing Afghanistan from becoming a safe harbour for terrorists again.
The idea of fighting the war in Afghanistan according to the characteristics of the Afghan model – as described above – arouse in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) rather than in the conventional sphere of the U.S. military. Those in charge within the military had no precast plans for Afghanistan when being asked for military options by President Bush. General Tommy Franks, commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and therefore responsible for South Asia and the Middle East, announced on September 12, 2001 that it would take months to prepare a significant military assault in Afghanistan. CENTCOM had not developed a plan for conventional ground operations in Afghanistan and neither were diplomatic arrangements made with neighbour states regarding issues like basing, staging and overflight. Existing plans concerning Al Quaeda and Taliban were practically limited to the idea to strike potential targets with missiles or manned bombers. The Bush administration was not eager for an invasion (with ground troops) of Afghanistan, anyway. They feared that the presence of vast U.S. ground troops would possibly give rise to hostile insurgency.
The Northern Alliance, a multi-tribal, anti-Taliban opposition, was at that time in control of the north-eastern part of Afghanistan and facing the Taliban at two front lines north and north-east of Kabul in a stalemate-like situation for over one year. The CIA, in contact with that opposition force for years, thought they could take advantage of the Northern Alliance’s will to fight the Taliban. Supporting the Alliance in its combat against the Taliban would facilitate the efforts of the U.S. army to take down Bin Laden and Al Quaeda. Military officials inside the Pentagon, however, were initially sceptical about deploying CIA paramilitary operatives and Special Operations Forces in order to aid the opposition groups in Afghanistan. Their concern was mainly that those opposition groups might lack the skill to fight the Taliban effectively.
Chapter Summaries
What is the Afghan model? The essay introduces the combination of Special Operations Forces, precision weapons and local allies, and describes how these elements operated together.
How did the Afghan model emerge in the Operation Enduring Freedom? This section traces the roles of US political objectives, military planning constraints, the CIA and the Northern Alliance in the model’s emergence.
How effective was the Afghan model in the fight against the Taliban/Al Quaeda? The author assesses the campaign at tactical and strategic levels, considering battlefield conditions, local allies’ capabilities and the longer-term trajectory of the conflict.
Conclusion The essay weighs the model’s initial tactical achievements against the campaign’s strategic objectives and reflects on the consequences of relying on limited US ground forces.
Keywords
Afghan model, Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan, Taliban, Al Qaeda, Northern Alliance, Special Operations Forces, air power, precision weapons, CIA, military strategy, tactical effectiveness, insurgency
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this essay about?
It examines the emergence and military effectiveness of the Afghan model during the US-led campaign in Afghanistan beginning in 2001.
What are its central themes?
Its central themes include unconventional warfare, local alliances, air power, political and military constraints, and tactical and strategic effectiveness.
What is the main research question?
The essay asks why the Afghan model emerged in Operation Enduring Freedom and how effective it was against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
What method does the author use?
The author presents a literature-based historical and military analysis, tracing the model’s emergence and assessing its effectiveness at tactical and strategic levels.
What does the main discussion cover?
It explains the model’s components, reconstructs the circumstances in which it emerged and evaluates the campaign against its military and political objectives.
Which keywords characterize the essay?
Key terms include the Afghan model, Operation Enduring Freedom, the Northern Alliance, Special Operations Forces, air power and insurgency.
What role does the Northern Alliance play in the analysis?
The Northern Alliance is examined as a local anti-Taliban force whose cooperation with US personnel and air power was central to the model.
Why does the essay distinguish tactical and strategic effectiveness?
The distinction allows the author to consider immediate battlefield achievements separately from the campaign’s broader objectives and longer-term developments.
- Quote paper
- Stefan Vedder (Author), 2009, Operation Enduring Freedom, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/155838
