Afghan boy in Bamiyan via vonbergen.

Reading the news from Afghanistan lately has become an exercise in humility. Which, as any student of history knows, isn't really news given the empires who invaded only to be broken on the teeth of the Khyber Pass.

History knocks:

The raids are the boldest in a series of militant attacks on Nato supply lines this year, which have raised fears that the Taleban are mimicking tactics used against British invaders in the 19th century and Soviet troops in the 1980s.

About 70 per cent of the fuel and other supplies for Nato and US forces in Afghanistan are shipped into the Pakistani port of Karachi and then driven over the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan....

The Government last month closed the Khyber Pass for a week after militants hijacked trucks and made off with supplies for US and Nato forces. Four US helicopter engines were stolen along the route in April and 36 Nato fuel trucks were torched near the pass in March.

If supply lines are cut, it gets ugly very quickly in a nation as impoverished and food poor as Afghanistan. I'll let b from Moon of Alabama do the math:

The Soviet[s] learned some lessons about this. It was the road war that eventually killed their attempts in Afghanistan.

U.S./NATO supplies are even more endangered because:

  • They need much more general supply per man than the Soviets did;
  • They do not have a boarder to Afghanistan but have to route the supply through Pakistan;
  • Alternative routes are too long and odious.

The additional U.S. troops that will help to occupy Afghanistan next year will, as I estimated, need some 50 additional truck deliveries per day for fuel alone.

There are days when I miss Steve Gilliard calling military bullshit more than others. Today is one of those days. And this isn't exactly confidence inspiring...nor is this.  Or this.