Fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan

Fox News:

Intelligence officials on Wednesday disputed suggestions that President Obama is sending 30,000 more troops just to fight 100 Al Qaeda operatives estimated to be remaining in Afghanistan, arguing that their influence with the Taliban makes them far more harmful than their numbers would indicate.

Intelligence officials on Wednesday disputed suggestions that President Obama is sending 30,000 more troops just to fight 100 Al Qaeda operatives estimated to be remaining in Afghanistan, arguing that their influence with the thousands-strong Taliban makes them far more harmful than their numbers would indicate.

The officials responded after an ABC News story referred to the intelligence community estimate on the number of Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan as "Obama's secret," and something he deliberately omitted mentioning in his speech Tuesday night.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., invoked the 100 figure in her response to Obama's Afghanistan strategy speech Tuesday night.

"I do not support adding more troops because there are now 200,000 American, NATO and Afghan forces fighting roughly 20,000 Taliban and less than 100 Al Qaeda," she said in a written statement.

But officials called any suggestion that the surge is meant to fight 100 terrorist operatives irresponsible.

...


Boxer is ignorant of warfare in general and the Afghan war in particular. I believe there are more than 100 al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan, but even if there are fewer, the ones who are there are training Taliban fighters and some are actually leading them in combat because of attrition among Taliban commanders.

The real problem is not the number of the enemy anyway. It is a force to space problem. You need adequate force in order to intercept enemy movement to contact and retreat from contact. That is the nature of counterinsurgency warfare. If you cannot do that you will fail at the job of protecting the people.

Boxer remains a good example of why the liberal conceit of a superior intellect is misplaced.

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