On Wednesday, Gen. John Nicholson revealed that an intense series of US attacks using HIMARS artillery rockets have killed dozens of Taliban “commanders” around southern Afghanistan. The attacks reportedly centered on Helmand Province.
The Pentagon initially presented the attack as “more than 50” killed, and increased the number to more than 70 when including drone strikes around neighboring Kandahar Province. This death toll was over the course of a little over a week.
Such a huge number of “commanders” is unlikely to be true, and the Pentagon notably named virtually none of the people they killed, except for a single deputy Taliban governor who was killed in Helmand.
Helmand is heavily contested at the moment, with the Taliban controlling numerous districts, the Afghan government controlling a few, and several others controlled by neither. This reflects a US push into the area, which was the focus of the Marines during the Obama-era escalation as well.
i wonder if they include hakimulllah mehsud? oh wait, i think the 10th time we killed he stayed dead.
Great! Are they aware of the tendency for Taliban attacks to increase following the loss of a “commander”. The new guy is trying to prove himself.
Is this going to change the big picture?
Wikipedia states that the HIMAR rocket system costs an astounding $5.1 million per unit. Each unit consists of 6 rockets. Assuming that the US military fired 1 rocket per “evil doer,” that would put a price tag of $850,000 per rocket; for a grand total of $42.5 million dollars.
Let that sink in for a moment .
Americans cannot get decent healthcare, education, or tax breaks, but we willfully spent $42.5 million to kill 50 people.
Unbelievable.