Younger Taliban give US troops pause
Reuters is reporting that our troops in Afghanistan is noticing a younger enemy than 10 years ago;
Whether or not Ahmad and his 15-year-old friend had been laying homemade bombs or had even fired weapons at U.S. troops before, Best’s men will probably never find out, but the arrests illustrate a worrying trend reported from soldiers on the ground: that they are encountering an increasingly younger fighter.
“Over the last eight to nine years there has been a dynamic change in the age of fighters. Most fighters now are between 14 and 18 years-old,” said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Jones, commander of 2-508th Parachute Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, based in Arghandab.
“In 2002, fighters were 22 to 30-years-old and commanders were between 32 and 40,” said Jones who is on his fourth tour in Afghanistan.
This probably indicates that the Taliban is running out of recruits and so they drop thei target age for the new fighters. I know I’d take an extra second or two before pulling the trigger on a 15-year-old.
Category: Terror War
Sounds like what happened to Germany at the end of WWII. All the middle-aged men were already recruited into the military, and being killed off by the thousands. The only males left at home were the very old & the very young.
The old men were “recruited” into the Home Guard, and the youth were “recruited” into what was left of the military.
When I was stationed in Germany in the early ’80’s, I spoke with several survivors of that youth recruitment. One even said that he was writing (going to write?) a book on his experiences, “A Hundes Liebe” (A Dog’s Life) [please excuse my German spelling if it’s incorrect — it’s been a few years]. I wonder if he ever got it finished and published?
Probably two-fold.
1. Running out of recruits. And;
2. Adapting to how we fight.
They know our soldiers have issues with killing children. Unfortunately that 1-2 seconds of hesitation is one thing the Taliban is banking on.
Just my to cents. Take them with a grain of salt.
V5
Concur with V5. And that hesitation (a normal and correct one, I might add) will cost us lives.
Lot of 15 year old VC.
Uganda.
Nepal.
Chad.
Sierra Leone.
Angola.
Rwanda.
Sri Lanka.
Enough said.
What V5 said.
Agree with V5.
I’m over here right now, they shoot at us, we shoot at them, we hardly ever get close enough to get a good look. Thats the way it is running convoys, tho, probably different for the true ground pounders.
“I know I’d take an extra second or two before pulling the trigger on a 15-year-old.”
I wouldn’t. They ante up and they get to pay just like everyone else. No slack and no sympathy. Stupidity can kill.