Taliban trying to find its mojo after Brits liquidate mid-level commanders

posted at 8:38 pm on May 22, 2007 by Allahpundit
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The ranks are thinning, leaving Zawahiri with little choice in his new tape but to spin the death of their most important field general as a “good omen of victory.” He sounds like the black knight in Python’s Holy Grail.

Pakistan keeps sending them over the border and the British just keep mowing them down.

The Taliban’s much-vaunted spring offensive has stalled apparently due to lack of organisation after dozens of middle-ranking commanders were killed by British troops in the past year, according to military sources.

The death last week of the key Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah at the hands of American special forces has harmed the Taliban’s morale to the point that local commanders are having to tell their troops to “remain professional” despite the loss…

A spring offensive was ordered by the Taliban leadership based in Quetta, Pakistan, and was meant to be launched in late March.

But a lack of mid-level commanders has meant that there has been little co-ordination to bring about the offensive…

[Said one military source,] “It’s a bit premature to discuss the Taliban as a spent force. I believe that they are struggling but still maintain a capability to carry out attacks on a daily basis. But I would suggest in the long term the Taliban may just peter out.”

The Brits also claim that Iran has begun supplying the Taliban with surface-to-air missiles for attacks on British helicopters, but we know that Shiite fundamentalists would never cooperate with Sunni fundamentalists so don’t you go worrying yourself about that.

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