Close a Sure Road to Defeat in Afghanistan by Keeping the Lines of Communication Open

摘要

The President of the United States recently called for a comprehensive review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan in the wake of increasing violence and a resurgent Taliban. Comments by the current Democratic and Republican Presidential candidates, and other senior leaders, indicate that additional U.S. forces will be sent to Afghanistan in the near future. It is, therefore, more important than ever to ensure that the United States has a reliable and effective logistics system in place to support U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Though there are many challenging logistics issues to be addressed, achieving logistics success in Afghanistan and avoiding a certain road to defeat hinges on the ability of the United States and NATO to maintain reliable and secure ground lines of communication (LOC) into and throughout Afghanistan. This paper describes the strategic and operational LOCs used to support forces in Afghanistan today and the vulnerabilities of those LOCs due to military, criminal, and political action as well as inaction. The paper reviews the extraordinary efforts undertaken by the British and the Soviets to maintain LOCs during their wars in Afghanistan and suggests lessons learned that are applicable to U.S. and NATO forces today. Finally, the paper concludes with specific recommendations on how to better secure the Afghanistan LOCs at the theater-strategic and operational levels.