The invaluable Bill Roggio on special operations raids in Afghanistan. Roggio reports that approximately 7,100 counterterrorism missions have been conducted in Afghanistan in the past six months, killing or capturing more than 600 insurgent leaders, killing more than 2,000 enemy fighters, and capturing over 4,100 fighters.
This is good news, and contrary to General James Cartwright's assertion later in the article, is not indicative of a rebalancing toward a CT strategy in Afghanistan. According to Bob Woodward in "Obama's Wars," Cartwright was one of the leading advocates of a pure CT strategy and opponent of a troop surge to support a counterinsurgey strategy in Afghanistan.
But in reality, a central part of any COIN strategy is to kill/capture the irreconcilables in the enemy camp so that the people will feel secure, to create breathing space for economic and political development, and to convince the less-committed guerrillas that maybe it is in their best interest to reintegrate into society lest they be in the crosshairs next.
The kinetic operations Roggio describes are thus perfectly compatible with a broader COIN effort, and General Cartwright (whom I respect greatly) is likely spinning towards his preferred strategy.
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