Editorials: War on terror enters new phase

In the last couple of months there has been an obvious change in the tactics used by the Taleban and al-Qaeda in their operation against Afghan and Coalition forces. They have switched completely from full-on attacks to operations by individuals. It has in fact been all but confirmed that they are copying the model used by al-Qaeda in Iraq. A second important point is that around six months ago, the Taleban made the claim that they had acquired modern weapons with which to counter air strikes by the US led-Coalition. It was subsequently proven that the Taleban had acquired portable anti-aircraft missiles. A third point is the Taleban’s access to a funding source, which they mentioned in the same interview. That gives cause for concern that the Taleban, who had been using religion as their prime recruiting message are now able to buy the loyalties of many more people. Once again, the unanswered question is where the Taleban are getting the money from. It’s certainly not some hidden treasure from past ages that they have dug up. Very soon after they made their claims, a US Chinook crashed in the restless eastern province of Kunar on June 28, and all 16 people on board died. It was a major blow to US forces, because for the first time, they were facing a large number of casualties in Afghanistan. The US military now needs to intensify its campaign in more sophisticated ways, because Taleban/al-Qaeda are no longer just a force of religiously-motivated mercenaries; in the last couple of years they have learned a great deal about taking on well-equipped and organised military forces.