Many a time, an outpost is located far away from the main base. If the enemy is stubborn and believes in the principle ‘do or die’, the soldiers who man the outpost will have to be self-reliant. Stocking essentials for a rainy day is a must. Nonetheless, a situation may develop when the outpost is outmanned and outgunned. Finally it is over run. It happened in Afghanistan in more places than one. All GIs who defended the outpost did not survive to tell the tale of their deprivation, lack of communication and void created by non-arrival of artillery supporting fire or infantry go-getters failing to get to the outpost. What a terrible mess the soldiers of the outpost find themselves in.
 

The brave hearts fight to the last bullet and the last man. Thereafter, they perish and the outpost is over run by barbarians. What a shame for the mighty nation whose sons died fighting but no help arrived to provide support to them.

Was it essential to hold an outpost in a God forsaken area? Who sited that post and what for? Was it done in ignorance or in sheer callousness? Anyway, because of this mistake of siting and maintaining an unmaintainable outpost, many lives of soldiers were lost for no fault of theirs.

The Islamist terrorists have their sources of information about the organised enemy that is North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The men and women who collect, collate and disseminate intelligence among the terrorist organisations are impeccable. The NATO intelligence network spends many times more money to gather actionable intelligence but their authenticity may be or may not be above doubt. Here lies an important point that proves that the terrorists attack at a date, time and place of their own choice because they are sure of success. That is not the case with the regular armies of the world. NATO is no exception.

An Islamist terrorist is committed to the cause he or she is fighting for. A terrorist is brain washed. On the other hand, a NATO soldier is motivated, if at all, by the pep talk of his squadron commander or another officer in the intermediate formation or a chaplain who might quote from the Bible to arouse religious sentiments. It has been seen in practice that the non-church going soldier is a notch lower in morale than a mosque going terrorist. A non-religious soldier uses abusive language against his commander under whom he is going to fight to finish. The bond of soldiering is missing. It is shameful but it is a fact of life.

Notwithstanding faults and flaws, commanders and soldiers of the States and European countries must nurture determination to defeat the Islamist terrorist in Afghanistan and those who give them shelter and support in Pakistan. Entertaining any thought of withdrawal from Afghanistan will indeed amount to high treason and those who profess loyalty to their motherland must not think of disengaging even in a dream.