By Ryan Blum
Best Defense guest columnist
As I’m scrolling through my Facebook feed during my Monday morning commute I almost overlook a post from my old Company Commander:
“Taliban Fighters Overrun Kunduz City as Afghan Forces Retreat”
My mouth drops.
Back in March of 2010 my unit took responsibility for Kunduz Province in northern Afghanistan during the surge there. The capital, Kunduz city, is home to about 300,000 people and is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan, strategically located for its trading routes to Kabul from the border of Tajikistan.
When my unit arrived, the Taliban controlled most of the countryside — only the major population centers were under government control. Our area was mostly non-Pashtun, which meant the population solidly favored the Afghan government. For 12 long months my unit endured IEDs, landmines, sniper attacks, ambushes, and suicide bombers in an attempt to bring peace, order, and commercial trade to Kunduz province. And we succeeded.
Read the Remainder at Foreign Policy
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