The death of 30 US troops in Afghanistan won’t impact NATO’s overall strategy in the country, says Auckland University Associate Professor Stephen Hoadley.
The soldiers, 22 of whom were Navy SEALs, were killed after insurgents shot down their helicopter. Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Taliban.
Mr Hoadley, an expert on international affairs, says the loss is “a blow” but is unlikely to change the direction of the war.
“This kind of operation will continue,” he says.
“There will be risks, they will be accepted… and while it’s tragic and this is a great loss they will take it in stride. I’m sure this will not affect the basic thrust of the NATO force strategy in Afghanistan.”
He says the current NATO strategy is to search out high value targets, including Taliban leaders and ammunition dumps, and increasingly leave routine peacekeeping to Afghan forces.
Mr Hoadley says the attack may result in a shift away from the large Chinook helicopters, large targets that can be brought down with a “fairly basic weapon,” the shoulder held rocket propelled grenade.
“I suspect the major impact operationally will be to rely more on drones,” he says.
“Chinooks are notably large targets… [and make it] very costly for the Allied forces, very easy for the Taliban to mount this kind of attack. Drones may be the answer, with all the good and bad things that drones bring.”
The attack will be a morale boost for the Taliban, he says, who will “trumpet this as the indication… that they won’t go away, they will outwait the coalition forces”.
Watch the video for the full interview
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