Yellow Brick Road

One day the war will be over. And I hope that the people
that use this bridge in years to come will remember
how it was built and who built it. Not a gang of slaves,
but soldiers, British soldiers, Clipton, even in captivity
--Colonel Nicholson, Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

I'm on the highway to hell Highway to hell
No stop signs, speedin' limit
Nobody's gonna slow me down
--Highway to Hell, AC/DC
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Since a recent post on Afghanistan, the forgotten / introductory / trial war ("Achtung, Baby"), a little bug has been crawling around in Ranger's Asperger-type brain.

The one achievement consistently lauded is the prodigious rate at which the U.S. is building highways in that country. But are these highways really such a great indicator of success in this counterinsurgency?

A road is a high-speed avenue of approach. This a double-edged sword, for that which facilitates your operations also becomes a danger road when exploited by the opposition.

Think back to March and April 1975 in the Republic of Vietnam. The North Vietnamese armor juggernaut rolled over the country with a blockbuster attack. And what facilitated this blitzkrieg? That's right, folks -- hard-top, all-weather roads provided by the stalwart U.S. taxpayers at Uncle Sam's behest. Bridges are included in talk of roads.

Ranger is not so foolhardy as to indicate that the Taliban will use these roads to facilitate armor attacks, but roads are not the answer in a primitive, rough-ass country. Roads in fact channelize friendly operations and provide a target-rich environment to any anti-government forces.

Another consideration regarding the utility of the touted road system is the fact that traditionally the Afghan nation and people are too poor for extensive motor vehicle usage.

So why all the roads?

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