9 posts tagged “taliban”
July 21, 2008: American troops in Afghanistan are not happy with how a July 13th battle with the Taliban was reported. In that action, some 200 Taliban attacked a U.S. "base" and killed or wounded more than half the 50 or so U.S. and Afghan troops found there. Actual U.S. casualties were nine dead and fifteen wounded (including walking wounded).
U.S. troops were irked that, once again, the mass media got lazy and didn't bother to report the action accurately. For one thing, there was no "base". What the Taliban attacked was a temporary parking area for vehicles used to conduct patrols of the area. These are set up regularly, and have been used for years. These are secure areas, but basically a parking lot surrounded by barbed wire and several sandbagged observation posts. This one was set a few days before the attack, and was due to be taken down soon, as the patrol activity moved to another area.
Such defensive precautions are taken any time U.S. troops stop for more than a few hours. That's a tactic pioneered by the Romans over two thousand years ago. In this case, it paid off. The Taliban infiltrated several hundred fighters into a nearby village, and opened fire from homes, businesses and a mosque. The U.S. and Afghan troops called in air support and kept fighting until the Taliban fled, taking most of their dead and wounded with them.
The troops are angry because, while the Taliban got lucky (such attacks are rare), the enemy did not succeed in taking the U.S. position, and fled the battlefield after suffering heavier casualties. The U.S. troops are much better shots, and know they killed far more of the Taliban. Moreover, they saw smart bombs and missiles hitting buildings that Taliban were firing from. From long experience, they know that people inside bombed buildings rarely survive the explosion.
Finally, the troops involved were from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and paratroopers do not like anyone implying they were beaten at anything. Especially because, in this case, they weren't.
I have met members of Chosen Company 2-503. Drank beer with them; broke bread with them. They deserve better than this. They would not "abandon" anything, and they will fight to the last man if that is what it took. The 173DABN has a storied history. They are the best of the best. I have a friend who was on Okinawa when this unit was reformed in 1963. He regaled us with stories of troopers, "temporarily assigned" to the stockade, who would jump a 12 foot fence and laugh at the guards. He recounted an incident of one trooper who refused to report a broken ankle because he would have missed a jump. "I'll land on my good foot" is what was reported to have been said.
These men are "b-b-b-b-bad to the bone" in a GOOD WAY. Dedicated, insanely patriotic and loyal.
H/T to Laughing Wolf from Blackfive.
Stars and Stripes has the story after the jump.
While you're at Blackfive check out the free-fly from Uncle Jimbo and Kev of the fund-raiser for the 173DABN Homecoming.
Thank You UJ, Kev, Tankerbabe and Blackfive. That was above and beyond the call. BRAVO ZULU
Prayers up for the families and the men dealing with the aftermath.
These were our guys. Short time is the worst. You still have to do your job, knowing you're going home in a month. 30 and wake-up. 20 and a wake-up. You get nervous. You get cautious to the point of hesitancy. Sometimes you even get complacent, and complacency kills.
The enemy knows our deployment routine. They knew these guys were short time. The ACM (Anti-Coalition Militia) will step up attacks in the next three weeks.
On the other hand, it's crap like this that needs to be stopped. Note that the Taliban says the women had been ACCUSED of prostitution, not actually proven to be true.
Elsewhere, Taliban militants executed two women in central Afghanistan late Saturday after accusing them of working as prostitutes on a U.S. base.
The women, dressed in blue burqas, were shot and killed just outside Ghazni city in central Afghanistan, said Sayed Ismal, a spokesman for Ghazni's governor. He called the two "innocent local people."
Taliban fighters told Associated Press Television News the two women were executed for allegedly running a prostitution ring catering to U.S. Soldiers and other foreign contractors at a U.S. base in Ghazni city.
1st Lt. Nathan Perry, a U.S. military spokesman, said he had not heard allegations "anything close to that nature."
My friend Maggie has a post you should read.
Warning: This is a hanky alert.
and
My buddy Matt over at Blackfive has an interesting post up.
Since 2001 when "the war on terror" began, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reports $649.9 billion has been appropriated for Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). In the budget President Bush just submitted to Congress, there is a request for an additional $108.1 billion for 2008 and $70 billion for 2009.
The cost of these wars has been largely borne by the American taxpayer, while the benefits of success in Iraq and Afghanistan will reach far beyond the borders of those countries to the world. If Islamic extremist can be quelled in Afghanistan and Iraq, people the world over will literally breathe freer. Since so many will benefit, isn't it fair to ask them to help subsidize the effort?
USA Today reported last week that America's "allies" in the war on terror have provided what amounts to chump change. Countries that made large commitments to rebuild Iraq have paid just 16 percent of what they had pledged. According to a new report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, other countries committed to contributions of $15.8 billion during and after a conference in Madrid in October 2003. The countries that have given the least are the ones that have the most resources to give - and possibly the most to lose, as some are targets of al-Qaida's efforts to replace Arab governments with Taliban-like leaders.
Pakistan, Taliban to Begin Peace Talks
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - Taliban militants declared a cease-fire Feb. 6 in fighting with Pakistani forces, and the government said it was preparing for peace talks with al-Qaida-linked extremists in the lawless tribal area near the border with Afghanistan.
Any deal that allows armed Islamic extremists to operate on Pakistani soil would run counter to U.S. demands for the government to crack down on militants. The Bush administration contends a failed truce last year allowed al-Qaida to expand its reach into this turbulent, nuclear-armed country, and the U.S. has sounded warnings in recent days about a revival of militant strength.
A spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a militant umbrella group, said the new cease-fire would include not only the tribal belt along the Afghan border but also the restive Swat region to the east where the army has also battled pro-Taliban fighters.
from a WashTimes article published today.
Further, al Qaeda "has been able to retain a safe haven in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) that provides the organization many of the advantages it once derived from its base across the border in Afghanistan" making it a training hub for terrorists seeking to attack the United States and its allies, Mr. McConnell said.
Despite cooperation from Pakistan, Gen. Maples said the Pakistani military has not been able to disrupt al Qaeda operations in the tribal border region. He added that the U.S. military is prohibited by Pakistan from pursuing al Qaeda fighters or Taliban that flee Afghanistan across the border after conducting attacks.
So the Paks won't let us shoot the islamo-nazis when they cross the border after they have killed Afghani's and possibly some of our soldiers and most likely blown up a power plant or water treatment facility.
It's deja vu all over again. Will people EVER LEARN??? We couldn't chase the VC into Laos or Cambodia after they killed our soldiers during Viet Nam. Which part of this seems eerily familiar?
ANSWER; ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!
Do we want these islamo-nazis dead or not? Do we want other people to have freedom of choice; the opportunity to choose how to live without fear of dying because of that choice; the ablity to exercise their God given right of FREE WILL or don't we?
Are we in this to win?
Sometimes I wonder.
H/Tto Domestikdiva
10. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to alcohol
9. You own a $300 machine gun and a $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't afford shoes.
8. You have more wives than teeth.
7. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.
6. You can't think of anyone you HAVEN'T declared Jihad against.
5. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry ammunition in your robe.
4. You've never been asked, "Does this burka make my ass look fat?"
3. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.
2. You've never uttered the phrase, "I love what you've done with your cave."
1. You wipe your butt with your bare left hand, but consider bacon unclean.
The battle in Afghanistan rages as the Taliban and insurgents fight to keep that country in the Dark Ages and our brave men and women of the 173rd Airborne fight to make life better for the people who truly want freedom.
With the successes in Iraq mounting, the cowards of the army of allah will cut their losses and move to more hospitable surroundings.
That means the frontlines of the Global War on Terror will be where it has always been, where it all started, in the mountainous regions of the Kunar and Nuristan Provinces in northeastern Afghanistan.
It is a cold hard desolate region.
Kunar is a tiny and sparsely populated province that is heavily mountainous and forested, being embedded in the Hindu Kush mountain range.
During both the Soviet occupation, and the more recent conflicts involving U.S., Afghan and NATO forces, Kunar has been a favored spot of insurgent groups. Its impenetrable terrain, extensive cave networks and border with the semi-autonomous Pakistani Northwest Frontier Province provides several advantages for militant groups. Kunar Province is informally known as "Enemy Central" by American troops.
Pakistan has everything Osama bin Laden and his followers require: political instability, angry young – and unemployed - anti-Western students , secluded training areas, access to current electronic technology, access to travel to the west, and security services that have their own agendas. Equally important, there is no check on either the security services or the rebels; there is no American military presence looking for terrorists in Pakistan.
Like many of the mountainous northeastern provinces of Afghanistan, the groups involved in armed conflict vary greatly in strength and purpose. Native Taliban forces mingle with foreign Al-Qaeda fighters, while mujahadeen militias, such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami-Gulbuddin HIG continue to operate as they did in the anarchic post-Soviet years. Another strong militia in the region is the Hezbi Islami faction of the late Mulavi Younas Khalis, who had his headquarters in neighboring Nuristan Province.
Compounding the problems of the province is an extensive criminal trade in smuggled lumber and other natural resources. This criminal activity is often organized along tribal lines, and has led to intense deforestation in some areas.
The brave men and women of the 2-503 Infantry Regiment from the 173rd Airborne Infantry are less than 50 miles from the Pakistan border and fighting daily in conditions which are steadily getting worse as winter sets in.
This past Friday, we lost 6 more of these brave soldiers. “C” (Chosen) Company 2-503 INF 173rd Airborne Infantry lost 5 soldiers and 1 Marine.
In just two weeks, the 173rd has lost 8 soldiers and 1 Marine to Taliban fighters.
The last 6 were ambushed returning from a meeting with local officials in Nuristan Province by Taliban forces. The 173rd are part of a PRT (Provisional Reconstruction Team.) They assist local leaders with re-building or repairing the local infrastructure.
On 9 November, Combined Joint Task Force 82 reported that a group of insurgents destroyed a Micro Hydro Power Station in central Kunar Province. Hundreds of families are affected by the resulting loss of electricity. Little of the land in this area of the Hindu Kush Mountains lies below 6000 ft. elevation, snow has been building on the mountain peaks, (many more than 12,000 ft,) since mid-October. Travel will be severely curtailed and in places impossible by the middle of December. The Taliban insurgency continues to target infrastructure and reconstruction as they attempt to discredit the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s democratic government.
The Taliban would prefer these people remain in the Dark Ages, unencumbered by the luxury of supplies of clean drinking water, decent sanitary facilities, electricity and warmth. It’s easier to justify your own misery when you can force others to join you against their will and proclaim it a false prophets’ decree.
We have shipped over 400 pounds of winter gear and personal items to the 173rd, but we need more. There are approximately 800 men and women standing the fence and we need to get them more gear.
I have made arrangements with BassProShops and US Cavalry.com.
I have links on my site http://dcprotestwarrior.blogspot.com to make ordering and shipping as easy as possible.
6% of the money spent for supplies from these two sites will go to Soldiers Angels.
Thank you for your past support of our brave men and women fighting the War on Terror and I hope you can see your way clear to help out with this project.
