Lamh Foistenach Abu!
Posted on 10/22/2010 6:53:49 PM PDT by Pan_Yan
Damn, I’m so proud to be a citizen who can say that my country’s military is pure unadulterated “awesome”. Recent ground news, despite the political fray surrounding it all, has me swelling with pride…and hope yet.
Intercepted Taliban communications are showing good news about our boys on the ground (see: “Marines are crazy!”). Now the goal is to push onward and drive that message even farther to a forfeit or…ahem…annihilation if they insist.
So what’s got the enemy spooked? Right now, NATO and Afghan forces are clearing out Kandahar province, located in the southeastern part of Afghanistan, as an offensive aimed at securing the three surrounding districts is underway. Rumor has it that the area is Taliban-free already. This comes on the heels of the offensive mission to clear out Marjah province, located in the southern part of the country in the Helmand province. These southern and eastern pushes are part of the larger goal of enhanced, um, persuasion, and from the sounds of the Taliban, it’s working even with difficulties arising in certain areas.
Hey, these pushes and clearances are kind of a big deal. The Taliban movement was started some four miles away in a village nearby Kandahar, and the area has been a prime-time hub for them thus far. This is good news!
On the civilian (sort of) front, the Taliban and Pakistan are leveraging in for talks in Kabul. There must be some serious business underway because there’s a push for certain Taliban GITMO detainees to be released to spur on peace talks and no huge opposition bluff. In somewhat recent days, Afghanistan Commander General David Petraeus made the rounds to spread the message that reconciliation with the Taliban may have to be a viable option considered for an Afghan solution, and counterinsurgency strategy certainly makes the case for negotiations being a must for success.
We’re going in a good direction, and this progress with the resources available is a good sign. Being that there’s a review coming due in December for Obama to look over, here’s wondering what it’s gonna take to get total commitment to “V” for “Victory”. Will he change his beat? Is it worth it?
My thoughts?
When the Taliban say “Marines are insane”, we know there’s still hope for Afghanistan.
I hope the make the Taliban extinct!
“We are not either crazy!”
“Yes we are!!!”
“Shut up you!!! We are not!”
“I say we,,..”””””Owww,, All right now,, put down that K Bar”
&*^% &*^&^%$%$%&
God Bless the USMC......
During World War I many German reports had called the attacking Marines “teufel-hunden,” meaning Devil-Dogs. Teufel-hunden were the vicious, wild, and ferocious mountain dogs of Bavarian folklore.
http://www.usmcpress.com/heritage/marine_corps_mascot.htm
I hope your impression matches the reality, to the extent possible.
My admittedly grossly imperfect impression of Afghanistan is that of a water baloon: push in here, bulge out there. Net result: Nada.
Awesome!
I remember reading Saburo Sakai’s book. At one point he mentions a report that Americans had landed at some place near or on New Guinea and they were “fighting like demons”.
I have picked up vibes that the Army would like to have the Marines removed from Afghanistan because they are “too aggressive”. I remember an Army CG kicked a USMC Company or maybe it was a whole Battalion out of that AO for a similiar reason.
I'm not sure who has a clear picture of Afghanistan. I read about it daily, search for articles from a variety of sources and from day to day it's hard to figure out. Some days I lean towards pull all the troops out and let the whole region go to hell. Other days the idea of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tazjikistan, etc falling to nuclear powered islamic radicals keeps me awake at night.
What do you feel when you kill a terrorist? RECOIL
Carpenters hammer nails, Plumbers fix pipes, Marines kill people!
If the Talibunnies think they're crazy you should meet some of the parents of marines! God Bless them
And where did I get these wild bumpers stickers? Some of the best buds I've ever had. But they still can't jump out of planes for sh*t without puking on the jumpmasters boots.
Ping!
Lamh Foistenach Abu!
I think the Marines can be justifiably proud of that complaint.
They are straight ahead over and through the objective, no matter what. That is their mindset.
No other service ( as a whole) engenders that esprit de corps.
Doesn’t matter if they’re a cook, a clerk, a pilot or grunt- they are all marines first and foremost.
I once interviewed a marine for a state civil service promotional opportunity in the age of behavioral-based interviews (blech, retch). The question was “Tell us about a time you failed to complete an assignment and what you learned from the experience.”
He stewed for quite a while, and said finally “ I can’t think of a time where I failed to complete a mission.”
I scored him higher than I was supposed to.
I wish the Army would start acting like the Marines in landlocked, mountainous Afghanistan so the Marines could go back to being, you know, near water, like the name 'Marines' implies.
They don’t have a picture I can post but you might like this:
http://www.7point62design.com/product_info.php?cPath=80_90&products_id=1293
Praise Allah for the Marines!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.