Posted on 09/18/2007 2:00:29 PM PDT by naturalman1975
AUSTRALIAN special forces in Afghanistan have struck at Taliban insurgents in their heartland in a series of secretive, brutal engagements waged across some of the most hostile terrain the commandos and Special Air Service troopers have ever fought in.
The fight for south-central Oruzgan province was a pivotal battle and one with crucial security implications, the commander of Australia's special forces, Major General Mike Hindmarsh, said yesterday.
In a rare interview, Major General Hindmarsh said SAS operations had thrown the Taliban "off balance", helping prevent insurgent attacks on the key provincial centres of Tarin Kowt and Kandahar.
"The Taliban, they're tough resilient fighters, but they're also a nasty bunch of bastards and our guys are very happy about the work they're doing there," he told The Australian.
The hard fighting has come at a cost, with 14 Australian special forces soldiers wounded since deploying to Afghanistan in 2005.
This year, emboldened Taliban insurgents have mounted repeated attacks against NATO-led coalition forces, resulting in the worst violence in Afghanistan since the Islamic extremists were ousted from power in 2001.
Suicide bombings have soared and about 4000 people have been killed over the past 12 months, a quarter of them civilians.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned yesterday that Afghanistan was a "litmus test" for NATO and would be "a mark of shame on all of us" if the alliance faltered in laying the foundations for democracy there.
The fact that there have been no Australian fatalities owes as much to good luck as the intensive training special forces undergo.
In several injury cases, a "few millimetres" difference would have resulted in certain death, Major General Hindmarsh said, referring to recent close fighting.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
Australian Special forces are experts at fighting on deserted and rocky terrain.
Singpaorean and Israeli soldiers have been known to go to Australia to train with them.
Those Aussies are some of the toughest troops in the world!
The General obviously skipped PC 101 at the military academy.
Agreed. They deserve our respect, and they’ve certainly got mine. Wah to go Ausies...
Here's hoping that Howard wins the upcoming election because the loss of Aussie diggers will not bode well in the fight against the 9th Century darkness that the West faces if the Religion of Pieces prevails.
GOD BLESS THE AUSSIES!!!
It's about time the vile islamic scum the civilized world is fighting is properly and unabashedly characterized, and this is very apropos.
But look back 60+ years to somebody else who also spoke in (ahem) "glowing" terms of the enemy: Admiral Bull Halsey.
That guy didn't beat around the bush at all!
do the reverse math and solve for virgins for the martyrs ;-)
“about 4000 people have been killed over the past 12 months, a quarter of them civilians”
so 3000 times 77 = ?
Keep up the good work mate!
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