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For troops, Afghanistan 'like Vietnam without napalm'
Seattle Times ^ | 10/2/2009 | Hal Bernton

Posted on 10/04/2009 6:22:22 PM PDT by Saije

The men of Bravo Company have a bitter description for the irrigated swath of land along the Arghandab River where 10 members of their battalion have been killed and 30 have been wounded since the beginning of August.

“Like Vietnam without the napalm,” said Spc. Nicholas Gojekian, 21, of Katy, Texas.

A prime agricultural area of vineyards and pomegranate orchards, the 18 miles of valley that the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment patrols includes Taliban insurgents, booby traps and buried explosives...

...So far, the Army mission has been an uneasy mix of trying to woo elders with offers of generators, roads and other improvements while fighting a nasty war with an often-unseen enemy.

Bravo Company arrived in Afghanistan with 24 Strykers, the first of the eight-wheeled combat vehicles outfitted with high-tech communications and surveillance gear to arrive in Afghanistan. One-third of the vehicles are now out of service due to bomb attacks or maintenance.

The bomb threats are so pervasive that Stryker drivers have abandoned some stretches of road in favor of driving through the deserts on different routes. The road to one smaller outpost has so many homemade bombs that the soldiers usually arrive on foot, a treacherous hike due to buried land mines.

“We have had enemy contact almost every day,” said Lt. Col. Jon Neumann, the commander of the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment. “Until we do clearing, we can’t hold or build here right now,” a reference to the U.S. counterinsurgency tactic of “clear, hold and build.”

Neumann said that a host of factors has bolstered the Taliban in the Arghandab. They include a successful spring insurgency campaign, the death of a strong tribal leader who supported the U.S.-backed Afghan government, and the wounding of a charismatic police chief.

(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; soldiers; stryker; vietnam
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Not sure if Spc. Gojekian is wishing there was napalm or not. Interesting to read that "clear, hold and build" is part of counter-insurgency because we don't seem to be able to do much holding. Hope the Almighty keeps a good watch over them.
1 posted on 10/04/2009 6:22:23 PM PDT by Saije
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To: Saije

Maybe a little ‘Death from Above’ would get the ‘elders’ attention? Why do I get the feeling that that entire COUNTRY is in on this, and will just be milking our resources and the blood of our kids from here on out?

Sorry to be cynical, but this is not going well, and the Poser in Chief hasn’t a clue; nor does he really care!


2 posted on 10/04/2009 6:25:55 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

There is a muzzie in the white hut working for the saudis. Their orders are to humiliate our military and to lose. Hussein’s rules of engagement means our boys are sitting ducks. This is how LBJ ran vietnam but he was not viet cong as someone is a muslim.


3 posted on 10/04/2009 6:32:53 PM PDT by Frantzie (Do we want ACORN running America's health care?)
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To: Frantzie

I usually don’t agree with you on things because you can be QUITE the curmudgeon, but on this point, you are spot on.

Don’t let it go to your head. ;)


4 posted on 10/04/2009 6:35:11 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I listen to what the Marine Generals here in San Diego say, not the left wing media sucking the uneducated in with their anti war propaganda.
The left wing media did the same thing with Vietman,
the war was lost not on the battle field but in the livingrooms of America with dolts believing the anti war Left.


5 posted on 10/04/2009 6:35:34 PM PDT by SoCalPol (Reagan Republican for Palin 2012)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I believe you’re right!


6 posted on 10/04/2009 6:36:00 PM PDT by DirtyHarryY2K (The Tree of Liberty is long overdue for its natural manure)
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To: Saije
The bomb threats are so pervasive that Stryker drivers have abandoned some stretches of road in favor of driving through the deserts on different routes. The road to one smaller outpost has so many homemade bombs that the soldiers usually arrive on foot, a treacherous hike due to buried land mines.

The Chinese were reputed to have executed entire villages of Vietnamese over these kinds of things (i.e. assisting or not informing on Vietnamese militia who mounted ambushes against the Chinese invaders), during their 1979 invasion of Vietnam.

7 posted on 10/04/2009 6:37:32 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always)
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To: Saije
Hey Mr President, did you get enough 'face time' with the General to get off your stupid stick and MAKE A DECISION? You flew to Copenhagen to make a speech for Chicago, you campaigned saying Afghanistan was the NECESSARY WAR, you put in your own selection as General - WHY THE HE-"double hockey sticks" AREN'T YOU LISTENING NOW!!!

Never elect the village 'organizer' to do a man's job AND NEXT TIME GOP ... PUT SOMEONE who has "got a pair" on the ticket and that DOES INCLUDE AN ALASKAN!

8 posted on 10/04/2009 6:40:40 PM PDT by SES1066 (Cycling to conserve, Conservative to save, Saving to Retire, will Retire to Cycle.)
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To: Zhang Fei

First you have to execute the journalists ... then you can get to the ville ...


9 posted on 10/04/2009 6:41:39 PM PDT by sailor4321
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

“Why do I get the feeling that that entire COUNTRY is in on this”

because it is......chump America has built Iraq into a decently modern country as far as infrastructure and industry.....now the afghani’s want theirs.


10 posted on 10/04/2009 6:44:45 PM PDT by Vn_survivor_67-68 (CALL CONGRESSCRITTERS TOLL-FREE @ 1-800-965-4701)
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To: Vn_survivor_67-68

We don’t need to build nations with the blood of our son’s. What we needed to do was kill bin laden for attacking our country. What we needed to do in Iraq was get the damned oil.We aren’t doing either!!! Get the hell OUT!!!


11 posted on 10/04/2009 6:49:38 PM PDT by londonfog
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To: Squantos

ping


12 posted on 10/04/2009 6:53:36 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Vn_survivor_67-68; All

See? I knew I was right! :)

Is it just me, or does anyone else want to just close the borders and be totally self-sufficient and stop playing ‘watchdog’ for the rest of the world?

We have all the oil and natural gas and fresh water we’ll ever need! We can grow just about any food crop to sustain ourselves (I can live without bananas and a few spices) and aside from a few uneducated doofuses (doofi?) we have very talented people that can build homes and schools and roads and water works, etc. And we could trade with Mexico and Canada for drugs and lumber, LOL!

Why do we NEED the rest of the world? Truth is, we don’t. Screw this Global Economy stuff and the billions we waste on wars. I’ll gladly sacrifce a decade of my life (it wouldn’t take that long) while we re-set our sights to make us a free and independent Nation once again. :)


13 posted on 10/04/2009 6:53:47 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Saije
The title you created

"Afghanistan's deadly hold on Bravo Company 'Like Vietnam without napalm' "

did not match the source you linked and had to be changed. In order to reduce the number of duplicate threads we have to pull, we ask that everyone use published titles only. Please do not alter any published title nor make up your own version of a published title.

After using Free Republic's search function to verify that a published article has not already been posted, just copy and paste the title found above the article you wish to post. Thanks.

14 posted on 10/04/2009 6:56:03 PM PDT by Admin Moderator
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To: Saije

Obama has yet to publish a National Security Strategy as required by Goldwater/Nichols. The US Military is rudderless all over, not just in Afghanistan.


15 posted on 10/04/2009 6:57:47 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar (A mob of one.)
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To: SoCalPol

Hopefully (Marine) Judge Carter is also listening. Our troops are being pawned and set up to lose for the glory of allah.


16 posted on 10/04/2009 6:58:48 PM PDT by Frantzie (Do we want ACORN running America's health care?)
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To: Saije
One-third of the vehicles are now out of service due to bomb attacks or maintenance.

In Vietnam I was with a 155mm self-propelled Howitzer battery. Because of break-downs, we rarely had more than three guns ready. Always waiting for parts. We were hit at our base camp once and fired flechette rounds at the tree line. We sure could have used the three Howitzers that were out of action..

17 posted on 10/04/2009 7:00:54 PM PDT by ExtremeUnction
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To: londonfog

My sentiments exactly. If this effin sob president of ours isn’t going to commit to winning, then we need to get the hell out. It will be a catastrophic mistake to leave for many, many reasons, but I don’t want another of our sons to die for Obama’s sport.


18 posted on 10/04/2009 7:01:10 PM PDT by demkicker (Helping Democrats Become Extinct)
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To: Jet Jaguar

This is by design. He and his bosses in Riyahd know what they are doing.


19 posted on 10/04/2009 7:01:20 PM PDT by Frantzie (Do we want ACORN running America's health care?)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Let’s finish what we set out to do. That is destroy terrorists in their strongholds and prevent their ability to operate.


20 posted on 10/04/2009 7:01:21 PM PDT by mamelukesabre (Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum (If you want peace prepare for war))
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