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 ...
“I listen to what the Marine Generals here in San Diego say...”
I wouldn’t recommend paying too much attention to GOs. Particularly ones in the USA.
I’d forgotten that until today reading Zinni’s statements about it- it’s due 150 days after the new administration takes over. By my count we’re somewhere around 250 days.
I’d say this makes Obama the DIC.
(Ditherer in Chief)
Right. This is one world government obama crap. Bring the men home and put the Mexican border and do huge tax cuts and get the engines of economy going before we fade into third world nothingness. NATIONALISM NOW~!@!!!
No need to go any further. Obama and his ilk are welcoming the illegal border crossers with all kinds of perks. He's too much of a coward to defend OUR OWN borders..
Oh, America..what have you done??
sw
The Marines in San Diego have been through many many tours
and the Gen. I speak of is returning in a few months with 10,000 returning Marines based in San Diego to Afghanistan.
Understood. Thank you.
I am curious if he will ever, or can ever, present his National Security Strategy for the US.
We are waiting.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/latest/
tHIS Link tells you the latest ROEs from Gen. Stanley McCrackhead saying basically that you can’t use CAS against any dwellings where there could be civys, you can’t even enter a home without
Afghan troops going in first and you can’t even shoot at a mosque.
This General is aiding the enemy, plain and simple.
Its bad enough that Obambots are allowing the enemy to hide in Pakistan and Iran, but to worry about alienating the civilians of Afghanistan? Against who? THe Taliban, the same Taliban who cuts of the hands and heads of the civilians if they violate the slightest precept of Sharia Law.
Hey General! Why don’t you go on the Political Offensive and tell the Afghan Civilians that we don’t cut off heads, we educate woman, we free them from Taliban Terror and so forth!
Vietnam Redux
What the heck, its a waste anyway if you don’t get Islam out of the mix. Islam and Freedom don’t coexist. By making mosques sanctuaries you are legitimizing this religion of hate.
Of course Gen. McKook was appointed by B.H. obambi.
chump America has built Iraq into a decently modern country as far as infrastructure and industry.....now the afghani’s want theirs
EXACTLY
Not much of a deterrent to harboring terrorist is it.
They harbor our enemies. We go in with a million Rules of Engagement so that the only folks getting killed are American, we pay for it in Billions and Blood, We take no Land, we build up their Country all the while being called Infidels then we let them kick US out.
I agree. To cut and run now would be a massive victory for Al Queda, and a huge recruiting booster for them. We need to push through. Take the gloves off.
I don't there were any journalists hanging around in Vietnam at the time. The Chinese would simply have killed them and vaporized the remains. The accounts come from discoveries of mass graves and narratives from survivors who escaped the dragnet. Stuff like this always gets out. The difference is that the Chinese weren't fazed by the accounts - their reaction was denial, and the average Chinese probably thinks the enemy civilian body was too low...
I don't really agree. Iraq was already a decently modern country before we got there. We just got them out from under a despotic regime. Afghanistan will never be even remotely modern. I've never seen anything to suggest that they even want it. But it doesn't matter, all we need to care about is clearing it of muslim fanatics. If it takes another year or ten years, or fifty, as long as our ROE is appropriate. THAT is our only problem. Bad ROE. Gotta fix that.
The insurgency has a “surge” and WE don’t??? Recipe for disaster...Order those damn burkas for Katie Couric, Hillary Clinton and Barbara Streisand NOW!!! The Taliban is coming to America and you better get used to it now.
If it takes another year or ten years, or fifty, as long as our ROE is appropriate. THAT is our only problem.
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Time is not on our side. Pakistan has nukes now, in ten years, how many more will have them? Lets keep that in mind. 40,000 more troops going into combat handcuffed is not acceptable. Unless obambi somehow gets out of power or the Congress turns back into GOP control, get out.
More bombs less bullets. Especially Nuclear Bombs. Use ‘em before they use ‘em on US.
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