Free Republic

Everything was on fire. The trucks. The bazaar. The grass. It looked surreal. It looked like a movie. That was what Spc. Tyler Stafford remembered thinking as he stepped onto the medical evacuation helicopter. The 23-year-old soldier would have been loaded onto the bird, but the poncho that was hastily employed as his stretcher broke. His body speckled with grenade and RPG shrapnel, the Vicenza, Italy, infantryman walked the last few feet to the waiting Black Hawk. That was Sunday morning in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province. At a forward operating base — maybe as big as a football field —...

173rd’s fight not symbol of more violent Afghanistan, says Preysler "The sky is not falling," Col. Charles "Chip" Preysler, commander of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, said Saturday from Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Preysler spoke via telephone less than a week after his paratroops and their Afghan allies were involved in a fierce attack at a small post near the village of Wanat. In the July 13 battle, nine of his men were killed and 15 others wounded. But the attack is not a sign of conditions worsening in the country, he said. The battle occurred just after dawn at a...

Here are some questions he SHOULD be asked!So the anointed savior of the American left is busy on his world tour this weekend, having already visited Kuwait and Afghanistan. Along for the ride are some of the leading lights of the American “news” media.Before the acolytes of the anointed one boarded the plane with Obama representatives of John McCain’s campaign handed reporters a briefing book, complete with Obama’s faux presidential seal and containing 17 pages of suggested questions reporters who were truly interested in serving the public good as opposed to a liberal political agenda might want to ask.Marc Ambinder...

On Sunday, July 13, a remote combat outpost near the village of Wanat in Afghanistan's rugged Kunar province on the Pakistan border was nearly overrun by a combined force of some 200 Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The outpost was manned by men from the 173rd Airborne Brigade and Afghan Army personnel. The attack was well coordinated and designed for one purpose -- to overrun the outpost and kill everyone in it. No way were the outnumbered Sky Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, C Co., 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment going to let that happen. Today's Stars & Stripes contains...

I read and heard a lot in the news today about "Taliban regime resurgent"I wonder who would be trying to give aid and comfort to an enemy in a time of war?

Following an Islamic court's verdict, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Mohmand agency on Saturday publicly shot dead commander and deputy commander of its opponent Islamic militia and captured their 120 armed followers after killing 18 of their fighters, claiming that Shah Group's presence in the agency has been finished. "We arrested Shah Khalid, known as Shah Sahib, his deputy chief Maulvi Obaidullah along with their 120 companions late Friday night after killing their 18 fighters in exchange of gunfire." Dr Asad, spokesman of Taliban amir in Mohmand agency, told this correspondent via phone. "According to the orders of shariah court, comprising of Islamic...

This advertisement for Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, was introduced on Friday and is running on national cable networks and on television stations in 11 battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Ohio. PRODUCER McCain Media TeamTHE SCRIPT A man announces, “Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan. He hasn’t been to Iraq in years, he voted against funding our troops — positions that helped him win his nomination. Now Obama is changing to help himself become president. John McCain has always supported our troops and the surge that’s working. McCain: Country first.” Mr. McCain says, “I’m John...

Like a bad dream, the gory images have come back to haunt the land of famished fields and parched valleys veiled in dense layers of dust. Just about when the picture of a woman — covered from head to toe in a blue burqa with a narrow screen in front of her stony eyes — shot in the back of her head was turning grainy, the nightmare revisited Ghazni city last week. Two women, wrapped in blue, were asked to kneel on the ground. And then a few fierce-looking men, with hate dripping from their eyes, nudged the women's bowed...

http://www.enewsreference.blogspot.com

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 19 -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in the Afghan capital Saturday for a two-day visit to the war-torn country as the debate over the U.S.-led military mission here moves to center stage in the U.S. election. Obama arrived at Kabul International Airport on Saturday morning, but his itinerary was closely guarded for security reasons amid a surge in Taliban activity in recent weeks. Afghan and U.S. officials in Kabul confirmed that the Illinois senator was part of a congressional delegation visiting the country. But most declined to discuss whom he was scheduled to meet, with...

Obama visits Afghanistan Obama received a military briefing at the Bagram air base after his arrival [AFP] Barack Obama, the US Democratic presidential candidate, has begun a visit to Afghanistan, attending a military briefing at Bagram airport before travelling to a base in the east of the country. The visit on Saturday was the Illinois senator's second stop on an international tour aimed at boosting his foreign policy credentials during his campaign to become the US's first black president. At the Bagram base, north of the capital Kabul, military leaders told Obama, and the other senators travelling with him, about efforts...

The Afghan journalist who filmed and photographed the July 12 execution of two women by the Taliban says he was detained and held for two days by authorities in Afghanistan for suspected ties to terrorists. The footage and photographs of the executions were distributed by the Associated Press and widely circulated on the Internet, giving rise to suspicions that the photographer, Rahmatullah Naikzad, was connected with the Taliban. In an exclusive telephone interview, Naikzad told FOXNews.com that he turned himself in to Afghan authorities early this week and was held in custody and investigated for 48 hours. He said officials...

SNIP Mr. Obama touched down in Kabul about noon, according to a statement released by his aides. His trip has been cloaked in secrecy, which advisers said was due to security concerns set forth by the Secret Service. SNIP The governor of Nangarhar province, Gul Agha Shirzai, a burly former mujahedeen commander with a brutal past but who is favored by the United States as someone who gets things done, was the only Afghan official to meet Senator Obama and Senators Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, and Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, at Jalalabad airfield along with the United...

KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met the commander of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday to talk about the war he says is not getting enough attention from the Bush administration.

US Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has arrived in Afghanistan, at the start of a high-profile international tour. Mr Obama, who flew to Kabul as part of a US congressional team, is expected to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He is later expected to visit Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain. Correspondents say Mr Obama is hoping to address security issues, seen as the weakest aspect of his presidential bid. Opinion polls suggest Americans regard Republican John McCain as a better potential commander-in-chief. After landing in Kabul, Mr Obama flew by helicopter to the east of the country where...

B. Hussein Obama has come and gone on his visit to Jalalabad Air Field in eastern Afghanistan. He landed about 1515 local and was gone by 1800, which is more than enough time for any Democrat to check the Natioanl Defense box, and he is now just as qualified as John McCain to speak on all matters related to Operation Enduring Freedom. During his visit he toured the Task Force (TF) Bayonet 173rd Brigade (Sky Soldiers!) Headquarters and Tactical Operations Center (TOC). Well, that's the big news from the front line fellow FReepers. Keep up the fight at home and...

Canadian Soldier Killed in AfghanistanCEFCOM NR–08.027 - July 19, 2008OTTAWA – Yesterday, a Canadian soldier was killed just before midnight Kandahar time. The soldier was killed by an Improvised Explosive Device while on a foot patrol in Panjwayi District. The fallen soldier is Corporal James (Jim) Hayward Arnal of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Manitoba. First aid was administered to Corporal Arnal immediately following the incident. He was evacuated by helicopter to Kandahar Air Field’s Role 3 Multi-National Medical Facility, but sadly was pronounced dead upon arrival. All members of Task Force Kandahar are...

For weeks now, Barack Obama has closely guarded the details of his planned fact-finding trips to Afghanistan and Iraq, citing security concerns. But Friday, the Democratic presidential hopeful's Republican rival, John McCain, may have let the secret out of the bag - infuriating some Obama supporters and putting Camp McCain on the defensive. "I believe that either today or tomorrow - and I'm not privy to his schedule - Sen. Obama will be landing in Iraq with some other senators" who make up a congressional delegation, McCain told a campaign fund-raising luncheon. "I am sure that Sen. Obama is going...

NORFOLKAs doctors removed pieces of shrapnel from his body Friday, Staff Sgt. Jesse Queck was piecing together accounts of the attack that killed nine of his comrades in Afghanistan earlier this week.Queck, who grew up in Eastville and Cheriton on Virginia's Eastern Shore, is recovering from combat injuries at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.He is one of about a dozen injured soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.The battle Sunday involved an estimated 200 Taliban insurgents coordinating a large-scale attack on an unfinished mountain outpost near the Pakistani border.About 45 U.S. soldiers...

Deadly diversity in Afghanistan Posted: July 16, 2008 1:00 am Eastern By Matt Sanchez © 2008 If you haven't noticed, there is another war going on, in Afghanistan, and it's heating up. According to the 2008 Pentagon Report on Progress toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan, "The Taliban regrouped after its fall from power and have coalesced into a resilient insurgency."

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama arrived Saturday in Afghanistan on the first stop of his tour of the Middle East and Europe, aimed at boosting the U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful's foreign policy credentials, his campaign confirmed. The U.S. senator from Illinois also plans to visit Iraq, although details of the trip have have not been made public for security reasons. The fight in Afghanistan has become a more pressing issue on the political radar. Three times as many coalition soldiers and other military personnel have died in July in Afghanistan than in Iraq. On Sunday, nine U.S. soldiers...

Sen. John McCain's campaign on Friday announced its first negative campaign ad of the general election that accuses Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama of failing to do his duty as chairman of a subcommittee charged with oversight over NATO, which leads war operations in Afghanistan. "Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan," the ad's announcer says, adding that Mr. Obama is now changing positions on the success of the military surge in Iraq "to help himself become president." Mr. Obama's campaign called the ad "patently misleading" and said it tarred Mr. McCain's calls for a campaign based...

SAS signaller Sean McCarthy lived in many places in his 25 years; yesterday, to the sound of military bagpipes, he was buried in his final resting place. Nearly 1000 people attended the funeral, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Crystal Waters on the Gold Coast, of Signaller McCarthy, who was killed last week by a roadside bomb while he was on patrol in southern Afghanistan. Earlier, there had been a private family service for Signaller McCarthy, the sixth Australian soldier to be killed while on active duty in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson attended...

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2008 – Coalition and Afghan forces killed several militants and seized weapons in Afghanistan in operations this week, military officials said. During a combined force patrol in the Nahr Surkh district of Helmand province, militants engaged troops with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades from a fortified position. The patrol, which responded with small-arms fire, called for fire support. The retaliatory measures killed an unknown number of militants, military officials said. Elsewhere in Afghanistan on July 16, Afghan national security forces, assisted by coalition troops, confiscated a large weapons cache in the Sheberghan district of Jawzjan province. Acting...

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2008 – Pentagon planners are studying ways to get more U.S. troops to Afghanistan quickly. “We're constantly reviewing troop needs, troop levels,” President Bush said during a July 2 news conference. “We're halfway through 2008; as I said, we're going to increase troops by 2009.” U.S. and international leaders agree on the need for more troops in Afghanistan. A statement released at the end of the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April stressed the need for allies to provide troops needed in Afghanistan. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan has unmet requirements for more forces,...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, July 18, 2008 – The U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division and Afghan National Army bands met this week for a four-day training event here. U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Hager, commander of the 101st Airborne Division band, conducts the Afghan National Army band and 101st band during a training event at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan recently. The two units worked together to learn music and foster relationships. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Zach Otto, 382nd Public Affairs Detachment  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The two units worked together to learn music and foster relationships. The...

Remember the 3-o'clock-in-the-morning test--Hillary Clinton's dig at Barack Obama's commander-in-chief credentials during the primaries? As Obama heads to Europe and the Mideast this coming week, he is embarking on what might be called his "Ich bin ein Commander" test. It may well be the decisive one of his candidacy, especially with so many media stars--including three network anchors--along for the ride. One major reason why Obama's opponent, John McCain, has managed so far to rise above the public's grim assessment of the Republican Party is that, for many voters, he has already passed this test. Even though Americans think by...

Al Qaeda continues to grow its network and expand its capabilities in northwestern Pakistan, US military and intelligence officials told The Long War Journal. The peace agreements have given the Taliban and al Qaeda time and space to re-establish their networks, which pose a threat not only to Pakistan, but the West as well.

There is by now only one constant in the entire sad Iraqi saga since the brilliant three-week victory of 2003, and the subsequent violent reconstruction that followed. In our collective exasperation almost all the bad news from the front is due to someone else’s stupidity; any good reports are always the result of one’s own insight and sobriety. The result is irony, but also amnesia about what was written and said in the recent past. Consider the paradoxes we’ve witnessed. We were paralyzed for a year over Ambassador Joe Wilson’s carnival-like mission, in part due to the prompt of his...

On the night of January 20, 2009, a new commander-in-chief will leave the inaugural podium, parade, and festivities for the Oval Office. A national security staff ready with the latest “threat briefing” will join him there. On his desk, they will place a thick binder of reports, each focusing on real or emerging threats to our national security. In the quiet of the Oval Office -- in the presence of these stern-faced, deadly serious briefers and advisers -- Barack H. Obama, should he be the next president, will come face-to-face with reality. Americans are afraid of this scenario, Barack H....

The Pakistani Army has launched a military operation against the Taliban in the settled district of Hangu in the Northwest Frontier Province. The military took over security in Hangu from the Frontier Corps on July 16 after imposing a curfew and warning the residents to leave the area and not to shelter the Taliban. "People who fail to move to relief camps will be considered to be anti-government," a pamphlet distributed by the district administration warned. The Army moved more than 1,500 infantry into the region. The force is backed by Cobra attack helicopters and artillery. The target of the...

Recent insurgent activity, including several spectacular al Qaeda styled terrorist attacks, has thrust Afghanistan into a quandary unseen since the US-led Coalition invaded the country seven years ago. Attacks are up throughout the country, including the once secure capital of Kabul, as NATO led forces attempt to thwart further insurgent gains on a multitude of fronts. Coalition forces have surged into three separate areas on the volatile border with Pakistan’s Taliban infested tribal states bringing regional tensions with Afghanistan’s neighbors at an all time high. Meanwhile, US, Canadian and British troops have unleashed a salvo of decapitation strikes against the...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon is pushing for more troops to go to Afghanistan but experts question whether a new "surge" can shut down the insurgency flourishing in Pakistan's safe havens. "That's a totally open question," said Michael O'Hanlon, an expert at the Brookings Institution. US commanders in Afghanistan have asked for 10,000 more combat troops for what until recently was thought of as a forgotten war. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday he wanted to send more forces "sooner rather than later." The push comes on the back of a "surge" strategy in Iraq that succeeded in bringing...

Yesterday, Barack Obama tried on his most unconvincing costume–that of commander-in-chief–giving a national security speech at Purdue University and submitting his plan to keep America safe: The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also released a nine-page document on “Confronting 21st Century Threats,” in which his campaign said the White House, Congress and some U.S. allies had succumbed to a mind-set of “conventional thinking [that] has failed to adapt to a world of new threats.” If Obama is so concerned with the rigidity of old school approaches, why did he try to stifle the most radical shift in national security thinking–the Petraeus...

Why has Republicanism failed? Republicanism has failed and will fail because of single of idea which America under President Bush has become fixated upon. The new idea and hegemony of Bush and America is the realization of freedom. It has been American’s claim to an absolute idea predicated on the absolute strength of such an idea in the world for other regimes to become and emulate. Is not” You are either with us or against us” a favorite slogan of this moment in history?

LONDON/ISLAMABAD: US troops in Afghanistan are massing close to the border with Pakistan, poised to launch bombing raids on suspected terrorist bases in the North Waziristan region, British and Pakistani newspapers reported on Wednesday. Nine American soldiers were killed and 15 wounded on Sunday in an attack by militants on a US base in Kunar province, close to the Pakistani border. The Times said troops have been airlifted from the village of Lowara Mandi and that heavy artillery and armoured vehicles were also being moved into position for possible cross-border attacks on Pakistan. The paper said US admiral Michael...

WASHINGTON: US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has called for forming an alliance with the Pakistani people and supporting the new democratic government. ìWhat we need to do is to form an alliance with the Pakistani people, saying that we are willing to significantly increase aid for humanitarian purposes, for schools, for hospitals, for health care. We want to support democratic efforts in Pakistan,î he told CNN. Obama, who has co-sponsored Biden-Lugar measure in the US Senate on tripling socio-economic assistance for Pakistan over a decade, also underlined that in order to be effective in the fight against Taliban and...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two top Pentagon officials said Wednesday that they expect to be able to recommend troops cuts in Iraq this fall and will try to increase troops in Afghanistan. Adm. Mike Mullen, right, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates speak at the Pentagon on Wednesday. The remarks came after U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday in the deadliest firefight in Afghanistan in recent years. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he had ruled out extending the deployment of U.S. forces in Afghanistan or making tours longer than 15 months, leaving few options other than shifting troops who were destined for...

US troops in Afghanistan massed close to the border yesterday for a possible attack on al-Qaeda and Taleban bases in the lawless North Waziristan tribal belt in Pakistan. Reports from the area said that hundreds of Nato troops were airlifted across the mountains from the village of Lowara Mandi, which has been an important base for cross-border attacks in Afghanistan. Heavy artillery and armoured vehicles were also being moved into position. The deployment followed a claim by the Afghan Government on Monday that the Pakistani Army and its spy agency had become “the world's biggest producers of terrorism and extremism”....

7/16/2008 - BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- Fixed wing aircraft such as the C-130 Hercules, KC-135 Stratotanker and C-17 Globemaster III, can transform into aeromedical evacuation, or "aerovac," airframes, allowing medical personnel to care for larger patient loads, over longer distances, at higher altitudes, with a greater ability to care for the seriously injured. The 455th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight here, which is tasked to care for and transport patients from all over Afghanistan to Bagram Air Field, and run missions taking patients out of theater to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, can provide litter space for up to...

Threat of US strikes 'looms large' By SHAIQ HUSSAIN submitted 1 hour 46 minutes ago ISLAMABAD�"The threat of US ‘surgical’ strikes on Taliban and al-Qaeda hideouts in Waziristan and other tribal areas is ‘real’, and Pakistan’s top security brass, taking it seriously, has initiated a critical process of consultations to cope with any emergent situation.Background interviews with the officials privy to developments on Pakistan’s shared frontier with Afghanistan revealed that the invasion by the US-led coalition forces is not imminent at this stage but the threat of surgical strikes on militants’ hideouts in the tribal belt was very much real....

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2008 – Commanders in Afghanistan have asked for more of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles the military calls “MRAPs,” the Pentagon’s press secretary said today. There are roughly 800 MRAPs in Afghanistan. “It’s safe to say that commanders are interested” in more of the vehicles, Geoff Morrell told reporters. Though the request is unofficial so far, it was relayed by Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, commander of Combined Task Force 101 at Bagram Airfield to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Navy Adm. Mike Mullen during the chairman’s recent visit to Afghanistan. Part of the request may be...

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2008 – Pakistan must do more on its side of the border with Afghanistan to combat terrorist extremists, U.S. defense leaders said here today. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, address the media during a press availability at the Pentagon, July 16, 2008. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We're seeing a greater number of insurgents and foreign fighters flowing across the border with Pakistan, unmolested and unhindered,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen,...

Canadians kill Taliban commander in Kandahar Victory marred by insurgent attacksMASUM GHAR, Afghanistan -- Canadian military officials claimed a major victory on Wednesday with the death of the second-in-command of Taliban forces in Kandahar province in an airstrike. The governor of Kandahar and the Canadian military held a joint news conference to announce the death of Mullah Mahmoud who was said to be in command of 250 fighters in the region. "Let there be no doubt, our troops have the initiative in Kandahar province," said Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, commander of Canadian soldiers in Kandahar. "Afghan troops and ISAF soldiers are...

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2008 – Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan yesterday resulted in coalition forces killing several insurgents as well as eight civilian bystanders. In Bakwa, Farah province, eight innocent bystanders were killed and two others were wounded when a coalition aircraft dropped a precision bomb on insurgents attacking a coalition convoy, military officials said. The convoy was conducting a routine patrol when insurgents attacked using machine-gun and artillery fire. Coalition forces called for aerial fire support against the insurgents, who were concealed within houses lined along the nearby street, officials said. The incident is under investigation, military officials said. Afghan...

Afghan troops kill over 150 insurgents from Pakistan Kabul | July 16, 2008 9:05:09 PM IST The Afghan National Army (ANA), Afghan border police and US special forces have killed more than 150 fighters, mostly Pakistanis, in a military operation in south eastern Paktika province, a spokesman said Wednesday. "Last night, more than 350 fighters, most of them Pakistanis, entered Afghanistan from Pakistan, and attacked in the Barmal district of south-eastern Paktika province," Ghamai Khan Mohammed Yari told DPA in a telephone interview. He said the ANA and border police, aided by a coalition airstrike, "counter-attacked the militants and after...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, July 16, 2008 – Modern-rock band Sevendust put on a performance like no other for servicemembers here July 12 at the final stop on their first United Service Organizations tour. Soldiers at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, pose with members of the band Sevendust after a July 12, 2008, performance by the band. The performance completed Sevendust’s first USO tour. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Scott Davis, Combined Joint Task Force 101  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Although the band is not known for playing acoustic sets, they still managed to put out a diverse sound that...

KABUL -- U.S. troops have pulled out of a remote outpost in northeastern Afghanistan, the NATO-led security force has said, three days after Taliban militants tried to overrun the base and killed nine U.S. soldiers. NATO played down the significance of the withdrawal, but Taliban militants are sure to claim victory in driving foreign forces out of the wooded valley, close to the Pakistani border. Taliban militants briefly breached the incomplete defenses of the newly established base in the Wanat district of Konar Province on July 13 and hours of fierce fighting ensued that killed nine U.S. soldiers and many...

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan has suspended a series of meetings with Pakistan because of what it called the "violent policies" of the Pakistani army and intelligence agencies and their suspected involvement in a string of attacks. Pakistan said the accusations were "baseless" and had created an "artificial crisis" that would sour bilateral relations.