"US-trained Afghan fighters hit Taliban"
"by Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post | April 27, 2008
:-(
KHOST PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Night after night, commandos in US Chinook helicopters descend into remote Afghan villages, wielding M-4 rifles as they swarm Taliban compounds.
Such raids began in December in the Sabari District here, long considered too dangerous for US patrols, and have already resulted in the death or capture of 30 insurgent leaders in eastern Afghanistan, according to American commanders.
"The Americans are doing this," the Taliban fighters concluded, according to US intelligence.
But though the commandos carry the best US rifles, wear night-vision goggles, and ride in armored Humvees, they are not Americans but Afghans - trained and advised by US special forces teams that are seeking to create a sustainable combat force that will ultimately replace them in Afghanistan.
"This is our ticket out of here," a special forces company commander said last month at a US base in Khost, where his teams eat, sleep, train, and fight alongside the commandos.
All right!!!!
Sounds like we are FINALLY WINNING and are going to be able to LEAVE SOON!!!!
The creation of a 4,000-strong Afghan commando force marks a major evolution for US special forces in Afghanistan.
After small teams of Green Berets spearheaded the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001, they took the lead in combat, with the disparate Afghan militia forces they trained and paid playing a supporting role.
Today, by contrast, the special forces advisers are putting the Afghan commandos in the lead - coaching a self-reliant force that American commanders say has emerged as a key tool against insurgents.
Three of six planned Afghan army commando battalions - with 640 commandos each - have begun operations over the past five months.
US commanders say hurdles remain, from basic logistical issues such as teaching the commandos to conserve water to the larger challenge of ensuring that they are well integrated into the regular Afghan Army.
Yeah, but PROGRESS is BEING MADE!!!!
That's sure the TONE of this article, isn't it, readers?
Still, the program is a bright spot in the broader effort to train Afghan security forces, a crucial aspect of the NATO and US-led strategy to stabilize Afghanistan - one that is slowed by a shortage of thousands of trainers and recruits as well as equipment problems.
The new approach also offers the prospect of relief for the special forces, strained by years of deployments in Afghanistan, commanders say.
Now it is just a "prospect?" Some time prospects don't pan out.
C'mon, Post, you are spoiling my warm fuzzy about positive news out of Afghanistan!
At any one time, more than 2,000 special forces soldiers and support personnel are on the ground, many operating in 12-man teams partnered with Afghan forces in the country's most troubled districts.
In violent parts of Khost and elsewhere, the commandos play a narrow but critical role: They capture or kill insurgent leaders, financiers, and bombmakers as the first phase of the strategy to clear areas of enemy cells, hold the territory, and build security and governance.
Really sanitizing the occupation a bit, aren't they?
Look at how antiseptic the actions of occupation are described here.
The need for an Afghan force that is skilled in attacking insurgent networks is particularly pressing, as roadside bombs and suicide attacks have increased since 2006."
Gee, that story left me on somewhat of a downer.
All that POSITIVE NEWS was sort of hedged on here at the end of the piece, wasn't it?
Violence has INCREASED since 2006?
I THOUGHT we were WINNING!
.... with the one that was in my local:
WTF?!?!
NO WONDER the American people are SO FUCKING STOO-PID and MIS-INFORMED!!!
Look at the SHIT they are being SHOVELED!!!
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan — U.S. Marines are crossing the sands of southern Afghanistan for the first time in years, providing a boost to a NATO coalition that is growing but still short on manpower.
Above the Washington Post implied that America's ticket was getting punched out?
WTF?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fucking god-damn BOSTON GLOBE!!!!!!!!!!!
Some of the 2,300 Marines that make up the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit helped to tame a thriving insurgency in western Iraq.
From one front to another. Stay there forever for all I care anymore, soldiers!
I'm SICK of the LIES that SENT YOU THERE and KEEP YOU THERE!
Don't blame me, blame this SHIT-SHOVELING, AGENDA-PUSHING MSM, soldiers!
The Marines are working alongside British forces in Helmand province -- the world's largest opium-poppy region and site of the fiercest Taliban resistance over the last two years. The director of U.S. intelligence has said the Taliban controls 10 percent of Afghanistan -- much of that in Helmand.
"Our mission is to come here and essentially set the conditions, make Afghanistan a better place, provide some security, allow for the expansion of governance in those same areas," said Col. Peter Petronzio, the unit's commander.
After 7 years of destroying the place.... (sigh)?!!!!
Just dropping the Depleted Uranium on them contradicts what he just said!
Thirteen of the 19 Marines in the platoon of 1st Lt. Adam Lynch, 27, served in 2006 and 2007 in Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province in western Iraq. The vast region was once al-Qaida in Iraq's stronghold before the militants were pushed out in early 2007.
Lynch expects the Marines, who arrived last month on a seven-month deployment, will help calm Helmand as well.
At least, he doesn't think he's there to occupy; get your stop-loss order yet, son?
Taliban fighters have largely shunned head-on battles since losing hundreds of fighters in the Panjwayi region of Kandahar province in fall 2006, and it's not clear that Taliban fighters will stay to face the Marines in regions they operate.
Lynch, a mobile assault commander, said he doesn't care if the militants flee: "Just get the Taliban out of here, that's the biggest thing."
Western countries, including the U.S. and other NATO nations, have been sending more troops to Afghanistan as violence has escalated.
And yet the Globe and Post make it sound as if we will be leaving soon this Sunday morning.
Are you TIRED of the LIES yet, Americans?
More than 8,000 people, mainly militants, were killed in insurgency-related violence in 2007, the U.N. says.
Yeah, one sentence for under-reported mass-murder and slaughter!
Also see: Afghanistan is the New Auschwitz
Case closed on AmeriKa's MSM, readers!
The number of suicide attacks spiked in 2007, with the Taliban launching more than 140 suicide missions, the highest number since 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban for hosting al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
I get sick of the repetitive propaganda, don't you, readers?!
OBL and AQ EXPOSE the Zionist-controlled AmeriKan MSM for what they are, readers: LIARS!!!!
The U.S. now has 32,500 troops in the country -- the most since the 2001 invasion.
Yup, the SURGE you NEVER HEARD ABOUT, 'murka!!!
How's that bowl of shit?
In late 2006, Afghanistan had 40,000 international troops. Today, that number is almost 70,000.
But Western officials have warned in recent months that the international mission could fail.
WTF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just above we are MAKING PROGRESS and might be able to LEAVE SOON!!!!!
WTF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Washington has lobbied for NATO nations to provide more troops in Afghanistan, and in particular to add forces in the southern and eastern areas which have seen most of the recent fighting against the resurgent Taliban.
Some 3,500 Marines arrived in Afghanistan last month; the 2,300 members of the 24th MEU are concentrating on counterinsurgency, while 1,200 Marines are helping to train the Afghan police force.
The Marines' presence in southern Afghanistan is a clear sign that neither Britain nor Canada -- which operates in nearby Kandahar province -- have enough troops to control the region. But commanders and troops say the countries are working well together.
British Capt. Alex West helped deliver supplies to a remote and dusty firebase in Helmand province about a week ago.
"We spent the last operations borrowing kit (gear) off you, so it's about time you borrow stuff from us," said West, 29, of Colchester, England. "All of us have been in operations where the American have helped us, so we're happy to help."
The Marines are known as the theater task force, meaning they fall under the direct control of U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill, the commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan. McNeill can move the Marines to whatever flashpoint he wants. Most other U.S. troops are stationed at permanent bases in the east.
You mean, MAD-BOMBER McNeill?!?
The Marines have been moving supplies and forces through Helmand by ground convoys the last several weeks, a draining and dangerous task. Some convoys have taken more than 20 hours to complete, and two Marines were killed by a roadside bomb April 15.
And hardly a peep out of the MSM!! Case closed!
Lt. Col. Ricky Brown, the commander of the logistics battalion, gave a pep talk to a supply convoy last week, hinting at operations to come.
"You all are gonna move down there so the BLT (battalion landing team) can go in there and kick some Taliban butt," he said.
Oh, that's the attitude, huh?
And HOW MANY INNOCENT MEN, WOMEN and CHILDREN are going to be slaughtered, you monster?!
HOW MANY MORE Afghan families is the U.S. going to destroy?
Support the troops? FUCK the TROOPS!!!!!!!!!!!
They have also been given directions to steer clear of the region's poppy fields so they don't risk alienating local farmers who rely on the cash crop for their income.
Yeah, and because that is a HUGE CIA CASH CROP!!!!
Counterinsurgency doctrine calls for forces to first clear a region of militants, hold that region and then build up government institutions and businesses. But the Marines are in the country for only seven months, meaning they don't have time to hold and build regions.
But that IS just enough time to SMASH THEM to SMITHEREENS!!!!
But it's not clear if there are enough other NATO troops to hold areas, either.
While riding in a 47-vehicle convoy through the sands of Helmand province this past week, 1st Lt. Dan Brown said the terrain reminded him of other missions.
"If you didn't know any better you'd think you were in Anbar right now," he said, referring to western Iraq."
Wait a minute; I was told Iraq had calmed down because of the Awakening groups.
I've been LIED TO AGAIN?!?!
Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, at least we are WINNING in Afghanistan, right?
