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| Afghanistan | |
| Documentary on Afghanistan fighting - Video at link | |
| 2009-07-15 | |
| February 23, 2009 Western forces are losing ground to the Taliban. As US and UK forces struggle for a way forward in Afghanistan, this unique film shows one of the most dangerous outposts as it struggles to hold on. Youre the first reporter Ive seen here in 8 months, says Staff Sergeant O Brien, in a rare break from the Talibans incessant fire. This outpost in Kunar province is one of hundreds supposed to allow the Americans to win over locals and control Taliban movements. But its not working. The Taliban control the high ground around the bunker and attack every day. Weve got the most sophisticated equipment in the world, O Brien says but we cant pick up on one guy whos sitting 800 metres away from us shooting. His men have spent 9 months under fire and must rely on what they can. One thing we usually use to determine who the bad guys are is shoe type, O Brien explains. They wear shoes like this to move around the mountains he says comparing it with the sandal worn by a member of the Afghan National Army. Part of the outpost strategy is to mentor the ANA. But the men here see the reality of western forces losing ground. A lot of the reports you see are out of the big bases, where its secure and theres not a lot of fighting. Its in remote outposts like this one that conditions are almost like what the Russians ran in to.
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| Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC |
| #6 The Taliban must be selling a lot of dope. Their extended cab pickup is late model. The villagers speak pretty good English for being near an outpost out in the booneys. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-07-15 22:17 |
| #5 Was in Acoma two weeks ago. Longest continuously inhabited settlement in the US. It's centuries ahead of Afghanistan. Monogamous. Catholic Church. Literate in English. Paved roads. Nice people. I especially like the generators in the pickup trucks for the full time residents to watch TV. Visit and buy the pottery. It's the real deal. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2009-07-15 21:18 |
| #4 There are whole provinces with no paved roads. Most of the country is illiterate. They are insular, tribal and muslim to boot. Cue the theme from Deliverance. Ever been to Acoma? ;) |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-07-15 19:02 |
| #3 Michael Yon says Afghanistan is 1,000 years behind Iraq. There are whole provinces with no paved roads. Most of the country is illiterate. They are insular, tribal and muslim to boot. None of this bodes well for our effort. Add in the land-locked status with safe sanctuary on the border and it really doesn't look good. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2009-07-15 18:35 |
| #2 Afghanistan is land locked with out a port for low cost deliver of supplies critical to the American way of war. They are surrounded by inimical neighbors who will be happy to provide sanctuary and support to our enemies. If we win, what will we have? Bush had a great opportunity to declare victory and withdraw. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2009-07-15 16:29 |
| #1 TW The Surge just started. Let's give it more than a week before we allow the news organizations to declare the situation lost. I agree the surge has just started. But, the situation in Afghanistan is totally different from Iraq. IMHO the entire ANA isn't worth one division of the Iraqi Army. Look at those guys spray and pray tactics. We surged in Vietnam to over a half million troops but we couldn't control the countryside. I've been down this path before and I have a bad feeling. There is very little to build on in Afghanistan. They have no history of central authority. The only history they have is killing each other unless some foreigners came to the area, then they focused on the outsiders. Once the Infidels are gone they will go back to killing each other. The villagers will not stand up to the Taliban like the Iraq Awakening. I talked with some local Afghans here in town and to my surprise they wished the Taliban were back in control because at least their relatives were more secure from the lawlessness. So far in the first half of July we have lost as many coalition forces as any one whole month in the previous eight years. If this keeps up, approaching next years elections, Obama will fold like a cheap suit and these brave men and women will have been wasted. For what it's worth I never gave up on Iraq. But like I said, I have a bad feeling regarding our effort in Afghanistan, especially with the current Democrat Party and President in charge of this endeavor. |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2009-07-15 16:14 |
