| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Coalition doubles IED seizures in Afghanistan |
| 2011-09-06 |
| Insurgents in Afghanistan planted more bombs during the spring and summer than at any time during the war, as direct attacks on coalition troops have ebbed. At the same time the military coalition in Afghanistan has more than doubled its seizures of enemy weapons and is finding a higher number of improvised bombs, or IEDs, before they explode. The latest Pentagon figures on IEDs show that Islamic fascisti planted 4,472 of the bombs from May through July, a 17% increase compared with the same three months in 2010. IEDs are the single largest cause of casualties among U.S. troops. That strategy has led to the killing and captures of hundreds of Taliban leaders in recent months and the leveling off of bully boy-initiated attacks. NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... says assaults on coalition forces dropped 20% in the first half of 2011 over 2010. Of the IEDs planted in May-July, troops found 2,049 of them before they went kaboom!, a 40% increase, according to the Joint IED Defeat Organization. And troops also found 1,548 weapons stashes during that time, a 145% increase. |
| Posted by: |
| #3 Got to hurry off, or I'll miss chow. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-09-06 10:54 |
| #2 #1 So, are we getting better at finding them or are they getting worse at hiding them? Both actually. The technology used, Route Clearance Patrol (RCP) mine rollers, brave EOD teams, full-motion video from UAV's, and other programs have been very successful. There's a method to their madness and IED placement is oftentimes quite predictable. Suicide bombers, not so much. Finding the IED's or suicde bombers are of course a key aspect. Another aspect is identifying and taking out the emplacers and facilitators, the network... which generally terminates in the Madrassas of Quetta or Chaman Pakistan. Losses in leadership and facilitation is where the Taliban has taken some rather severe losses. Detention of suspected Taliban is maddening a sore point I won't go into. For the past few months the TB have been targeting Afghan gov't officials, Afghan Police and Military. They know we're leaving and we're generally 'hard targets' who shoot back with a vengence. Not a particularly brave bunch, they avoid the hard targets. 40lbs of Home Made Explosives (HME) will turn an Afghan Police Ford Ranger into ball of unidentifiable twisted steel and kill the occupants instantly. Their goal now is to intimidate or kill the people who will be taking over after we live. With the help of Pakistan and the usual anti-US suspects, they're doing a pretty smart job of it. Please pray for our young people in uniform. Nothing will change these twisted, tribal bastards. This is the 2nd century BC. We can't get out of this drug smuggling, dung hole fast enough. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-09-06 10:47 |
| #1 So, are we getting better at finding them or are they getting worse at hiding them? If the latter, does it indicate a deterioration in skill and training level? Due to decline in motivation or killing of trainers? On the other hand, the number of IEDs planted has gone up, so there is no damage to the manufacture and delivery system. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2011-09-06 07:45 |