| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| U.S. troops begin Afghan offensive |
| 2005-08-13 |
| EFL - RTWT U.S. Marines and Afghan troops launched an offensive Saturday to take a remote mountain valley from insurgents tied to the deadliest blow on American forces since the Taliban regime was ousted nearly four years ago. The operation is the biggest yet aimed at rebels believed responsible for twin attacks that killed 19 U.S. troops in June. Three Navy SEALs were killed in an ambush, and all 16 soldiers on a helicopter sent to rescue them died when it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. The offensive came at the end of a deadly week for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Seven Americans have died along with dozens of militants and civilians, reinforcing concerns that crucial legislative elections next month could be threatened by a surge in violence. U.S. and Afghan commanders said militants in the Korengal Valley, in eastern Kunar province near the Pakistani border, were intent on disrupting voting. They said the valley held hundreds of Afghan rebels, as well as extremists from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Chechnya. "We want them running for their lives way up in the hills where they can't attack polling stations," said Capt. John Moshane of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, based in Hawaii. "We want to isolate them from the community." Hundreds of Marines and Afghan special forces troopers started moving into position at one end of the valley Thursday, about 120 miles east of the capital, Kabul. They dug mortar and machine-gun pits for a resupply base in a corn field near Kandagal, a village of about 100 farm families. Reacting quickly, rebels fired rockets at a nearby U.S. post and a troop convoy but did not hit anything. American and Afghan forces hiked into the rugged mountains Friday and Saturday, many leading lines of donkeys laden with food and water. A-10 attack planes circled high above. The operation was expected to last at least two weeks, Moshane said. One of the main objectives is breaking up a network of militants led by a local Taliban officer, Ahmad Shah, also known as Ismail, who claimed responsibility for the June 28 attacks, said Kirimat Tanhah, a commander in the U.S.-trained and financed Afghan Special Forces. Shah is suspected of having ties to al-Qaida militants in Pakistan, he said. "Ismail's men ambushed the SEAL team and shot down the helicopter," Tanhah told The Associated Press. "Many of them are foreigners and have trained in Pakistan and elsewhere." He said Shah also pays impoverished villagers to fight for him. Lt. Col. Jim Donnellan, commander of the Marine battalion, said the valley was a base for lots of other "bad guys" besides Shah, including al-Qaida militants, fighters loyal to renegade former premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and other Taliban groups. Dozens of criminals involved in timber and gem smuggling are there, too, he said. "Some of them are thugs, others are political ideologues, coming in and throwing their money around," Donnellan said. "Many villagers are paid good money to work with the militants." |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #23 I suggested FAE for that valley back in July. I still think so. Tell the "innocent" to get out and sterilize the place for "pour l'encourager les autres." I know that we don't (like to) kill innocents, but did our share in WW II. We were as vicious as we needed to be to defeat the enemy and end the war. My patience is just about exhausted. Who are the innocents? The innocents are the ones who turn the asshats in. Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2005-08-13 23:47 |
| #22 How many children must lose their mothers and fathers? How many children and women must be be enslaved and raped? How much blood, EE5849, does it take to wash clean your deadly and discredited ideology? |
| Posted by: ed 2005-08-13 23:17 |
| #21 I think we have advanced a bit since 'nam. That said, the folks will paint the targets and the fly-boyz will accomodate. No sense killing or maiming the people we are trying to protect, the same folks who will be voting. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-08-13 23:01 |
| #20 Sadly too many. If only we could visualize whirled peas, bunnys and kitties would play in the sunshine and noone would ever ever be mean to one another and all the murderous Islamofascists would peacefully return to the perfection of their calligraphy. And then the brave ADULT men and women of our armed forces would not need to deploy to counter them. You may consider yourself a victim. They do not - they are proud to serve. Alas, regarding that visualization? Whirled peas bear many resemblances to baby puke, unfortunately, and while I'd love to see real and lasting peace I'm not hopeful that it will come anytime soon. We are at the start of a major geopolitical shift. It will take a generation - and those who would retreat into sobby slogans will no more avoid it than those who face it straight on. |
| Posted by: leader of the pack 2005-08-13 22:51 |
| #19 How many more American mothers will have to lose their sons? |
| Posted by: Ebbert Ebbegum5849 2005-08-13 22:34 |
| #18 And a good thing IMO as there will be increasingly controversial real shit coming down over the next few months. Save your ammo, friends and neighbors ... it will be a target-rich environment. |
| Posted by: leader of the pack 2005-08-13 21:07 |
| #17 Welcome back. The hunting's sparcer as the marshall's have been scaring off trolls. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-08-13 21:03 |
| #16 Ahhhh.Rantburg.How I have miised thee! How goes it with my fellow RB'ers.I have missed you all. Offer 3x the going rate to kill or roll over on the bad guys.With a substantial bonus for a dozen or more. |
| Posted by: raptor 2005-08-13 19:32 |
| #15 No idea it just has seemed strange to me that they have filmed a documentary in the area and the overal amount of firepower that seems to be concentrated there. It's obvious that those Seals ran into something they were not expecting. |
| Posted by: BillH 2005-08-13 18:39 |
| #14 you mean OBL or Zawahiri? Gawdddd I wish! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-13 18:12 |
| #13 Could be we're going light on the airstrikes because we think there's a target in the area who's body we'd like to identify. |
| Posted by: BillH 2005-08-13 18:03 |
| #12 OOPS: mistook Old Patriot for Old Spook. Sorry. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-08-13 17:29 |
| #11 OldSpook: A friend of mine in the AF has stated that part of the reason they got rid of napalm is that it was hard to handle, and they got replacements for doing the same task of "bombing an area but having the damage relatively contained, thus minimizing collateral damage." Of course, they want to ban that munition too. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-08-13 17:28 |
| #10 And remember... watch your backs in the corn fields... and when dealing with the local people who live by and off the land... be vewy vewy careful |
| Posted by: Cratle Thromoter2287 2005-08-13 16:52 |
| #9 some locals, and the word can be broadcast easily - get out and now |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-13 16:23 |
| #8 Old Spook discussed the reasons against destroying the whole area not long ago. As I recall, quite a few of the locals are quietly helping us, and we do not deliberately kill innocents. Angry as the situation may (does!!) make us. And he wrote this while, or shortly after, working 24/7 as part of the team supporting the rescue effort over the July 4th weekend. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-08-13 16:09 |
| #7 Add me to the vote for an airstrike. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2005-08-13 16:01 |
| #6 Guys ... sad news on two accounts: Apparently we did away with napalm thanks in part to the Vietnam War protesters and the MOABS - last I read, they were discontinued. |
| Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2005-08-13 15:40 |
| #5 Where's the B-52 filled with napalm canisters? It'd clean out that valley PERMANENTLY, without putting US lives at risk. The do-gooders want to make war so expensive nobody will pursue it. All they do is handicap those who have to fight wars. About the third time some cave complex got hit with napalm, there wouldn't be a cave in Afghanistan inhabited for more than ten minutes at a time. Stupid "antiwar" idiots! You notice they never put THEIR lives on the line trying to get what they want. They should be the first to be put in harm's way, so their silly ideas will be proven most conclusively not to work. It also has the secondary effect of cleaning out the gene pool - something long overdue. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-08-13 15:36 |
| #4 Agreed |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-13 15:33 |
| #3 And remember boys, no prisoners no explanations. |
| Posted by: smn 2005-08-13 15:25 |
| #2 why not "soften" up that valley and teh insurgents with a couple MOABS the brass was always showing off. At least the sale of hearing aids and eye patches might lead to tips on the ones that get away |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-13 15:24 |
| #1 "One of the main objectives is breaking up a network of militants led by a local Taliban officer, Ahmad Shah, also known as Payback time is coming, you assholes! |
| Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2005-08-13 15:18 |