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| Afghanistan |
| Marines, Taliban battle in Afghanistan poppy fields |
| 2008-05-03 |
| U.S. Marines called in reinforcements Friday after meeting fierce resistance from the Taliban in the poppy fields of southern Afghanistan. Two dozen Marines arrived here from the military base at Kandahar Air Field to join hundreds already engaged in an offensive here in southern Helmand Province, a center of opium production and sanctuary for Taliban insurgents. Infantrymen from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit came under intense fire from rockets and rifles Friday, the fourth day of their mission in Helmand. Taliban leaders ordered their fighters to defend the ground at all costs, according to information intercepted by the Marines. Behind the Taliban's resolve: The Marine Operation Azada Wosa – "Stay Free" in the local Pashto language – threatens to disrupt the Taliban's lucrative trade in opium, says Maj. Tom Clinton Jr., executive officer of the Marines' infantry battalion. "We're sitting on their money," Clinton said at this military base near Garmsir, a Helmand market town seized earlier this week by the Marines. "If they don't have money, they can't buy weapons." Despite the intense fighting, the Marines had suffered no serious casualties by Friday evening. But they believe they have killed dozens of Taliban fighters. The expeditionary unit's 2,400 Marines arrived in Afghanistan from Camp Lejuene, N.C., several weeks ago to bolster a 40-nation NATO force struggling to contain a resurgent Taliban. Driven from power in Afghanistan by U.S.-led forces in 2001, the Taliban regrouped across the border in Pakistan and now are threatening the pro-U.S. Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai. Operation Azada Wosa, the Marines' first mission since arriving, is designed to clear the Taliban out of southern Helmand, where they have operated with impunity for more than a year, and to cut off their escape routes to Pakistan. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #13 He makes sinse, even drunk it's understandable. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-05-03 18:55 |
| #12 After reading that,Mendiola makes complete sense. |
| Posted by: Slappy 2008-05-03 16:08 |
| #11 no! reeeaaaaalllly? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-05-03 15:42 |
| #10 yeah they are islamist all the way but i thiought it was ahgainst islam too do the dope which slot do/ you cut into someones mo ey thwn you know uoi hurt them and by the spewlling yes i m drunk |
| Posted by: sinse 2008-05-03 15:34 |
| #9 I have never been to Afghanistan, so I am ignorant of all the intricacies of their existance. But it seems to me that we are trying to do a social transformation of a tribal society ages old. What do we really want in Afghanistan? We want a place that will not allow outfits like al Q to set up shop and be a terrorist base. I am not real keen on the social transformation thing. They are tribal to the max, their loyalties are to the tribe and or bakseesh, and they will shift loyalties to meet their ends. They have enough Islamic glue to hold this tribal society together. So we are taking on a huge expensive project when we are trying to transform them to something of our image. Being a westerner, I would look at the problem and come up with a number of solutions, then I would look at the cost/benefit ratio, and this would have to include the human cost, too. It would seem to me that you go for the leaders, the financiers, and the source of the funds, in some combination thereof. Being tribal, they understand and RESPECT power. So you do the kinetic thing to get their attention. That includes the Pak frontier areas. Remember that they have little use for the PAK/Afghanistan border. They get the message: don't f*ck with us. We are more brutal than G. Khan if you pi$$ us off. Then you deal with the tribes in a bargaining, business-like manner. Chasing around after Taliban without destroying the source is attritting yourself. They have, say 20K males a year they can throw at us without getting hurt. We need to quit fighting the symptoms and go for the source of the disease. Our Marines are second to none. Let's put them where they can do the most strategic good. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-05-03 15:11 |
| #8 well if the ones growing poippy are under taliban control and put up resistance then kill them too. they are no beter than the taliban or al queda |
| Posted by: sinse 2008-05-03 12:59 |
| #7 Bad link - try this this. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-05-03 09:43 |
| #6 If we can pay these folks farm subsidies, I'm sure we can compensate almost all the local folk in Afghanistan to start planting crap for bio-fuel today lowering the local price of gas for them at the same time. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-05-03 09:41 |
| #5 economics will prevail locally, opium econ does not favor the farmer it favors the systems distribution elements, that convey it through its channels. Poppy fields could be eradicated by adapting UAV with sprayers working 24/7. Next idle the fields but pay the farmers double, and also engage the farmers with some infrastructure project during the down year, so their incomes go up.Taliban initimidation must be stalked by the locals just like the awakening in Iraq. Replace opium with another cash crop in 3rd year. |
| Posted by: Thraviper Panda2099 2008-05-03 09:00 |
| #4 Let's hope that smarter brains than ours can come up with a solution. Thanks but I will assess the smarts of my own brain for myself. I am not betting against the USMC. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2008-05-03 07:40 |
| #3 Welcome to Afghanistan. Killing the poppies is like killing corn in Iowa (circa 1850). Hard to do, and everyone will hate you. Plus, the rural folk live the Taliban philosophy. They drop their AKs and pick up a razor once in a while to tend their fields, but they're still just militant illiterates, looking out for their own. Even if the farmers are compensated, their families become targets of the Taliban. Iraq-style COIN doesn't translate well. Let's hope that smarter brains than ours can come up with a solution. |
| Posted by: Vanc 2008-05-03 04:24 |
| #2 Better, this is Afghanistan's version of the hunt for Pablo Escobar - take out the opium production and the Taliban/Al-Q/Jihadi Inc's funding dries up; and all that the thugs are left with is some vig from black market gasoline and small time smuggling. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2008-05-03 03:24 |
| #1 Is this Afghanistan's version of flypaper? |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-05-03 01:42 |