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| Afghanistan |
| U.S. Marines launch assault in S.Afghan valley |
| 2009-07-02 |
| LOWER HELMAND RIVER VALLEY, AFGHANISTAN (Reuters) – U.S. Marines launched a helicopter assault early on Thursday in the lower Helmand river valley in southern Afghanistan, spokesman Capt. Bill Pelletier said. A Reuters correspondent in the valley saw flares in the sky over the town of Nawa, south of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. Nearly 4,000 Marines and U.S. sailors are taking part in the assault, code-named Operation Khanjar (Strike of the Sword), along with about 650 Afghan troops and police, a Marines press statement said. "What makes Operation Khanjar different from those that have occurred before is the massive size of the force introduced, the speed at which it will insert and the fact that where we go we will stay, and where we stay, we will hold ..." it quoted Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, commanding officer of the Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, as saying. The valley of irrigated wheat and opium fields along the Helmand river is largely in the hands of Taliban fighters who have resisted British-led NATO forces for years. The United States has sent 8,500 Marines to Helmand province in the last two months, the largest wave of a massive buildup of forces that will see the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan rise from 32,000 at the beginning of this year to 68,000 by year's end. President Barack Obama has declared the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan to be the main security threat facing the United States. Helmand province is one of the Taliban's main heartlands in southern Afghanistan and produces the largest share of the country's opium crop which supplies 90 percent of the world's heroin. Attacks by Taliban fighters are at their highest levels since the strict Islamists were driven out of Kabul by U.S.-backed Afghan opponents in 2001 after refusing to turn over Osama bin Laden in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States. U.S. and NATO commanders have said they intend to deploy American reinforcements to seize Taliban-held territory in the south in time for Afghanistan to hold a presidential election on August 20. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #9 Are the Marines operating under the new ROE here, or are there special tougher ROE in force for such an operation? If it's the former then the Taliban could just hide behind |
| Posted by: Crinelet Thegum2264 2009-07-02 12:52 |
| #8 Saw in the paper this a.m. that Gen. Nicholson said the marines were going to build and live in small outposts among the local population. He said: "We're going to be with the people. We're not going to drive to work. We're going to walk to work." O.K. to try to win the "hearts and minds" but such policies may lead to more kidnappings. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-07-02 10:36 |
| #7 I wonder if this is a repeat of the episode in Iraq when a Lebanese immigrant US soldier essentially defected and went back to Lebanon. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-07-02 10:08 |
| #6 Fox just reported he's "been missing for 3 days" and was "outside the wire with three indig." Bad smell to it, very bad. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-07-02 10:04 |
| #5 If he is still alive then probably in Pakistan by now. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-07-02 09:51 |
| #4 US: American soldier captured in Afghanistan Insurgents have captured an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Thursday. Spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said the soldier went missing Tuesday. "We are using all of our resources to find him and provide for his safe return," Mathias said. Mathias did not provide details on the soldier, the location where he was captured or the circumstances. "We are not providing further details to protect the soldier's well-being," she said. An Afghan police official said the soldier went missing during the day Tuesday in the Mullakheil area of eastern Paktika province. Gen. Nabi Mullakheil said there is an American base in the area. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-07-02 09:49 |
| #3 There has bot to be a story behind this one Frank, and I fear not a very good one. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-07-02 09:46 |
| #2 word on Fox was that the Talibs have grabbed a US soldier. My prayers taht he gets out whole and alive and the turbans eat painful death |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-07-02 09:41 |
| #1 Basra Part Deux Thousands of British forces, fighting under NATO command, have been in Helmand since 2006 with broadly the same strategy, but security has deteriorated. They have met with stronger resistance than initially expected against Taliban fighters bankrolled by the vast opium and heroin trade. |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2009-07-02 03:47 |