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| Afghanistan |
| New ROE put into practice by Marines, cross dressing Talibunnies walk away untouched |
| 2009-07-06 |
| CNN) -- Insurgents locked in a standoff with U.S. Marines tricked them by dressing up as women to escape, a task force spokesman said Monday. Women and children had been caught in the standoff between the armed groups, but some of the women were not what they seemed, according to task force spokesman Capt. William Pelletier. After the Marines began taking fire from insurgents in the town of Khan Neshin, in south Afghanistan near the Helmand River, the militants ran into a multiple-room compound, the U.S. military said. Unsure of whether civilians were inside the compound, the Marines had an interpreter talk to the insurgents, said an official who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly. After some time, a number of women and children left the compound, the military official said. The released hostages told the Marines that there were no more civilians inside the compound, Pelletier said. But the Marines held their fire anyway, the official said. About 4 p.m. (7:30 a.m. ET), in the midst of the standoff, another group of women and children emerged from the compound, the official said. The Marines continued to hold their fire and wait out the insurgents, the official said. Finally, a screaming woman emerged from the compound with a bullet wound to her hand, Pelletier said. Then, another group of women came out, covered from head to toe according to custom, he said, with a couple of children in tow. The Marines attended to the wounded woman while the others walked away. When the Marines went into the compound, they discovered that it empty, Pelletier said. That's when they realized the fighters had dressed up as women to escape, he said. "Apparently these were tall, rather broad-shouldered women with hairy feet," Pelletier said. The Marines' restrained approach differs from previous hits on compounds when airstrikes were readily called in, the official said. Under a new tactical directive for forces in Afghanistan, some of which was unclassified Monday, forces must protect civilians soldiers and must be sensitive to Afghan cultural norms regarding women. Pelletier said that during the standoff, "the Marines didn't have any female forces to do any searches, and they weren't going to violate cultural norms by patting down these women." The standoff in the town of Khan Neshin was especially significant because it has been a Taliban stronghold for several years, and the U.S. military reported that the Afghan government regained control of the town Monday. Coalition forces began talks with local leaders several days ago and have moved about 500 Marines into Khan Neshin, a U.S. military news release said. The government takeover of Khan Neshin marks the first time coalition forces have had a sustained presence so far south in the Helmand River valley, the release said. The mission to secure Khan Neshin coincides with "establishing secure conditions" for August elections in Afghanistan, according to the release. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a six U.S. soldiers were killed Monday by two roadside bombs, a representative for NATO forces said. Four were killed in Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Two soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Forces said. |
| Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC |
| #11 Seven? FU$K! Thats seven mothers, seven fathers, seven widows, god knows how many siblings, kids and friends. The numbers of lives affected by one KIA is staggering. One too many to suffer fools as leaders. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-07-06 23:55 |
| #10 Seven Marines were KIA today. If we continue seeing this rate of casualties, Obama will be a one term president. And McChrystal will be turfed chop chop. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2009-07-06 23:12 |
| #9 Two can play that game. Find some burkhas for 6'2" Marines and they're ready for body cavity searches. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-07-06 20:35 |
| #8 How about the US just announces "Any one found near folks waging war on US forces surrenders the cultural sensitivities as far as we are concerned." Let the enemy make the choice and when the left starts up the propaganda machine explain the policy and the choice the enemy made. |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2009-07-06 20:33 |
| #7 Sounds more like the Monty Pithon stoning skit. This would be funny if is was not so true. I trust the Marines will improvise and overcome our senior leadership's lunacies. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-07-06 20:32 |
| #6 Say TW - you think some of Nancy's boys in San Francisco would volunteer to do the subterfuge? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-07-06 19:15 |
| #5 I seem to recall that in Iraq we put each person's finger into a thingy that took a fingerprint and a DNA sample, to build a data base. The Iraqis believed we could do magical technical things with their samples. How much more would ignorant village Afghanis and the equally ignorant Taliban believe us capable of? Make them line up -- beyond gunshot distance of the compound, of course, to protect them from the mean Taliban still holed up there -- give a sample, and write down the names and relationships each gives on a form. Meanwhile the rest of the Marines carry on with what they do so well. The situation would be stressful to those already frightened, and would give the Marines a chance to look for masculine feet and listen for masculine falsetto voices. Not to mention that the illiterate believe that the act of writing things down is very powerful to the illiterate. And for goodness sake, get some Lionesses out to each unit, or put a padded bra and some eyeshadow on two of the slighter, tenor-voiced lance corporals. I realize the Marines are all Eagle Scouts, but surely they could square their consciences with a little subterfuge. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-07-06 19:07 |
| #4 You. Have. Got. To. Be. Fu*king. Kidding. Me. I'm suprised they were able to carry this out. I wouldn't have been able to keep from rolling on the floor laughing my ass off at the stupid, stupid, americans.(1) I wonder how many more american soldiers (not to mention _REAL_ civilians) are going to die because of this. If I were the Tallibunnies I'd be grabing every women and child I could get my hands on - the best body armor in the world. (1) By that I am referring to whoever approved this policy. I do *not* mean the marines who were there. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-07-06 19:04 |
| #3 Come out with your Burkhas up! |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2009-07-06 18:15 |
| #2 We need more women Marines in the mix to search the Talib 'wimmin' carefully. And to kick the Talib nancy-boys around. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-07-06 18:12 |
| #1 Despicable. Obama expects US servicemen to die in order to pander to Taliban "cultural norms". |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2009-07-06 17:54 |