Article

2006-07-02 Afghanistan

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by john 2006-07-02 09:58|| || Front Page|| [11137 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 We are British not Americans, explained the major through an interpreter. We come at the invitation of your government as friends and brothers to help you and find out what you need.

Is the good major really so foolish as to believe that the enemy cares or distinguishes between British and Americans?

Good on the reporter though. Need a few more willing to do what our soldiers do daily.

Posted by 2b 2006-07-02 10:12|| 2006-07-02 10:12|| Front Page Top

#2 nice narrative - well spun quagmire(!) and handwringing, I guess it's a macro by now...."hearts and minds" is used a little too much. This "reporter" seemed to think she was going for a picnic - I doubt the troops really did. Idjit

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2006-07-02 10:13|| 2006-07-02 10:13|| Front Page Top

#3 The Taliban have reorganised, possibly with the help of both the Pakistani military intelligence and Al-Qaeda, to use the sophisticated tactics I experienced first hand in Zumbelay.

Not "possibly".
There is no doubt that the Pakistani ISI have trained and armed these new fighters

This is what retired General Barry McCaffrey said a few days ago:

Taliban now have "excellent weapons" and "new field equipment" -- prized by the equipment-poor ANA -- and "new IED technology and commercial communications," McCaffrey said. "They appear to have received excellent tactical, camouflage and marksmanship training," and "they are very aggressive and smart in their tactics."
McCaffrey didn't mince words about Pakistan's links with Taliban: "Their base areas in Pakistan are secure." Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf hotly denies what is undeniable.

Posted by john 2006-07-02 10:23|| 2006-07-02 10:23|| Front Page Top

#4 Key bits:

Im going to have to review our approach to villages, said Major Blair. Were going to have to go in with far more security. Its very annoying to think we were sitting there offering things and having a laugh and a joke with villagers who knew that five minutes later wed be attacked.

What some have described as military and developmental anarchy may change when Lieutenant-General David Richards, Nato commander in Afghanistan, takes control of the Helmand operation on July 31. On the military front, the general wants more fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and the British government is seeking more military support from its European allies. But General Richards has also been bashing heads together on the need to make some improvements in the lives of the Afghans.

The Taliban have reorganised, possibly with the help of both the Pakistani military intelligence and Al-Qaeda, to use the sophisticated tactics I experienced first hand in Zumbelay. No longer are they just a few dozen ragtag fighters here and there. Now groups often include hundreds of heavily armed men equipped with motorbikes, cars, horses and radios.

Within a few hours of our returning to Camp Price, the Afghan Islamic Press in Peshawar had put out a statement claiming the Taliban had killed seven British soldiers in Zumbelay. Far from losing any men, the brave paras from C company had killed about 20 Taliban. Yet the Ministry of Defence put out nothing.

Posted by trailing wife 2006-07-02 10:23|| 2006-07-02 10:23|| Front Page Top

#5 More from the Arnaud De Borchgrave article
Is The Middle Ages On The Comeback Trail

"In my view," McCaffrey continued, "the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan requires a continuing division-sized U.S. military force with at least six ground combat battalions supported by significant U.S. Army aviation (gunships and transport helicopters), engineers, USAF CAS and C-130/AC-130, civil affairs, military police, reconnaissance, intelligence, logistics, and 155mm and MLRS artillery support."

Also needed, he wrote, is "a continued robust presence of Special Operations Forces for counter-terrorist unilateral action. (These SOCOM Forces are inspiring for their incredible professionalism in stealthy air-ground actions supported by superb intelligence. They are very judicious in their employment of force. They are, in my judgment, the most dangerous people on the face of the earth.)

"We will encounter some very unpleasant surprises in the coming 24 months that will require U.S. fighting forces which can respond rapidly throughout this huge and chaotic country to preserve and nurture the enormous successes of the past five years.

Posted by john 2006-07-02 10:27|| 2006-07-02 10:27|| Front Page Top

#6 And Pakistan needs to be punished, quite severely, for this activity.

Posted by john 2006-07-02 10:29|| 2006-07-02 10:29|| Front Page Top

#7 after 911 Pakiwakiland should have been GLASSED!
No if ands or buts.

Posted by 3dc 2006-07-02 10:37|| 2006-07-02 10:37|| Front Page Top

#8 Based upon this one firefight:

The Paras are Brilliant and Super and Brave.
Justin and I are Very Brave.
I used to run with the mujis against the Russians.
I have been in the Hairy Places Before.
I'm almost an Afghani Muj, In Fact.
I am Way Very Brave.
Selfless, too.
The Taliban are Winning Cuz I Saw Them Lose 20 Men.
The Americans are Shit.
It's all Bush's Fault.
If not for America, Afghanistan would be da bomb.
My son has Blue Eyes.
Did I mention how Brave I am?

Idjit.

Posted by Glaitch Groting9149 2006-07-02 10:39|| 2006-07-02 10:39|| Front Page Top

#9 UK soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Two British soldiers have been killed in southern Afghanistan during operations in Helmand province.

They were killed on Saturday when a rocket-propelled grenade struck one of the defensive posts at the regional headquarters in the town of Sangin.

Both soldiers were serving with the 3rd Para Battlegroup.

Five British soldiers have now been killed in the country in the last three weeks. Most of the 3,300 British troops in Afghanistan are in Helmand.

BBC correspondent in Kabul, Alastair Leithead, said the latest deaths were a "severe blow" to the British military commanders in Afghanistan, who were now considering their options.

He said: "There are lots of heavy discussions gong on at the moment to decide exactly what to do.

"To have such heavy losses in such a short period of time has obviously shaken the military command in southern Afghanistan.

"They knew it would be a very dangerous mission but they never wanted to be quite so exposed in such remote parts of Helmand province so early in their deployment.

Posted by john 2006-07-02 10:51|| 2006-07-02 10:51|| Front Page Top

#10 GG9149, I didn't read her article that way. She was scared shitless, and I would have been too. Her article is a major credit to the Brit soldiers and officers who kept their heads, worked their way through the problem, and got back safe.

Ms. Lamb has a weblog: it's not the usual Leftist idiocy, though she points out all the stoopid mistakes being made in Afghanistan.

Someone has to have a critical eye on the place, and Ms. Lamb seems like a decent one to be there.

Posted by Steve White">Steve White 2006-07-02 10:55|| 2006-07-02 10:55|| Front Page Top

#11 Fine. I'm tempted to duplicate the entire article, plus my comments, to point out where every item came from, but that's a lot of work I'm not much interested in doing. No big deal, actually, but if you don't hear the quagmire and bad Americans (where's that air cover!!!!!) bass-line, I'm not sure what your POV is. I thought her statement that she was an Afghan pro, yet surprised at the poppy industry in Helmand, was rather stupid and telling, but hey, there it is. Anyway, I stand by my selections and we disagree.

Posted by Glaitch Groting9149 2006-07-02 11:05|| 2006-07-02 11:05|| Front Page Top

#12 Does the Sergeant Major have a walrus moustache?

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-07-02 11:07|| 2006-07-02 11:07|| Front Page Top

#13 John: And Pakistan needs to be punished, quite severely, for this activity

amen brother, the whole cesspool needs draining.

Posted by RD 2006-07-02 11:13|| 2006-07-02 11:13|| Front Page Top

#14 Instead, they are being rewarded .. with 5 billion dollars worth of arms.. stuff like JDAMs and BLU-109s . Christ, that was developed to take out hardened buried targets like enemy command and strategic weapon bunkers.

Here is a partial list from the DOD request to the Congress

36 F-16C/D Block 50/52 aircraft with either the F100-PW-229 or F110-GE-129 Increased Performance Engines (IPEs) and APG-68(V)9 radars;
7 spare F100-PW-229 IPE or F110-GE-129 IPE engines;
7 spare APG-68(V)9 radar sets;
36 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems;
36 AN/ARC-238 SINCGARS radios with HAVE QUICK I/II;
36 Conformal Fuel Tanks (pairs);
36 Link-16 Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminals;
36 Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Embedded GPS/Inertial Navigation Systems;
36 APX-113 Advanced Identification Friend or Foe Systems;
36 Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suites without Digital Radio
Frequency Memory (DRFM) or AN/ALQ-184 Electronic Counter Measures pod without DRFM or AN/ALQ-131 Electronic Counter Measures pod without DRFM or AN/ALQ-187 Advanced Self-Protection Integrated Suites without DRFM
AN/ALQ-178 Self-Protection Electronic Warfare Suites without DRFM and
1 Unit Level Trainer
APG-68(V)9 with Synthetic Aperture Radar or APG-66(V)2 radar;
Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems;
AN/APX-113 Advanced Identification Friend or Foe Systems;
AN/ALE-47 Advanced Countermeasures Dispenser Systems;
Have Quick I/II Radios;
Link-16 Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminals;
SNIPER (formerly known as AN/AAQ-33 PANTERA) targeting pod capability;
Reconnaissance pod capability;
Advanced Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation Units;
MDE included in the MLU modification and structural upgrade kits
21 ALQ-131 Block II Electronic Countermeasures Pods without the Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) or ALQ-184 Electronic Countermeasures Pods without DRFM;
60 ALQ-213 Electronic Warfare Management Systems;
1 Unit Level Trainer; and
10 APG-68(V)9 spare radar sets.
500 AIM-120C5 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM);
12 AMRAAM training missiles;
240 LAU-129/A Launchers;
200 AIM-9M-8/9 SIDEWINDER missiles;
500 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Guidance Kits: GBU-31/38 Guided Bomb Unit (GBU) kits; 1,600 Enhanced-GBU-12/24 GBUs;
800 MK-82 500 pound General Purpose (GP) and MK-84 2,000 pound GP bombs; and
700 BLU-109 2,000 pound with FMU-143 Fuze.

Posted by john 2006-07-02 11:22|| 2006-07-02 11:22|| Front Page Top

#15 Good to read you, GG9149.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-07-02 11:23|| 2006-07-02 11:23|| Front Page Top

#16 Whoever decided that Pakistan should be rewarded with this sort of advanced weaponry, whether in State or DoD, needs a swift kick in the backside

Posted by john 2006-07-02 11:25|| 2006-07-02 11:25|| Front Page Top

#17 or worse

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2006-07-02 11:26|| 2006-07-02 11:26|| Front Page Top

#18 And the icing on the cake is that Pakistan will promptly transfer a "sample" of each to China for their militray scientists to study

Posted by john 2006-07-02 11:28|| 2006-07-02 11:28|| Front Page Top

#19 GG9149, from what I've read, every infantryman is always screaming about where the damned air cover is.

Posted by Steve White">Steve White 2006-07-02 11:54|| 2006-07-02 11:54|| Front Page Top

#20 Got that right, Steve! The only time they weren't welcome is when there was a hung rack - and a late drop. Schwarzkopf talked about being on the receiving end of one in Vietnam.

Posted by Glaitch Groting.com 2006-07-02 12:02|| 2006-07-02 12:02|| Front Page Top

#21 Aircover and artillery support are always not enough for you and the enemy has plenty.

Posted by DathVader 2006-07-02 12:06|| 2006-07-02 12:06|| Front Page Top

#22 And what about the Noooooks? We're giving India nuke technology, Pakland should get exactly the same!

/not a failed state neither

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2006-07-02 12:51|| 2006-07-02 12:51|| Front Page Top

#23 India actually has most of the nuke technology it needs. It even has some rather unique thorium cycle technology.

What India wants from the deal is fuel. It is prevented from buying Uranium by NSG cartel rules.

Some claim that the Pak whining is not really about obtaining nuke tech.. they don't really need all that electrical power and their civilian program is quite small.. the purpose may be to convince the US to placate them... like a crying child.. with some treats ... advanced weaponry .. missiles, F-16s etc

Posted by john 2006-07-02 13:06|| 2006-07-02 13:06|| Front Page Top

#24 Wait a moment -- are we giving all those shiny toys to Pakistan, or is the DoD putting in a request to Congress, which in its own sweet time may or may not approve it, and once approved, may get doled out or not... depending on Pakistans' behaviour?

Posted by trailing wife 2006-07-02 13:14|| 2006-07-02 13:14|| Front Page Top

#25 They will be eventually be paid for, one way or the other, by the US taxpayer.

Either as direct US military aid, by funds freed up by US forgiving of Pakistani debt, by funds diverted from earhquake relief, by funds freed up from the Pak treasury by US civilian aid etc.

Posted by john 2006-07-02 13:25|| 2006-07-02 13:25|| Front Page Top

#26 I don't care so much how the things are paid for -- the US budget hides many, many sins -- so much as whether Pakistan will ever actually get the things, and under what circumstances. It seems to me we sold them major weaponry before, then held up delivery for a decade or more, for whatever reason. I have the impression that we even had taken their money, then locked it in escrow. Do I remember correctly, or is senility creeping up on little pink mousey feet? ;-)

Posted by trailing wife 2006-07-02 21:24|| 2006-07-02 21:24|| Front Page Top

#27 A lot of the foreign military sales are actually paid for under a seperate program. So country X buys the hardware while at the same time, Uncle Sam gives country X a big chunk of aid with the understanding that it will be used to buy US hardware only.

The deal should be structured so that there are no rake offs, but there are many creative ways to get around that.

Posted by 11A5S 2006-07-02 21:33|| 2006-07-02 21:33|| Front Page Top

#28 Part of the F-16 order was stopped because of their nuclear program.

The money was held for several years, then refunded in the form of soyabeans, minus storage fees.

Posted by john 2006-07-02 21:44|| 2006-07-02 21:44|| Front Page Top

#29 The Taliban have reorganised, possibly with the help of both the Pakistani military intelligence and Al-Qaeda, to use the sophisticated tactics I experienced first hand in Zumbelay.

First - I'm glad the "Good Guys" lost no one. And - I give this journalist credit for getting out into the field, and reporting from actual personal observations.

But - lady, I gotta' tell you - having been THAT kind of Ranger - when your element walks into a prepared and coordinated ambush, on the enemy's selected terrain, and they are shooting at you from four directions, with an observer positioned on high ground, and they have mortars, RPG's heavy machine guns, and light weapons - and they throw everything they have at an unarmored force caught in the kill zone - and they do thsi for several hours - and the ambushed force takes ZERO casualties....... well, lady, I have to tell you - the ambushing force absolutely SUCKS. This has got to be a description of one of the worst military performances ever recorded. The Taliban couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at arm's length.

Taliban are good as bullet-stoppers - may they be so until the last one drops.

Posted by Lone Ranger 2006-07-02 23:53|| 2006-07-02 23:53|| Front Page Top

00:08 twobyfour
23:58 ed
23:53 Lone Ranger
23:42 CrazyFool
23:40 Steve White
23:35 Barbara Skolaut
23:27 ed
23:12 ed
23:04 Brett
22:56 Theath Sheretle2555
22:52 Sock Puppet of Doom
22:41 as
22:23 Iblis
22:21 Old Patriot
22:18 twobyfour
22:14 SteveS
22:07 anonymous2u
21:48 Swamp Blondie
21:44 Swamp Blondie
21:44 john
21:38 Swamp Blondie
21:33 11A5S
21:30 Swamp Blondie
21:29 Pappy