Lamh Foistenach Abu!
Posted on 12/23/2009 5:35:16 PM PST by jazusamo
NOW ZAD, Afghanistan I Signs of rebirth are growing in this former Taliban stronghold in Helmand province just days after U.S. Marines stormed it in a ground-and-airborne assault that caught its Taliban occupiers by surprise.
In the once deserted bazaar area in the western portion of town, hundreds of men from nearby villages defy Taliban threats and clear debris from fighting in exchange for pay from U.S. troops.
In the district center next to the main U.S. military base, more than 100 children attend ad hoc classes in reading and writing. The classes, initially started by Afghan-American interpreters working with the Marines, are now conducted by four local Afghans who have completed high school.
Next door, U.S. Navy corpsmen tend to a steady stream of villagers who have been without medical care for years.
"It's good to see," said Lt. Col. Martin Wetterauer, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines in Now Zad, about the new activity. "It gives hope to the local populace that they can return to their homes one day, and it gives hope to the Marines. These young [Marines] need to see the good being done by them being here."
Now Zad is in northwestern Helmand, about 50 miles from the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. It was a main Taliban command-and-control and supply center for the northern and central part of the province as well as for nearby portions of Farah province. In early December, however, 1,000 Marines and 150 Afghan soldiers staged Operation "Cobra's Anger," which broke the stalemate that had existed here since 2006.
"We came at them in a different way," Col. Wetterauer explained.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Ping!
Exactly! The enemedia is not about to cover anything positive in Afghanistan.
Lamh Foistenach Abu!
Our warriors are the best.
Nation Building, pissing money down a rat hole.
God Bless the Marines, God Bless the 3/4, and God Bless and keep safe my son who is in the 3/4 Weapons Company.
Pray for our country, I want my son to come home to some place he can be proud of.
Let’s hope for the sake of us and our soldiers that the Now Zad community won’t need propping up in the future.
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