Exclusive: Inside the U.S. Fight to Save Ghazni From the Taliban

Time ^ | August 23, 2018 | W.J. Hennigan

[Zhang Fei]

For the men of ODA 1333 and their detachment of around 100 U.S. soldiers and Afghan commandos, the orders sounded straightforward: help secure two Afghan helicopters downed by the Taliban near Ghazni. They knew they would have to take the long way around, because the Taliban had buried so many land mines along the direct road leading into Ghazni that it was impassable. What was usually a 60-mile trip westward from Paktia province would instead cover 160 miles of terrain. The troops loaded up their weapons and clambered aboard hulking RG-33 and M-ATV armored vehicles, which rumbled into the night toward Highway 1, an ancient 300-mile two-lane road that serves as the main artery linking the seat of government in Kabul to Kandahar.

The Taliban knew the Americans were coming and where they were coming from—there was only one way in. So the militants lay in wait, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47s.

The soldiers of ODA 1333 would never reach the downed helicopters. Instead, they spent the next five days fighting hundreds of Taliban fighters in an endless series of running battles that debilitated vehicles and maimed members of their unit. “I’ve never seen that many [rocket-propelled grenades] in my career,” says the team’s sergeant, who, like others, spoke to TIME on the condition of anonymity.

In the face of recurring attacks, ODA 1333 and their attached units weren’t able to breach the city until some 17 hours later. The soldiers moved to a small makeshift outpost on Ghazni’s outskirts, where U.S. Special Forces teams had been based before the 2014 troop drawdown. Even there, they could find no refuge. Within 25 minutes of arriving, a mortar round arched over the perimeter and crashed through the back wall of a plywood structure where two Afghan soldiers were bedding

[Zhang Fei]

Fairly intense account of the battle over Ghazni, Afghanistan, when the Taliban met the Afghan security forces and their Green Beret advisors in stand-up battle instead of hitting and running, the Taliban's typical SOP in the face of overwhelming American firepower. Because the Taliban had the advantage of surprise, they inflicted significant casualties at the beginning. But once on-call air power made its appearance, the tide began to turn.

[LeoWindhorse]

Mass and concentrated use of FAEs

Turn the Talibs into crispy critters wherever we know they are.

Collateral damage? Sin loi VC

[LeoWindhorse]

Mass and concentrated use of FAEs

Turn the Talibs into crispy critters wherever we know they are.

Collateral damage? Sin loi VC

[Zhang Fei]

[Mass and concentrated use of FAEs

Turn the Talibs into crispy critters wherever we know they are.

Collateral damage? Sin loi VC]

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It wasn’t masses of asses charging across an open field. The Taliban were fighting in a city and maneuvering, but not leaving the city proper, like they were looking to hold it at all costs. FAE’s would have destroyed a huge amount of infrastructure along with the civilians trying to dodge the ordnance zipping overhead.

[Alas Babylon!]

So here we are, fighting Vietnam war style, by trying to take a city that we once had, but gave up.

That’s the worst kind of war. Once we take it, we should never allow the enemy back in.

If this is the way we’re going to fight, I’d rather we just left. They’ll take it all back, but at least none of our boys have to die to take it back (again!) from the back takers.

[Zhang Fei]

[So here we are, fighting Vietnam war style, by trying to take a city that we once had, but gave up.]

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The city was never given up. This was a Tet Offensive type attack, mounted by the Taliban, probably as a test case, to see if they could take and hold a provincial capital for an extended period. A thousand Taliban with mortars, heavy machine guns, RPG’s and both weapons and ammo cached over time locally could probably take and hold any city of 200,000 in the US for days, if not weeks. No police department could stand up to that kind of firepower. But taking the city back from the Taliban would just be a matter of time, as superior resources and firepower made their weight felt.

[LeoWindhorse]

They completely infest the remote values of Kunar and a dozen other provinces .

Smoke um !

[LeoWindhorse]

God damned auto spell checker correctors ! VALLEYS !

[2banana]

To secure two down helicopters...

Why wouldn’t this be an air assault mission instead of a 160 mile trek through Indian territory?

[Zhang Fei]

[To secure two down helicopters...

Why wouldn’t this be an air assault mission instead of a 160 mile trek through Indian territory?]

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Because of all the RPG’s waiting for the choppers at all likely LZ’s? This was obviously an ambush setup, but they couldn’t just leave the men at the downed choppers hanging. So they edged forward in MRAP’s, with air cover helping to keep Taliban heads down.

[Rebelbase]

“An average of seven Afghan adults and two children were killed every day in the first six months of this year”

Sounds like a weekend night in Chicago.

[Rebelbase]

Trump's face stenciled on the left truck. Some libs are going to have conniption fits.

[Zhang Fei]

[“An average of seven Afghan adults and two children were killed every day in the first six months of this year”

Sounds like a weekend night in Chicago.]

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These are tiny numbers. During the Soviet Afghan War, a middle-of-the-road estimate is that 1m civilians were killed in ~10 years. That’s just under 300 civilians a day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Afghan_War

[Alas Babylon!]

Are you sure?

Your posted article says:

“The soldiers moved to a small makeshift outpost on Ghazni’s outskirts, where U.S. Special Forces teams had been based before the 2014 troop drawdown.”

Seems like we left 5 years ago...

[Zhang Fei]

[Are you sure?

Your posted article says:

“The soldiers moved to a small makeshift outpost on Ghazni’s outskirts, where U.S. Special Forces teams had been based before the 2014 troop drawdown.”

Seems like we left 5 years ago...]

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This random outpost wasn’t in Ghazni. The Green Berets emerged from Ghazni to mount an operation to rescue survivors from a chopper crash. Ghazni is a provincial capital. None of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals has ever been Taliban-held - the Taliban has repeatedly raided and been driven out.

[Zhang Fei]

[Your posted article says:]

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What’s posted isn’t an article. It’s a tiny excerpt, for copyright reasons. Jim Robinson was sued and spent a tidy sum preventing this site from being shut down.

[Alas Babylon!]

OK, come on now, dude, you know what I meant.

Your posted excerpt, ok? No need to get all uptight and snarky.

I’ve been here for 21 years. I know the rules...