BREAKING: Eight U.S. troops die in attacks in Afghanistan

MSNBC.com ^ | 10-04-09 | NBC News

[montag813]

Eight American soldiers and two Afghans have been killed in an attack on two outposts in remote eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said on Sunday.

A tribal militia launched the attack from a mosque and a nearby village in Nuristan, one of the most dangerous regions of Afghanistan, the U.S. military said in a statement. The Americans and Afghans repelled the attack and "inflicted heavy enemy casualties," the statement said.

In the U.S. statement, Col. Randy George described it as "a complex attack in a difficult area." The Taliban claimed responsibility.

[PhiKapMom]

Thank you for those great comments!

[Dream Warrior]

I am having trouble containing my anger. Prayers up for these brave Americans. How long can we, as a country, put up with this duffus-in-chief?

I keep wanting to wake-up from this nightmare and find that Ronald Reagan is president.

[NormsRevenge]

I keep wanting to wake-up from this nightmare and find that Ronald Reagan is president.

—

In FaiRness, I remember waking up to news of the Beirut truck bomb attack on the building housing US Marines.

No disrespect to Mr. Reagan, but if you wonder why we never went back then hard and heavy and stomped this festering region back into the 6th century which is where far too many seem to want to live anyway.. well..

As President Bush has offered years ago, the war will be long , the battles and losses costly , but if we do not fight them there, we will end up fighting them here.

Some might say we already have them here,, in this Inconvenient ‘Conflict with Global Insurgents’.

[Prospero]

As so many of us are, again, focusing on Afghanistan I was inspired by her remarkable appearance on CSPAN-2, late Sunday morning, to visit the site of Dr. Kimberly Kagan's Institute for the Study of War, and from reading the remarkable and detailed reports from Michael Yon and as anyone can see in schematic at understandingwar.org, the "Tally-Bhan" may well be "quick to take credit," but Mullah Omar has his hands full controlling the night (and collecting taxes on the poppies for his well-paid troops) in the Afghan South.

To the extent that Americans are (or were) deployed in the Afghan West, they are fighting Iran, and not Mullah Omar's "Tally-Bhan."

This is a fact Americans should keep in mind, just as the fact that more Americans were probably KIA in Iraq before the present lull, at the hands of Iranian elements than they were locals.

In the "fog of war," mistaking the AP reports for the ground truth in this battlefield would be very similar to mistaking the Viet Cong for an insurgency instead of the NVA elements that they, in fact, were (until the former were wiped out by the U.S. and the collapse of their Tet offensive in 1968).

We have been at war with Iran since they stormed our embassy in 1979.

[stop_fascism]

Not with this president. We must be sensitive to Islam.

[schu]

Is Obama lazy? (Updated) Rick Moran

He might be lazy.

I think he is more narcissistic with a healthy dose of ADD/ADHD. He cannot focus on anything that does not involve adulation of him. He got a taste of it on the campaign trail and is now addicted.

What it means is that he will punt/delay on those difficult decisions that offer little upside for him like appointments, the war, Iran and others.

schu

[Captain Kirk]

Time to bring the troops home from this bottom-less pit. They should be protecting the United States, not propping up the corrupt, vote-stealing Karzai regime.

[SevenMinusOne]

Troops can and do call in CAS throughout Stan. CAS from reports was used here, eventually. Reality is though in most FOBs, CAS is always going to take time to bring in.

Most people have no clue to the sheer size, ruggedness and scope of this region we are talking about.

ROEs are almost always a problem. In degree, whenever a conflict prolongs itself out in years. Trigger pullers always want more leeway and should be given so (IMPO). At the same time that isn't reality, for a variety of reasons. Some understandable. Some complete BS.

With that said, winning this, in Stan, isn't going to be done with mounting true civ-casualties. COIN & FID Ops (which won An-bar in Iraq and helped speed up our success there throughout) calls at times for our warriors to be more at risk. In the short run. Though in the process you create an atmosphere the is a force-multiplier against the enemy.

FOBs, true FOBs, in this region of Stan are as dangerous a place as you are going to find in the world today. These warriors are out in true Indian country......and I'm sure they gave back ten fold. RIP warriors.

And the notion that we are pulling back from this region I don't agree with at all. Then again, unless Gen. McCrystal gets the needed boots, seems to be the call he is left with. Force numbers need to be adjusted to what the General is asking for. Give him the forces he needs and this General and the warriors he leads will accomplish what is asked of him/them.

[Monkey Face]

And why, pray tell, would we “get out?” That would render the sacrifices of those who gave their lives totally useless. Although my grandson is fighting there for me and you, I suspect he would be ashamed to leave the battle unfinished.

Democracy and freedom are at stake, whether you wish to admit it or not. It’s not about opium or the Russians. If Afghanistan falls, then Iraq will, as well, and all the lives that have been sacrificed will be so much fodder for Iran and Osama...

Look at the larger picture...don’t be blind-sided by the media and your limited views.

[mazda77]

I understand you logic about the Mullahs being at war with us since the Embassy takeover. But as someone who served over there, they were at war with us long before the Embassy takeover and before Khomeni arrived on the scene.

History will divulge more of the back door deals that led to them attaining power in the first place and this country’s hands were in on the deal. The only problem is the deal makers were to greedy and arrogant to understand where they were going.

But for right now we need to focus on squashing that regime as soon as possible and we despirately need to be supporting the green ribbon coalition (not to be confused with the environmentalists) to overthrow the maniacle group before we have to hide our eyes from the flash.

[randomhero97]

WTF does this thread have to do with Ron Paul? He's not the one establishing the ROE.

Once again, since you already hijacked this thread, what nationality were 15 of the 19 Sept 11 hijackers?

[mazda77]

The only reason is to protect the soldiers we have left to fight this thing when it eventually will get over here anyway because of the weak and infantile decision making attributes of the CIC.

I am totally with you on not throwing away the lives already lost but something has to be done to save the ones already there and the only ways are to beat this enemy to the pre-paleontologic age, as they are still in the stone age, or just do what is even more distasteful. Only two choices exist and we as a nation are going to have to make a decision. Grow a pair or start our slide into just another footnote in history.

It is my hope the sheer distastefulness thought of the later will induce us to call upon the courage of our forefathers to do as James Farragut delared on the deck of the Hartford entering Mobile Bay; “Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead!”

I say damn the liberals, lock and load and take no prisoners to read Miranda rights to. Then give the UN the middle finger as we demolish their rat infested building on the river so they can build their own damned building in Tripoli.

[PhiKapMom]

Thanks for the info! You have provided a real insight into what our military are facing. Afghan is so huge and so rugged that when a Commander in the field calls for more troops, it should be a done deal IMO.

[Jackson57]

OBAMA SLEPT, SOLDIERS WEPT!

At least the Obama’s had a nice anniversary ...

[servantboy777]

I have looked at the larger picture.

I've raised money and visited the horribly wounded troops at Brook Army Medical Center.

You know, the troops the government loves to hide.

Our troops have performed beautifully, but under such inept leadership, we will see more of these fine young men and women killed or maimed.

I understand how you feel, but whether we want to admit it or not...there will NEVER be peace in the middle east.

So, do we stay there forever?

If these mussies are not fighting the great satan, their fighting each other. It will not change.

The tribesmen in Afghanistan will not stop, they've been fighting for thousands of years. This is what they do and have done for generations.

Oh, by the way, how long have we been in Iraq? 8 freakin years and counting.

[ohioWfan]

Our troops have performed miracles in Iraq. They have done what naysayers have said could never be done with minimum casualties. They have transformed a brutal dicatorship with tribal loyalties into a nation in an historically brief period of time.

God bless our troops! They have killed the enemy and kept us free from terrorist attack. They are brave and they have volunteered to go back to Iraq to finish the job.

And now they would love to finish the job in Afghanistan as well, but the phony CinC doesn't give a rip as to whether they live or die.

Do we stay there 'forever?' NO. We get a new CinC as courageous as the last one, President Bush, and we WIN THE WAR.

If we cut and run like the cowards want us to do, we will return to the pre 9/11 fiasco that brought us this war in the first place.

Don't be a coward, servantboy.

[Pikachu_Dad]

She looks like she is fixing to cry in that photo.

And could she get any further away from him?

[Monkey Face]

Do you keep up with the progress that’s being made in Iraq? Or are you content to just spread gloom and doom?

[ohioWfan]

Prayers for your grandson, Monkey Face. Thank him for me.

And thank you for your sacrifice as well!

[Monkey Face]

I will pass on your thanks, and I know he will appreciate it, as do I. He is doing what he wants to do, and I couldn’t be prouder!