Comments of the ground war in Afghanistan from a Special Forces Ground Pounder

Myself | December 15, 2003 | 2banana

[Fee]

Thank you for the post. As DoD worker, we do not get such insight, and forget about the media/official channels. Only on the FR we get such insights. Again, thanks.

[Steel Wolf]

Sounds about right.

[sneakers]

bump

[joesnuffy]

Nice dose of reality from where the metal meets the meat...

[Terriergal]

4. Afghan national army officers are corrupt. Most will sell out their men in a heartbeat for cash. We eventually gave up and led Afghan soldier ourselves (with pretty good results).

Oh gosh, that's just heartbreaking to contemplate what the Afghani grunts must have been dealing with prior to our arrival.

[ExSoldier]

I just sent this to two of my buddies, one is a currently serving SpecOps 05 (Lieutenant Colonel) and the other is a recently retired SpecOps 05. I'll tell you what they say.

[RicocheT]

Great comment on Afghan and mid-east building skills:

"9. The place is biblical. Anything you can make out of mud and sticks is here (houses, ovens, sewers, stables, roads, walls, wells, etc.). Which is funny since they have about half of the world's rocks there. They should take a trip to Ireland and learn some masonry skills."

How come all the good stuff was built 2000 BC to 500 AD and now is only knee-high ruins? Guess constant war and theft is not conducive to good building.

[2banana]

Would be interested to hear.

[razorback-bert]

The place is biblical. Anything you can make out of mud and sticks is here (houses, ovens, sewers, stables, roads, walls, wells, etc.). Which is funny since they have about half of the world's rocks there. They should take a trip to Ireland and learn some masonry skills.

ping

[razorback-bert]

Cleaning a weapon is done once every 6 months whether the weapon needs it or not. The right sized rock will fix any malfunction.

LOL

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Would like to hear what they have to say!

[Chapita]

Most of what I read holds true for every third world nation I've been in!

Natural born Democrats!

[KantianBurke]

5. I have had more than a few operations to get bad guys canceled at last minute for "political reasons" for short term gain. Excuses like "That area has been pacified and it would look bad if a shoot-out occurred there" were often given. How about looking bad when these same terrorists plan, train and carry out operations that kill American soldiers? It really reminded me of the Vietnam stories I had read about where higher level officers wanted only the "good" news for a bullet in their OER. Highers are also deathly afraid of any civilian casualties when going after bad guys. I have had air support canceled because a known terrorist might have his family with him in a compound. By the time you get the Afghan militia in place, word has gotten out and the bad guys are gone. This is a sure way to lose a war. Of course, we eventually stopped telling higher what we were doing and just went out to get bad guys on "visiting orphanages and handing out school supplies" missions.

10. Equipment is getting old/worn out (especially HUMVEES) and hard to get. Sometimes I think they we are trying to conduct the war "on the cheap."

If true, this is outrageous. Thought that Bush was giving his commanders the leeway to conduct their operations instead of phoning in as was done during the Johnson administration! And there is absoluetly no excuse for a war on the cheap. Granny should NOT be getting free pills while our solidiers make do with inferior equipment. The Bush folks better alter this BS.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Great post, 2banana. Thank you for your service.
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The Good:

1. Most of the people are on the side of the coalition/Karzai government and hate the way the Taliban ran Afghanistan....

The Bad:

5. I have had more than a few operations to get bad guys canceled at last minute for "political reasons".... I have had air support canceled because a known terrorist might have his family with him in a compound... Of course, we eventually stopped telling higher what we were doing and just went out to get bad guys on "visiting orphanages and handing out school supplies" missions.

The Ugly:

2. The Taliban were extremely brutal. I have seen more than enough mass graves.

The Funny:

2. Afghans can not shoot for sh*t.

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First-hand Freeper account of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan.

The Afghan Army is doing well under U.S. leadership / training after corrupt Afghan officers were let go....they are teachable.
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Thanks for the ping, Ernest!

[My2Cents]

God bless our forces in Afghanistan. We have not forgotten you!

[ArGee]

How come all the good stuff was built 2000 BC to 500 AD and now is only knee-high ruins?

Rise of Islam?

Not sure if the date is right or not?

Shalom.

[AppyPappy]

They are "teachable" but not "learnable". I talked to someone who worked with them and said they don't understand the concept of "loyalty". They will basically follow anyone who appears to be leading. Then, shoot them in the back if someone else tells them to do it.

It's much like the mafia.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

They are "teachable" but not "learnable". I talked to someone who worked with them and said they don't understand the concept of "loyalty". They will basically follow anyone who appears to be leading. Then, shoot them in the back if someone else tells them to do it.

Now that is scary!

Does that mean we have to convert them to Christianity?

[MissAmericanPie]

Thank you for telling it like it really is. It's hard to get past the bull feathers thrown in the air by the news media and the government.

I don't even have the words to express to you our gratitude for your service to us, your fellow countrymen. If someone isn't treating you boys right I think you can count on Freepers to raise a stink about it. I have the fastest dialing finger in the west and a whole list of politician type phone numbers.

Is there anything we can do, or that you need? Please don't hesitate to shout it out.