Posted on 06/14/2006 12:31:19 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Huge anti-Taliban operation under way in Afghanistan
6 minutes ago
Coalition and Afghan forces are conducting their biggest counterinsurgency operation since the Taliban regime fell in late 2001 and are preparing to move into new insurgent strongholds, the coalition announced.
The campaign, named Operation Mountain Thrust, was launched in southern Afghanistan in mid-May, coalition spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Paul Fitzpatrick told AFP. Information about the campaign had been under wraps.
Involving 11,000 coalition troops -- including from Britain, Canada and the United States -- as well as Afghan soldiers, it is the biggest operation against the Taliban since the movement's government was toppled in late 2001.
"We have been conducting Operation Mountain Thrust since mid-May, disrupting the Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, specifically their leadership," Fitzpatrick said on Wednesday.
"We are moving to the next phase of the operation in the northern provinces of southern Afghanistan," he said.
There was no specific date, he said. "There is no grand landing like Normandy Beach. This is part of a continuing campaign."
The operation was timed to coincide with the looming transfer of command in southern Afghanistan from the US-led coalition to NATO's International Security Assistance Force, he said.
It was intended to "set the conditions" for the transfer due in late July or early August, he said.
There was a dramatic upsurge in insurgency-linked violence in southern Afghanistan in mid-May with Taliban fighters taking on the security forces in some of their biggest battles in years.
The security forces in turn launched major strikes. About 400 people, most of the insurgents, were killed in a roughly two-week stretch.
"Why no Frenchies fighting in this operation?"
No white sheets to be found for flag making.
Chesty Puller went pretty far left after he retired from the Marine Corps.
JIC you haven't seen the stuff, hit up the first half dozen or so links on my profile page. They tie to some great stuff "ghost written" by the Zarkman, himself. It's priceless, and I figure anyone actually in-theater would have just that much more appreciation of it.
Maybe you could print it out and give it to your media buddy when you finally have occaion for that little come-to-Jesus meeting.
God bless him and the family. Will he be sent to Walter Reed?
I just heard on the local news that a soldier from my home town (Watsonville, CA) as killed in Afghanistan in the last day or so. I didn't hear the whole story. It said he was a member of an intelligence unit.
May God bless him and accept him into His kingdom, and grant strength and peace to his family.
Come on out and play OBL
LOL. Not to mention that you look nothing like Karen Hughes. Sorry to be long in answering; grandbaby day. When she is here, she gets All my attention. I'm sorry you didn't get to see the Prez. Next time tell them you will clean the toilets or something. Keep your head down.
What is that little deal after my name on that last post? Have I been marked for some nefareous purpose? LOL
Never mind. I figured it out. Somehow my tag got "almost" erased.
Thanks for that. I remember hearing the connection to Ft. Hood. Chances are the soldier's family attends my church. I will try to learn more.
"I demand we withdraw from Afghanistan in 100 days! It is a quagmire. Or was that Iraq? I get them confused. Did I support one of those or both? Did I change my mind?"
A John Effin Kerry quote prediction.
Watsonville soldier dies in Afghanistan
Corpuz killed Sunday during combat operations, say Department of Defense
Army Cpl. Bernard Corpuz of Watsonville was killed Sunday during combat operations in Ghanzi, Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said in a press release Tuesday.
Corpuz, 28, died from wounds sustained when his convoy came under small arms fire and and improvised explosive device detonated during the exchange. He was assigned to the 303rd Military Intelligence Battalion, 504th Brigade, of Ft. Hood, Texas. The unit was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, the military effort launched by the United States in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Including Corpuz, seven Santa Cruz County soldiers have been killed in military campaigns in Afganistan and Iraq. Other casualties include Joseph B. Spence, Morgen Jacobs, Victor Gonzalez, Andres Perez, Kylan Jones-Huffman and Jason Hendrix.
Heads on poles along the border with Pakistan, the rest of the Taliban carcasses ground up for Purina Hog Chow. That's what Afghanistan really needs. :')
There is so much beauty in Iraq. It's an exotic place. There is a lot of barren desert, which is most of what you probably see on TV, but even that has its own beauty. There are date groves and fruit tree orchards and areas of lush green. You can see that central Baghdad was once a very unique and lovely place before all the wars scarred it, but it can come back and some parts are still intact and very nice.
The wetlands to the south that Saddam ruined are coming back now, as is the wildlife that was driven away.
And I have been many places in the world and never seen sunsets as lovely as the ones we see here, particularly in the autumn.
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