Please Freepmail me to be added to the Ollie North ping list.
Posted on 08/28/2008 9:04:38 PM PDT by jazusamo
HERAT, Afghanistan -- A Taliban sentry fired the first shots shortly after 2:30 a.m. as Afghan commandos and U.S. Special Operations Command troops surrounded the compound at Aziz Abad. Though the Marine Special Operations Team had employed a daring deception to achieve surprise, they were engaged heavily by gunfire from AK-47s and machine guns almost immediately after deploying at the objective.
For the next 2 1/2 hours, the 207th Afghan Commandos and their U.S. Army and Marine counterparts were in a running gunfight with heavily armed Taliban fighters inside the walled compound. When enemy combatants on rooftops and in narrow alleyways could not be dislodged by fire from U.S. and Afghan troops on the ground, they were hit by supporting fire from manned and unmanned aircraft overhead.
By dawn Aug. 22, it appeared that the commandos and their American advisers had achieved a stunning success. Credible information received after a "Shura" -- a town meeting with local tribal leaders -- had revealed the timing and location of a Taliban gathering. The intelligence was confirmed painstakingly, and U.S. Special Operations Command officers sat down with their Afghan commando counterparts to carefully plan a "capture-kill mission" with the goal of taking several key Taliban leaders into custody. Fox News cameraman Chris Jackson and I accompanied the raid force.
To us -- and the U.S. and Afghan troops we were covering -- it appeared as if they were victorious. Though one U.S. Marine had been wounded in the fray, a senior Taliban leader and 25 of his fighters were dead. A major Taliban arms cache was located and destroyed. Weapons, ammunition, communications equipment, materials for making improvised explosive devices, and thousands of dollars in cash had been confiscated.
As the commandos withdrew from the objective shortly after sunrise, they gently treated and evacuated a woman and her child who had been wounded in the crossfire. Our Fox News cameras had captured the battle on videotape -- including the careful treatment of noncombatants. Unfortunately, the good news quickly turned bad.
While we were en route back to the base from which the raid had been launched, the U.S. ground force commander received a report over the radio that pro-Taliban agitators already were asserting that "the Americans (had) killed 30 civilians." The claims and alleged number of civilian casualties quickly escalated.
Shortly after noon Aug. 22, Iranian television reported, "A U.S. airstrike south of Herat in western Afghanistan has killed more than 50 innocent civilians, including women and children." To counter these reports, U.S. aircraft transported Afghan and foreign reporters to the special operations base so that they could see the confiscated weapons and other evidence for themselves. It didn't help.
That evening, as we filed our full story with videotape of the raid and an interview with a U.S. special forces officer, unnamed "sources" at the Ministry of the Interior in Kabul were telling reporters that 76 civilians had been killed. Little or no attention was paid to the Taliban arms or equipment that had been destroyed at the objective or to the care provided to the wounded woman and her child.
By the morning of Aug. 23, little more than 24 hours after the operation, the international press wires and mainstream news outlets were carrying photos of damaged buildings, and an Afghan human rights organization was charging that 88 civilians -- among them 20 women and 50 children -- had been killed by U.S. forces. Later in the day, President Hamid Karzai first called for an investigation -- and then denounced the operation. Though only about 15 new graves were evident in nearby cemeteries -- and no local civilians had sought medical treatment for wounds -- the number of noncombatant casualties allegedly inflicted in the raid continued to rise.
On Aug. 24, with several investigations under way but not yet complete, the commando battalion commander was "suspended." That evening, in a report on Fox News, I noted that neither cameraman Chris Jackson nor I had seen any noncombatants killed and that "the Taliban and their supporters are running a very effective propaganda campaign to discredit coalition efforts. Exaggerated claims of damage often result in demands for more money in compensation."
The next day, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan concluded that 90 civilians had been killed during the raid at Aziz Abad. Then, as we were departing for Herat, we were informed that the government in Kabul was offering $200,000 to settle the claims and was planning new restrictions on Special Operations Command missions.
Let's hope that won't be the end of this story. U.S. commanders here are appealing to the Karzai government to look at the evidence -- including our videotape -- and to continue to support intelligence-driven operations against the Taliban. Brig. Gen. Khair Mohammad, chief of staff of the 207th Corps, Western Military Region, told me: "We need to have America's help to win this fight. Your enemy is our enemy."
He's right. The sooner officials in Kabul realize it the sooner this war will be won.
Please Freepmail me to be added to the Ollie North ping list.
Hard to win a war when the media in your country support the enemy.
.
Once soldiers ...and young,
...They are still soldiers
http://www.ArmchairGeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66978
.
Thanks for the ping jaz. I just finished reading it.
What’s head spinning to me is that the Moozies use of propaganda such as described in the article is common, and historical. It’s been SOP for the moozies forever no matter where they are involved. Israel, Phillipines, Iraq, Afghanistan etc., so why would anybody lend creedance to their claims?
There’s an old fable about the boy whom cried Wolf.
You bet it is and Ollie North has always reported it straight, Karzai and his people better get their heads on right.
Bump to that, Ronnie.
Thanks for posting this.
I’m glad that Col. North was there to report what really happened.
The media is the enemy.
It seems as al Qaeda has been beaten and has been exiting Iraq for the most part this type thing in Afghanistan is on the increase, it’s got to be turned around.
Excellant post.
They wouldn't have any success without a willing and compliant media.
Let's say a 50/50 split was between local poppy dope money and MY taxes. WTF?
Maybe a couple of B-52 sweeps along the Tribal Area/Afghanistan border would quiet things down a bit - and demonstrate to Karzai and Co. and the warlords that things could be worse...much worse.
I'm getting sick of our guys bleeding for this ungrateful bunch.
“It seems as al Qaeda has been beaten and has been exiting Iraq....”
Yes, In an article Al Queda announced earlier this year if they didn’t do better in (can’t remember where in Iraq they said) a specific locale in Iraq that they were going to toss in the towel so-to-speak, and concentrate their efforts in Afghanistan. They are apparently keeping to their word.
My point in this though is that their lies about civilian casualties as propaganda is overplayed, and shouldn’t by now be met with little more than raised eyebrows. They have cried Wolf so much, and everybody knows it.
I hear you and what you say just might get their attention, if it didn’t maybe we should increase to ten sweeps.
Agreed, but for once it appears that the US media was not involved in the exagerated claims of civilian casualities....it was Iranian TV, an Afghan human-rights organization and elements in the Karzai Government.
Be interesting to see what ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN make of this... if they bother. Of course Obama's coronation is much more newsworthy - they have forgotten Iraq and Afghanistan.
Agreed...I don’t know if these payoffs are called solatia in Afghanistan like they are in Iraq but it’s the same thing and this is basically what it’s about along with turning a segment of our people against the war.
.
NEVER FORGET
.
CLARITY =
Why did WALTER CRONKITE sell out the armed forces in vietnam?
http://www.ArmchairGeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66823
.
NEVER FORGET
.
The Wash. Post ran the whole UN propaganda spiel about civilian casualties.
We have met the enemy and he is the American mainstream media.
None dare call it treason.
Madmax, Vietnam correspondent, on our side
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.