Posted on 09/09/2009 5:34:13 AM PDT by tcrlaf
GANJGAL, Afghanistan — We walked into a trap, a killing zone of relentless gunfire and rocket barrages from Afghan insurgents hidden in the mountainsides and in a fortress-like village where women and children were replenishing their ammunition.
"We will do to you what we did to the Russians," the insurgent's leader boasted over the radio, referring to the failure of Soviet troops to capture Ganjgal during the 1979-89 Soviet occupation.
Dashing from boulder to boulder, diving into trenches and ducking behind stone walls as the insurgents maneuvered to outflank us, we waited more than an hour for U.S. helicopters to arrive, despite earlier assurances that air cover would be five minutes away.
U.S. commanders, citing new rules to avoid civilian casualties, rejected repeated calls to unleash artillery rounds at attackers dug into the slopes and tree lines — despite being told repeatedly that they weren't near the village.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcclatchydc.com ...
Well, I guess we are not fighting the war on terror any more so this is a “man caused disaster”. And I think we all can figure out who the man is that caused this disaster.
I am outraged! Shades of Vietnam and Somalia. God please give us the strength to not let it happen again.
Training near Bridgeport, CA; the US Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center.
This was posted last night and at the link you can find some links to the Senate Armed Services Committee. I am urging my fellow FReepers to please call them this morning and tell them that Obama’s ‘new rules of engagement’ are not acceptable in no uncertain terms. We have to stand up for our soldiers or it is only going to get worse. Tell them about this news report and let them know you are angry!
PLEASE CALL!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2335142/posts
http://armed-services.senate.gov/
Then call your Congresscritters!
Exactly. The same congressmen that clamoured over “concern” for our soldiers, Levin, Dorgan, etc, are now SILENT.
“...out of sight, out of mind since Obamassiah came into power?”
Yes, of course. 0bama isn’t trying to conquer the Taliban, he’s busy trying to conquer the United States.
In trouble deep are we.
This is horrifying. I was just thinking about Afghanistan last night because I had seen a tiny mention somewhere in the press of recent US deaths there. Believe me, it wasn’t on the front page the way it used to be with Bush. They’re trying not to report it.
But the secret is that Obama actually doesn’t want us to win there. He can’t come out and say this quite yet, but he is going to impose policies that will result in a huge loss of life to our troops (and to Afghanis, in the long run) and will guarantee our defeat there. And yet the press says nothing.
If there had NOT been a McClatchy embedded “jouranalist” this never would have made print.
I would guess the only reason this made print is because this so called journalist is livid that he almost lost his life and will be blaming anybody but Obama.
In Desert Storm the pilots had to visually identify aerial targets before they could fire. That negated our advantage in Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile technology. I don't believe it cost any US lives, though.
I had friends who were Marines in Beirut and they told me that they watched a guy set up a mortar on a hill near the base, but weren't allowed to fire on him until he actually fired the first round. They couldn't call in air strikes or use artillary, they couldn't use a more powerful weapon than the the enemy.
If I were king the ground troops would pull back when they met heavy resistance and BUFs would carpet bomb the area before the troops went back in. Any ground operation would have helo and close air support.
Yep. Given the rules of engagement etc, it is senseless.
“In trouble deep are we.”
I have feared for some time that we are - as a nation - going to go down in flames, and soon, unless we can pray and have a miracle delivered. I’m hoping this Judge Carter thing will find a loophole that will rescind this election and his career.
Hey, dream big, I always say...
The key problem to this line of thinking, besides our sad excuse for a POTUS, is the smarter-than-thou mass media who will NEVER, EVER allow the US military to execute a strategy like that. They would and will do absolutely everything in their power to erode public support of a non-victimized military.
This story made me physically ill when I read it this morning. I expect casualties and death in this war, but I WILL NEVER ACCEPT them as a result of PC stupidity.
This story absolutely must get the legs it deserves in order to pressure the fools in charge to put the ROEs back where they belong before we end up with an entire platoon or company of US men lying dead in the dirt.
Where is the daily “casualty counter” that CNNBCBS used to report on “Bush’s Personal War”???????
That brings back some memories. They were at George AFB when I first got there in ‘88. I’m not sure of the SAM threat that the Taliban has, but in the absence of SAMs the Bronco, the A-1, and the AC-130 would sure be helpful in the type of engagement in this story.
_____________________________________________
The $64,000 question to which the answer is no.
The Big Obamski's suicidal Rules of Engagement will guarantee 'defeat' but only after hundreds more of our best are killed and thousands wounded.
He will be a one-termer who will leave an un-winnable mess for the next POTUS (likely "R"). That next guy will have two choices....full-blown war (not likely) or get the hell out.
I say get out now.
Did you notice last night all the alphabet channels discussing the elections, whether they were properly conducted or not?
Good luck and prayers for your kid...this is heart breaking and those who are responsible for this on BOTH sides will burn in hell....
You got that right!
This is going to be my child in a few years: sent into that meatgrinder. I am terrified.
I thought Dear Leader was going to bring our soldiers home.
Oh, well, he’s probably too busy scheduling a golf game to be bothered...
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.