Posted on 10/16/2009 3:47:46 AM PDT by MestaMachine
KABUL (AP) - The U.S. military says four American service members have been killed in a bombing in southern Afghanistan.
A U.S. statement Friday said that two of the service members were killed instantly in the blast and two others suffered fatal injuries in the same explosion.
The latest deaths bring to 25 the number of American troops killed in Afghanistan this month.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
“In the later years of the Vietnam War, the weekly casualty rate was slightly under 100 U.S. troops killed a week.”
War is not a game.
More 0bama-weakness inspired deaths.
Obama the tinpot has:
Here is a letter about the ROE’s USMC (26 years) Veteran John Bernard wrote to his Congressman Mike Michaud on 7/23/09. His son Lance Cpl Joshua Bernard’s unit was ambushed by the Taliban on 8/14/09 only a few short weeks after the letter had been sent.
The Lancy Cpl. was fatally wounded in the attack. It was all caught in a photograph taken by Julie Jacobson, on assignment from the Associated Press, and published and distributed, regardless of the pleas of his father John Bernard and the rest of the Lance Cpl.’s family NOT to publish it ( it is a war crime in my book, but that’s another story):
The original letter written by John Bernard:
Congressman Mike Michaud 7/23/2009 08:01
1724 Longworth HOBWashington, DC 20515-1902
Dear Sir;
I am writing to you today as an American citizen, 26 year veteran of the United States Marine Corps, committed Christian, Husband, Father of two and a businessman. I am also writing to you as the Father of a Marine who is, as all of his brothers in arms are, in harms way. That by itself is not a cause for concern for me because as a Warrior I understand two things:(1) it is the very nature of the calling to which we have been called that we will be thrust into dangerous, even life threatening situations to fight the enemies of our country and (2) that there could not possibly be a safer place to be than in the company of fellow Marines. In any case, that is the nature of the business and those who serve in this capacity have long since dealt with the realities of life in uniform.
There are, however, certain expectations, an unspoken trust within the ranks of those of us who serve and have served in this capacity. One of those is that we have a belief that as Americans, our leadership will not frivolously spend our blood on unworthy pursuit. To those of us who serve, let me be very clear to those of you who hold our lives in your hands; this means that the reason we may die can ultimately be defined as protecting homeland, family and fellow American lives (spelled US citizens). We also assume we will not be used as pawns in some personal vendetta or worse some career building scheme; that we will not be asked to spill our blood in a foreign land to defend the indefensible. We expect we will be able to do that for which we were trained; export violence with ferocity and drive our enemies to their knees with the ultimate goal of ending the conflict by forcing them to do our will. Such are the dreams and aspirations of the Warrior. Men like this seek to serve side by side with like-minded men prepared to meet their destiny on the field of battle; living a life of honor while testing personal courage in the forge of combat. Our nations Warriors have no other expectations, no visions of grandeur, no careers to bolster, no kingdoms to lord over, no sovereignty to subvert. These men just seek to serve their country.
Now that you have ever so basic an understanding of the intrinsic nature of the Warrior; I hope to encourage you to show them at least the dignity of thoughtful and painstaking decision-making when considering when and where to thrust them into the fires of hell. My demand is that you emphatically understand that this decision will have eternal consequences for the men involved and their families. I also expect this decision to be for the simple reason of defense of country and countrymen (again spelled United States Citizens).
If any part of you still understands that you were sent to Washington DC for the sole purpose of defending these shores and to defend the ‘life, liberty and pursuit of happiness’ of the citizens of this nation; and if you still believe you are first a servant of all, then you yet may possess the ability to understand the immorality of what I am about to share with you and the necessity to change this policy NOW.
President Obama has seen fit to replace the sitting ISAF commander with a General McChrystal (see Bio at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal). Suffice it to say that Gen McChrystal’s understanding of the Warrior ethos is somewhat askew from the mainstream. Also let us cut to the chase and identify him more as a political mouthpiece than a field commander. Add to this the dubious addition of General James L. Jones (see bio at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Jones), who unlike McChrystal has actual combat experience but still shares the same ultimate goals and one world vision as both McChrystal and Obama. What you have here is an unholy trinity injecting their shared philosophy of ‘spare the civilians at all cost’ – even though those civilians are not US citizens and are in fact complicit in their own misfortune. The new ROE presented by McChrystal and under which operation Khanjar was mounted is nothing less than disgraceful, immoral and fatal for our Marines, Sailors and Soldiers on the ground. The Marines and Soldiers that are ‘holding’ territories of dubious worth like Now Zad and Golestan without reinforcement, denial of fire-support and refusal to allow them to hunt and kill the very enemy we are there to confront are nothing more than sitting ducks. Denying them even the ability to fight, which is their only purpose for existing, to defend themselves in a foreign land that sees them first as agents of the devil is detestable to the secular world and immoral to the rest of us. And for those of us with ‘vested interests’ thrust into that foreign land; it angers us. The links I have provided will give you some indication of the insanity of the current situation and the suicidal position this administration has placed these Warriors in. I admonish this administration and all those currently in public office whom we have entrusted with our security, well-being and the very lives and well-being of the best of us, our Warriors to start acting like you actually care or even understand the consequences of ludicrous decisions like this one. I then hold you responsible to actively seek to change this immoral policy to one that allows our Warriors the opportunity to do what they were trained to do; destroy our enemies and protect our citizenry.”
“Let Them Fight or Bring Them Home”
http://letthemfight.blogspot.com/
“No Rush to Escalate (”war kills off great reform movements”)”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2355050/posts
Ping.
http://www.nato.int/isaf/docu/official_texts/Tactical_Directive_090706.pdf
“...I recognize that the carefully controlled and disciplined employment of force entails risks to our troops...”
“...The Taliban cannot militarily defeat us - but we can defeat ourselves...”
______________________________________________________
This is all that comes to my mind when I read that:
“We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We’ve lost today,” Marine Maj. Kevin Williams, 37, said through his translator to his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter’s repeated demands for helicopters.
“’We’re pinned down:’ 4 U.S. Marines die in Afghan ambush”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2335142/posts
O spent the night in San Francisco.
Crowds of for and against O were robust.
Meanwhile, ..
When’s the next War Council meeting,, what will that be, the 6th?
>McChrystal even suggested that our Troops NOT wear their body armor to show “trust” to the Afghans.<
I read somewhere that they’re sending the truly patriotic soldiers to the front lines and leaving the ones who just follow orders stateside to deal with dissidents.
A suggestion that outrageous fits the scenario.
What??????
I read it on the tinfoil site, but it really doesn’t seem too far out of line considering...recent events and the general atmosphere around 1600.
where the F-— is this so called media asking why men and women are dying while he is off on photo shoots.
If any of you in the so called media are reading this then get doing your job for once , just for frigging once and ask why so many radicals are int he white house, why all the czars and why the hell is money getting taken away form the military and why the hell is this so called leader not making a frigging decision and yes I am frustrated at your amateur pathetic approach to your job and profession , you should be disgusted with yourselves.
investigative journalism , died some time ago
we never hear it here but our best ally who obama treats like crap is losing their men and women over there too and they are helping us.
he treats our ally like crap while treating our enemies like he loves them.
screw you media too for not doing your job
no this buffoon cares more about getting open homos in the military then actually saving their lives.
AAARRGGHHH
All in or all out is right!
“We are pinned down. We are running low on ammo. We have no air. We’ve lost today,” Marine Maj. Kevin Williams, 37, said through his translator to his Afghan counterpart, responding to the latter’s repeated demands for helicopters.
RIP Major Williams, 9/09/2009
“Let Them Fight or Bring Them Home”
~~~
TANKS,Flyer,,,
Outstanding letter,,,
~~~
My house-mate’s son left Monday for Iraq,,,(3rd tour),,,
Now in Kuwait I guess,,,
2nd.BCT.10th.Mt.Div.,,,
Fox news ticker said they have a change of orders,,,
Now it looks like they will go to A-Stan instead,,,
His wife will call us back when she gets more news,,,
These women are highly Pissed...
Our prayers up. Please update us as soon as you get the word!
Roger Dat,,,
TANKS a bunch...
May God bless and keep your friend’s son safe.
RIP.
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.