Posted on 02/13/2010 1:32:47 AM PST by Stoat
Offensive Against Taliban Starts
Assault ... helicopters fly troops in to start the offensive against the Taliban
Under cover of darkness, an awesome array of troops dropped into the badlands of the Helmand valley.
A first wave of 1,200 British troops - out of a total of 4,000 in the operation - were involved as the mission started.
Our Boys took off from Camp Bastion in a fleet of helicopters as Operation Moshtarak got underway at 3am local time (10pm UK time). The skies roared with noise as they made the 18-minute flight into the Nad-e-Ali district.
It is the biggest Allied joint offensive since 2001 and the largest air assault since the 1991 Gulf War. It is also the biggest helicopter assault in British military history.
Meanwhile further south US forces swooped into the Taliban strongholds in the Marjah district.
US Captain Joshua Winfrey, commander of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, which was at the forefront, said: "The first wave of choppers has landed inside Marjah. The operation has begun."
The British and US troops in the operation - supported by up to five other allied nations - were accompanied by the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police.
It is hoped the presence of locals will reassure the Afghans that the mission is being carried out on their behalf.
The air assault follows weeks of missions by US and British Special Forces.
More than 85 Taliban leaders are thought to have been killed. In days to come, Our Boys have been told to expect fierce gun battles with remaining insurgents.
They will seek to clear the area, making it safe for the Afghan people - and the follow-up forces aiming to start the re-building.
Hours before the big push, the commander of British forces in Afghanistan, Brigadier James Cowan, spoke to the troops in an historic address at Camp Bastion.
He said: "Our aim is not to crush the Taliban but to win the people.
"Soon we will clear the Taliban from its safe havens in Central Helmand. Where we go we will stay. Where we stay we will build.
"We will establish security so that the people are free once more to live their own lives under their own government."
He added: "Hold your fire if there is a risk to the innocent, even if this puts you in greater danger. That kind of restraint requires courage."
THE helicopters used to fly in Our Boys early today included 11 Chinook CH47s, three Merlins, four Canadian Griffin gunships, eight Apaches, four Blackhawks and three Lynx.
But if they don't do something about those hats we're all up the Khyber.
Cool, the British finally found their spotted dick (food).
See the following from another post of mine...
That evil and oppressive governmental idealogy of Islam and the way of implementing it by Sharia law is already making inroads right here in this country — the good ole USA. We’re about to see a “takeover” of the U.S. by the evil and oppressive idealogy of the government of Islam (that is aiming for world-wide conquest and has stated that the U.S. is *on its list* to take over...)
And for those people who need some additional facts about what the evil and oppressive governmental idealogy of Islam is doing, look at some of the following.
There’s no question about it... the enemy is *Islam* itself and the evil and oppressive and false idealogy that it perpetrates. Some say the problem is “fascism” (instead of the basic oppressive governmental idealogy of Islam, itself). But, that is to engage in “political correctness” and nothing more... and sidetracks people from the *true enemy* in this war.
In one generation we’ll see, right here in the United States that “Islam” is the enemy and not “fascism”...
Muslim Demographics...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU
and also, this...
Islam: What the West Needs to Know - FULL LENGTH ENGLISH VERSION
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-871902797772997781
and then, looking at this...
“The Third Jihad” (video - abridged version of film)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2271522/posts
This is the allowance of “false gods” to take over this nation because of the ignorance of the people of the land in regards to the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...
And so, we see that we’re going to have the “false god of Islam” ruling over the USA and running the USA in just one generation from now.
The Black Watch would be very upset indeed to have those hats changed. It is as much a part of their identity as the globe and anchor badge is to the USMC.....
Hi Stoat,
No one is willing to state whether the goal is to eliminate the heroin production facilities or not in the Marseh valley.
The Brits did a sweep through Marseh last year and destroyed some facilities, and rather enraged the local populace in the operations. Marseh is only a town of that size due to the heroin trade, the place would be much smaller if there wasn’t the poppy cash crop. Local businessmen and elders are not going to take kindly to a bunch of foreigners coming in and trying to shut down the only cash producing commercial activity in the valley.
The drug lords and their protection arm , the local Talibani, provide the only inflow of currency into the region. I don’t see how a year or 5 year occupation by the ISAF ANP and ANA is going to benefit an area like Marseh.
I don’t see how the US and Brits are going to be able to stay in Marseh to control and build the are, all the while not attempt to eradicate the heroin trade and then enraging the locals again.
I LOVE that they refer to their troops as “our boys”. It is an obvious term of love and respect.
beauty
now let the commanders lead on this and not those in DC or London
the Brits have been there in that area way before us and have been taking deaths and wounded for years helping us.
shame the media doesn’t actually report everything and report about those helping us
to talk to some folk you would think it was all us fighting this.
Kick Taliban arse, Brits!
Kick Taliban ass, Yanks!
Agreed...most other newspapers could take a lesson from The Sun in supporting the troops, which they do consistently and without fail.
If you get tired of reading the endless military-bashing articles elsewhere, go to the "Forces" section at The Sun and you'll find articles that treat the troops with proper reverence and respect.
now let the commanders lead on this and not those in DC or London
The thought of Zero micromanaging the war like LBJ did makes my stomach churn. I hope, for the sake of the troops, that his hatred of America and of America's military will cause him to be so disinterested in the matter that he will let the commanders take care of things, but his arrogance and narcissism makes me suspect that the opposite may be what's happening. He knows that he is thought of as weak in prosecuting the war and so I am quite fearful that he will inject himself into the matter in ways that will cost many lives
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