Posted on 02/14/2010 7:31:32 AM PST by Schnucki
The first stage of the biggest military offensive ever launched by Nato troops in Afghanistan has been declared a success as thousands of US and British troops seized a string of Taliban strongholds across central Helmand.
In a series of complex airborne assaults, more than two thousand British and US troops began flooding into Taliban-controlled territory under Operation Moshtarak.
The long-awaited push, involving about 15,000 Nato and Afghan troops, was not without cost. A Grenadier Guard was killed when his Jackal patrol vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in the Nad-e-Ali area of Helmand. A US Marine died in a separate attack.
Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, said: “I want to pass on my condolences to the family and friends of one of our soldiers, very brave, very courageous, lost in this assault, making the ultimate sacrifice for our country.”
The battle for the Taliban heartlands in central Helmand is the first significant test of the strategy proposed by Gen Stanley McChrystal, the American commanding the Afghanistan operation, for achieving success.
The mission is designed to “break the back” of the Taliban in Helmand and commanders warned that casualties could be the highest of any operation in the eight-year war. On the eve of the operation, Lt Col Matt Bazeley, the commanding officer of 28 Engineer Regiment, whose men would be some of the first to land and be charged with clearing routes through minefields, told his soldiers: “We are going into the heart of darkness.
“It is bloody dangerous out there. This is what you have been trained for. If things go wrong, no sad moments, no pauses, we regather, re-cock, and go again.
“I repeat: much of this operation rests on us.”
Before the battle started on the ground, RAF Tornados, flying high above the central Helmand Valley,
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Kill ‘em, stack ‘em, and let the Christian God sort them out.
This operation was not a success. The enemy slipped away to fight somewhere else.
They have taken ground but have not defeated the enemy.
GO TROOPS!!!
As the Great Ted Nugent would say “ WACK ‘EM AND STACK ‘EM!”
The caption that goes with your picture shows the photographer as Goran Tomasevic of REUTERS.
“A U.S. Marine from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, takes aim as he tries to protect an Afghan man and his child after Taliban fighters opened fire in the town of Marjah, in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, February 13, 2010. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic”
Didn’t read that in the article - nothing about them slipping away.
Prior articles have noted how we closed off escape routes PRIOR to the main assault.
Precisely. That a commander would make a statement that they are not there to kill the Taliban defeats the mission before it even starts. The Taliban are not going to simply give up their cult of death philosophy and re-integrate into a stone-age existence because some government officials come into the provence and start giving edicts. The Taliban and ALL of their allies must be liquidated or neutralized for the mission to be a success.
In other words, the enemy got away to fight somewhere else.
Mao: "The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue."
*********************************EXCERPT****************************
Operation Moshtarak, the assault on the Marjah District in the Helmand Province started today. The press has been looking at it for months from various angles with stories stressing that secrecy has been lost, or that civilians will be killed, or with speculation on why the military is publicizing Operation Moshtarak in the first place. These stories all contain grains of truth but none of them is even close to telling the real story. Here it is: when the Marines crossed the line of departure today, the battle for Marjah had already been won.
fyi
Righto.
We secretly killed all the bad guys before launching the attack that took the ground.
Great work if you can swing it.
Color me skeptical. This is also a great way to claim you “really” won when the enemy slips away. For it to work it would require highly effective human intelligence as to who and where the leaders are, and it is generally believed the clan-based Taliban are among the most difficult groups in the world to get good humint on.
I hope they swung it.
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.