Posted on 04/14/2010 10:55:18 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie
KABUL — U.S. troops are pulling out of Afghanistan's perilous Korengal Valley as part of a new focus on protecting population centers, NATO said Wednesday, ending a mission that saw some of the most intense fighting of the nearly nine-year American presence in the country.
The isolated mountainous region of caves and canyons on the eastern border with Pakistan has been the scene of near daily exchanges of fire between NATO and insurgents, who use it as a route for infiltrating weapons and fighters into Afghanistan.
While militants will likely portray the withdrawal as a defeat for foreign forces in Afghanistan, NATO termed the move a "realignment" resulting from changing strategies to deal with a Taliban-led insurgency that has strengthened and gripped once stable parts of the country.
The shift reflects new thinking among commanders that forces are best used to protect the civilian population rather than placed in scattered outposts highly exposed to militant activity and difficult to resupply and reinforce.
"This repositioning, in partnership with the Afghan National Security Forces, responds to the requirements of the new population-centric counterinsurgency strategy," Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, joint commander of international forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement e-mailed to media. "The move does not prevent forces from rapidly responding, as necessary, to crises there in Korengal and in other parts of the region, as well."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
His outpost was attacked and he did not have time to dress.
It was a horrible battle.
Yeah...
Let’s withdraw to the cities, and make the same damn mistake the Soviets did.
What IDIOT is running this war??
OH... WAIT....
Giving up the Korengal - SURRENDERING it to the Taliban is spitting in the faces of our incredible troops that fought and died in that hell-hole.
“Restrepo” is - was? - the point firebase in the Korengal - in the thick of the Taliban and a 2 hour mountain goat hike from the nearest FOB...with the wooded mountains on every side - exposing them like ducks in a a shooting gallery.
The movie, made by Sebastian Junger (wrote “Perfect Storm”) and award winning videographer from Britain (now NYC), Tim Hetherington, it's about an incredible little band of paratroopers: the 173rd ARIBORNE - BATTLE Co,, that pickaxed a shelf out of the mountainside - pickaxed by night, filled sand bags with rock, and then got ready for the firefight that would start at first light.
Junger and Hetherington embedded with the Platoon for a total of a year - far beyond he usual 2-3 days or weeks. They became trusted members of the company.
For the Platoon, it was a 15 month deployment in The Korengal, aka, “the Valley of Death.” (ABC did a documentary on them, Vanity Fair did two articles and NY Times Mag. did a front page story.
During that deployment, they were in over 1,000 firefights - that has to be some kind of record. They had heavy losses. They beat the Talibans butts.
The movie made selection at the Sundance Film Festival - and went on to take the top award: Grand Jury Award. It is being screened at film festivals around the country - and scheduled for theater release 2 July - theatrical rights bought by Nat’l Geo - who also bought broadcast rights - and will air on TV in Nov.
Sebastians book “WAR” on it comes out mid May and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.
This is a war movie like no other. NO Hollywood, no actors, no “script”, no agenda, no propaganda - you are boots on the ground with the soldiers, hour by hour, month after month, firefight after firefight. This movie will show America just how incredible our soldiers are - against all odds.
Watch the trailer - mark your calenders, read the book - and Thank God for our troops.
It failed the USA in Vietnam and it failed the Russians in Afghanistan. This is nothing more than a prelude to Obama walking away and declaring victory while the Taliban retake the country.
When you effectively cede the countryside to the enemy and hole up in population centers and re-enforced redoubts the enemy gets stronger and the population knows it is only a matter of time before they are abandoned.
Pakistan, finally, last year, started getting serious about routing out the Taliban on their side, which is what we needed to stop their hit and run - hit us, run acorss the border to safety.
this is what could have driven the Taliban out of the Kunar Provence (the Korengal is in the Kunar) and the other Provinces on that border.
It would seem, however that our CICINO is more concerned about the Taliban than our troops (his new ROE proves that) -
he’s determined to Vietnamese this war -
At the same time - I am totally demoralized by freepers lack of interest in threads regarding our troops.
If this thread title had “OJ” or “Britney” or such in it, there would be hundreds of posts.
I think I need to take a sabbatical
Obozo is a traitorous B@st@rd.
I wonder - "Gee, why don't the local villagers trust us and totally cooperate with us against the Taliban? It isn't like we have a habit of pulling out and leaving them to face the wrath and beheadings of the miscreants.
and why should the people in the cities trust us any more?
And to he*l with the moral of the troops who fought and bled and died in that hell hole - only to have the CICINO just hand it back to the people he's more concerned about, the Taliban.
Don't EVEN get me started.
we should declare the valley a ‘free fire zone’ and use FAE’s
on any nighttime movement .
Y’know what, we’ve been there ten years. We need to start building institutions for the Afghans to be able to keep their country stable themselves, ASAP, so that things dont all go to hell in a handbasket, and we can stop having to use our own troops for everything. Above all, we need to establish a professional military caste which can deal with things in its own way, and is committed to a strong and united Afghanistan.
Among the things required:
1. Education is ZERO in Afghanistan, and moslem Madarasa schools are teaching the people nothing but Islamic Jehad. We need to establish a secular education system. Schools.
2. Colleges.
3. A military Academy (Already done, NMAA is up and running, but we need to expand courses taught there, to include biology/biochem/microbio, leading up to point 4). A staable Afghan needs a balanced and well educated professional officer corps. NMAA will provide it.
4. Afghanistan has been devastated by decades of war. There are zero medical facilities worth the name, and zero medical professionals who actually graduated from a medical school worth the name. Any army which fights, needs to know that it has medical backup available. We need to set up a medical training facility along the lines of the USUHS, a federal military medical school.
We can source the med students from NMAA officers, who have trained in Chemistry/Biology/Biochem/Microbio.
A dedicated and well trained professional medical officer corps will boost morale no end amongst the ANA troops.
5. Cantonments: Secured military cities, where establishments, bases, R&R, and planning can be carried out. More people will want to join ANA when they see the well laid out streets, the peacefulness, and the general order and discipline of these organised towns.
This, is just a start.
mil coup
Spot on - and the Korengal is the prime example.
Of ALL the valleys! Osama Bin Laden considers the Korengal home. This is where he trained the 9/11 bombers.
I'm a great granny- but just damn, I'm gonna take real good care of myself - (to get sick at my age under obummer care would be fatal) - because I am determined to live long enough to see this lily-livered traitor in the WH get his just deserts.
encourage the ANA to retaliate to any Taliban suicide attacks by identifying the bomber’s origin and then going their and wiping out the entire family , down to uncles ,aunts and cousins. It would not have to happen often . This would stop a lot of attacks . The way it is now the Taliban support base are merely coddled and never punished . The punishment for all of them should be greater than even the most hard core jihadist could contemplate .
At the same time - I am totally demoralized by freepers lack of interest in threads regarding our troops.
“a hotbed of Taliban support whose native tribes speak a distinct language — Korengali — and adhere to the austere Wahabi brand of Islam most prevalent in Saudi Arabia, and practiced by Usama bin Laden and the Taliban. The area’s 4,500 residents have long been hostile to central authority and outsiders, even those from other parts of Afghanistan.”
FAE’s .... 24/7 for about 4 months = end of problem
this is what got the 4 Navy Seals killed - and the entire helicopter crew - back in the beginning. Because they sent them into the Korengal alone - no other troops or firebases there then. The hills rise up an all side and are thick with Taliban - no one can just get dropped in there unseen...to get sent in there alone is a suicide mission - not that the current CICINO give a damn
I believe the Korengali, who are “ethnic” Pashai, speak Pashto -
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