Night of fear and fire as US soldiers strike

The Times (U.K.) ^ | 11/24/2001 | CATHERINE PHILP AND SHAHZADA ZULFIQAR

[beaubazzoo]

For lighting. Oil lamps with a wick provide cheap light

[coffmg]

Some make candles from the parafin. Other uses is for heaters. Some other uses are for liquid is for a ... well I don't feel cumfortable giving much detail for it's use.

[ozzymandus]

You are assuming that Seymour Hersch told the truth. That's an assumption no intelligent person would make. Therefore, regarding your snide disrespect of the US military, I am not impressed. No other military in the world would go to such lengths to AVOID killing the enemy.

[pointsal]

Job opening: Guides needed to locate Osama Bin Laden. Salary- $25-million

[VietVet]

In European usage, "parafin" = kerosene

[A Navy Vet]

"WOW, how clever. We'd never be able to figure out that the giant tree moving down the highway was someone trying to smuggle something in to the Taliban. ;o)"

They really do not have any understanding of the amazing capabilities of our armed forces. They are used to dealing with the incompetent Russian military. This *war* is going to be a real eye opener for the entire world, and re-solidify our might. I believe a new age of American greatest may be upon us.

[blam]

"Anyone know what they are using paraffin for?

Canning?

Dang, that was my first thought. Mom said that during the depression and WW2 that they used it to seal food in jars when they could not afford or obtain the normal/proper lids.

[mrfixit514]

Before setting off on their journey from the Iranian border, many try to camouflage their garishly painted trucks with branches and tumbleweed found in the desert

Perhaps they were destroyed because many of these trucks have pictures of Sadam Hussein or Osama Ben Laden painted on them. Many truck drivers spend huge sums of money to have their trucks hand painted with the pictures of these terrorists. Most of the people in Afghanistan are not buying oil or fuel. This fuel would have been used by our enemies. This was a good move by the U.S. war planners.

[Grut]

Anyone know what they are using paraffin for?

British "paraffin" = American "kerosene".

[RightOnline]

"No, Abdullah, it is because of the merciful actions of the soldiers of a Christian nation."

Not that I would deign to attempt to improve upon what I consider the most "perfect" reply of the week.........but I'll just expand on it a bit....

"No, Abdullah, it is because of the otherwise unheard of, merciful actions of the best-trained, most disciplined Special Forces soldiers of a Christian nation whose faith and moral underpinnings teach them that when they can spare a life and still accomplish the mission, they will consider doing so.......and you're the direct beneficiary of Jesus' teachings."

[PA Engineer]

The evildoers that did not get away

November 23, 2001
Special forces get free rein
By Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES

     U.S. commandos inside Afghanistan have been given historic autonomy to plan and execute attacks when needed, resulting in "hundreds" of deaths of enemy soldiers, military officials say.

     One official described the special-operations forces' (SOF) rules of engagement as an "unrestricted hunting license" for Taliban militia and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist army now in disarray.

     Special-operations troops the past two weeks have conducted their first sustained ground combat in Afghanistan. Sources say small teams of Delta Force soldiers, and other commando units, have ambushed the enemy and killed them in small batches.

     "From the reports I've seen, they have killed in the hundreds," a senior administration official said. "There have been no deaths on our side."

     This official, and others, said in interviews they credit the success to a premium placed on special-operations training the past 20 years. They also praise the freedom granted the units by Gen. Tommy Franks.

     Gen. Franks, who as head of U.S. Central Command is directing the war in Afghanistan, is part of the "conventional" Army, and thus suspect in the eyes of hardened covert warriors. But some in the community are applauding the general's willingness to give SOF their loosest rein since the Vietnam War. Then, Army Green Berets infiltrated enemy territory and attacked at will.

     Commandos are working in small teams at night in southern Afghanistan, attacking Taliban and al Qaeda soldiers around their stronghold of Kandahar. U.S. commandos can conduct reconnaissance, identify the enemy and plan missions to attack without getting approval from Central Command, officials said.

     "You've got to give these guys freedom to plan direct action because the intelligence is so fragile," an administration official said. "In conventional warfare, you can rely on older intelligence of enemy positions because the enemy is not as mobile. In direct action, they're going after people. They have to do their own intelligence and act on it right away. You have to give these guys some slack."

     In some cases, soldiers have used sniper fire, taking advantage of stealth and superior night-sight equipment. In other encounters, soldiers used Barret 50-caliber weapons, a heavy sniper rifle that can take out an armored vehicle, or a person, at 1,500 yards.

     The administration official said now that hundreds of SOF soldiers are behind enemy lines they must act quickly or lose their prey. "It's only when you operate in country that information becomes minutes old," the official said.

     Personnel in the special-operations community say Afghanistan has provided a playing field for SOF specialists to ply two classic trades at once: unconventional warfare and direct action.

     In unconventional warfare, Army Special Forces, or Green Berets, have worked with the Northern Alliance and other opposition groups. The U.S. soldiers, trained in indigenous customs and language, give tactical advice, supply arms and bond with commanders who will one day run the country.

     In "direct action" carried out by Delta Force and other SOF units, commandos find targets for fighter jets to strike, blow up some targets themselves and conduct hit-and-run raids.

     "They're not leaving a footprint," said the administration official. "When these guys do sleep, they sleep on the ground. They don't have a fixed base camp."

     Delta Force is under the control of U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), located at Pope Air Force Base, which borders Fort Bragg, N.C., home to Army Special Operations Command. JSOC not only oversees the super-secret Delta anti-terrorism unit, but also the Navy's Seal Team Six. "There are elements of JSOC we don't talk about," an Army officer said.

     Under the command of Army Maj. Gen. Del Dailey, JSOC units train in total secrecy. Few outside the units know who they are or what they do. Gen. Dailey, an ex-member of the 800-strong Delta unit, personally briefed President Bush on their missions in Afghanistan before the war began.

     Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visited Pope and Fort Bragg this week to fire up troops on whose shoulders much of the war's fate now rests. Backed by air power, they must not only kill terrorists, but also help catch, or kill, the two primary al Qaeda leaders: bin Laden and his top aide Ayman al Zawahiri.

     While at Fort Bragg, Mr. Rumsfeld credited SOF with turning the war in Afghanistan in the United States' favor.

     In the first weeks after the air campaign began Oct. 7, opposition forces made little headway. But once U.S. warriors entered the country in significant numbers and began finding crucial command and troop targets, the Taliban began its retreat.

     "The air war enabled the ground war to succeed," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "And it turned when we had Special Forces down there to help with the targeting. And God bless them for doing it."



Your nose picker friends should be happy they are alive Mert.

[null and void]

Pariffin is British English for kerosene

[DCPatriot]

I don't believe this story.

There's no way they go to this kind of trouble to save a truck driver. Sounds like propaganda to me.

[Miss Marple]

I like your additions!

By the way, isn't it interesting that the New York Times cannot understand this?

Reading this article made me proud of our guys! I am sure the clymers there at the Old Gray Lady thought that we would feel sorry for the truck drivers and think poorly of our men.

Look at what our soldiers have done...identified a risk, located it without detection, removed the drivers so they wouldn't be injured, destroyed the trucks, and disappeared into the night. About the only thing they didn't do was leave a note saying "Greetings from the United States of America. You are with us, or you are with the terrorists!"

I am so proud I could cry. And the clueless Times, with its tin ear for the heartbeat of America, writes an article that allows these shifty drivers to portray themselves as the victims.

The paper should be ashamed!!

[Miss Marple]

It is propaganda, but not the kind you think.

Truck drivers now know that if they haul along that road, they will at the very least have their trucks destroyed. The drivers will be telling everyone they know what happened to them.

The results are fewer trucks on the road, plus (despite this whining story) we look like the good guys.

Fewer drivers will be willing to take the chance that we will always be so patient.

[jimfree]

"Anyone know what they are using paraffin for?

Canning?

Dang, that was my first thought. Mom said that during the depression and WW2 that they used it to seal food in jars when they could not afford or obtain the normal/proper lids.

We used it in the 60s for canning peaches.

[going hot]

WOW, how clever. We'd never be able to figure out that the giant tree moving down the highway was someone trying to smuggle something in to the Taliban. ;o)

Worse, it is a giant tree/bush in the middle of the desert with sand dunes and SAND, moving along at 30 mph!!, and leaving tracks...very clever, these talibanis.