Yes....May God Bless our incredible servicemen, and may he grant solace and healing to the families and friends of those that have just lost their lives....
Posted on 07/13/2008 10:16:53 AM PDT by kristinn
At least eight US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in clashes with Taleban militants.
US commander Daniel Dwyer told the BBC the soldiers had been killed in clashes in the north-east of the country.
The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says it is one of the biggest single losses in a day for the coalition since the start of military operations there.
The attack came as international and Afghan security forces battled militants on several fronts.
On Sunday, US forces said 40 insurgents had been killed in Helmand province in the past 24 hours.
There are conflicting reports as to where the latest attack took place.
A foreign military spokesman said US soldiers and members of the Afghan National Army came under attack in Kunar province, near the border with Pakistan.
But Afghan officials insist the fighting took place in neighbouring Nuristan Province.
Nato reported that a small American Combat Outpost in Dara-I-Pech district of Kunar Province, came under heavy fire at around 04.30 local time.
It said insurgents had fired "with small arms, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars using homes, shops and the mosque in the village of Wanat for cover."
Local officials say a number of civilians and militants were killed in the attack.
Our correspondent says there are frequent attacks in the area.
In a separate incident on Sunday, a suicide bomber killed at least 21 people, many of them children, in a market in the Deh Rawud district of Uruzgan province.
I believe Just Lori was referring to the Kandahar prison break that occurred on June 26, 2008. More than 1000 prinsoners, including 400 Taliban escaped when a suicide bomber blew open the gates to the prison.
“Militant attacks killed 10 NATO soldiers and at least two dozen Afghans on Sunday”
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What was the unit?
Anyone who considers 9 killed to be ‘heavy losses’ is just exposing their ignorance.
It’s a personal tragedy for the families involved, and a loss to the country of potential future leaders, but the leftist media is just showing us their lack of intellectual skills.
We could not fight D-Day or even WWII in today's world. The left, anti-war cowards, Dimocrats, would not stand for it. Americans would not rush to join like they did after Pearl Harbor. Even though many did join after 9-1-1, it was no where like after Pearl. Sad testimony too today's America, that people do not want to defend their country, rights, freedoms, etc. Naw, we just give them away free today for free stuff from the Marxists Dimocrats.
I agree wholeheartedly with you! Let hell rain down on the scum!
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July 13, 2008 Sunday Rajab 9, 1429
By Abdul Sami Paracha
KOHAT, July 12: Seventeen Frontier Constabulary personnel were killed on Saturday after militants ambushed an FC convoy in Hangu district. Several soldiers were injured in the attack.
Officials said the convoy was ambushed by the Taliban while it was on its way to Doaba from Fort Zargari.
During the 40-minute-long encounter, one local militant ‘commander’, Razeem, was killed and two of his colleagues were injured.
No reinforcements were sent to help the convoy ward off the attack, which took place in an area where two security vehicles were attacked just a few hours before the deadly ambush.
Helicopter gunships pounded surrounding hills where militants were believed to be hiding.
Mullah Sanaullah, a militant ‘commander’, sent a message to the administration after the ambush that his forces would attack security officials if they came to collect the bodies lying in vehicles.
The administration sent a two-member delegation, comprising MNA Pir Haider Ali Shah and Hangu district nazim Khan Afzal, to go to a seminary in the Kahi village and constitute a jirga of clerics for talks with militants on retrieving the bodies and the injured. The jirga is expected to come back in case talks are successful and hand over the bodies early in the morning.
Noorzad, a local, told Dawn that the bodies, including that of the convoy’s commanding officer, were lying inside the vehicles. Three of the soldiers had been slaughtered by Taliban before they left the area, he claimed.
The Kahi seminary is supposed to be managed by Rafiuddin, an aide to Baitullah Mehsud’s deputy. Rafiuddin is currently in the custody of security forces. Clashes erupted after the administration refused to release him.
Jirga members also accused the government of rigidity regarding a request for the handing over of the three militants who were among seven people arrested by police during a flag march on Thursday. The jirga had suspended talks on Friday.
In the first incident, which occurred near the Zargari toll plaza, the militants attacked an FC convoy, but security personnel escaped unhurt. However, a boy was seriously injured in shooting by the militant.
Earlier, security forces arrested four suspects from a car after the driver ignored a warning to stop at a checkpost in the Doaba bazaar. The vehicle was impounded after a chase by security personnel.
Doaba, Thall, Zargari, Tora Warai, Chappri, Togh Sarai and Hangu towns remained tense for a third consecutive day.
Taliban launch deadly attack on a combat outpost in Afghanistan's Kunar province
By July 13, 2008 1:46 PM
The Taliban launched a complex attack against a newly established combat outpost in the Pech district in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar. Heavy fighting is currently underway, and US forces are said to have taken multiple casualties in the attack.
The Taliban launched the attack early this morning at approximately 4:30 AM according to a press release from the International Security Assistance Force. The Taliban initiated the battle "with small arms, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars using homes, shops and the mosque in the village of Wanat for cover."
Afghan and US forces based at the outpost have fought back and called in artillery and helicopter support and airstrikes.
Afghan, US, and Taliban casualties have not been released as the fighting is ongoing, but ISAF reported that "there have been casualties on both sides of the fight." The Associated Press reported that nine US soldiers have been killed. If true, the attack would mark one of the largest incidents of US casualties during a ground engagement in Afghanistan.
In separate incident in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, a Taliban suicide bomber killed 24 Afghans and wounded more than 40 in a deadly suicide attack at a market. Security officials said Afghan police were the target, and several policemen were reported killed in the attack.
Today's attacks plays directly into al Qaeda and the Taliban's propaganda and military strategy. The Taliban have launched a series of assaults on US and Afghan bases and patrol and government centers throughout the eastern regions of Afghanistan that border Pakistan’s tribal areas. The extremists hope to destabilize the Afghan government and overrun an outpost or district center as a show of strength.
Al Qaeda spokesman and Afghan commander Abu Yahya al Libi released a seven-minute videotape earlier this week titled "A Message To One of the Sheiks." Al Libi said the attacks on Coalition bases and suicide attacks show the Taliban is gaining strength and is "determined to turn the upcoming winter to hell for the infidels." The Taliban in Afghanistan "are going through continuous triumphs ... and are in a better shape compared with what they had been before," he stated.
I am not sure about your numbers.
From a very quick and I do stress quick Wikipedia look.
_______________________
Antietam is sometimes cited as the bloodiest day in all of American history, but the bloodiest battle in American history was Gettysburg, but its more than 46,000 casualties occurred over three days. Antietam ranks fifth in terms of total casualties in the Civil War, falling behind Chickamauga, Chancellorsville, and Spotsylvania Court House.
While your numbers are true, it is important to remember that loss rates are not the lone factor in wars.
The Soviets, a closed communist dictatorship much more “insulated” from things such as public political pressure, lost in Afghanistan suffering very minor losses compared to their losses in WWII. They could post the same types of attrition figures with their losses in Afghanistan as with the battles of Stalingrad or Kursk. The results of the wars, though, were the opposite regardless of the disparity of loss rates.
We must be mindful that national will here is the key. In World War II the Allied powers had a vast amount of national will to sustain the fight. We need to keep that in mind before comparing conflicts. We live in a “different” country than the 1940’s.
I hate to say it, but I am going to:
Cue idiot lefties stating “Afghanistan is un-winnable and it’s all Bush’s fault!”
Prayers for the dead, and hopes we find those responsible and stack them like cordwood.
With all due respect to the value of these precious patriots’ lives, we are a ntion of wimps if losing 8 soldiers is “heavy losses.” IIRC, in March of 1945 we lost over 20,000 men.
Houses and a mosque, huh? Why am I not surprised. I bet they were full of kids too so that our guys couldn’t shoot back.
We should have been bombing these areas from the start instead of piddling around with Musharef and his cronies.
Kunar is very complex terrain and we only occupy postage stamp firebases. The Muj can occupy adjoining villes and forests. It sounds like a large multi prong assault on a combat outpost. A combat outpost is several hundred or even a few thousand meters away from the firebase on a likely avenue of approach to the firebase. It serves as early warning and initial defense of the firebase. Most artillery is left in the states and attack helo’s or fast movers are relied on but thay need fuel and Kunar is at a high altitude and loiter times are short for the helo.s,
Time to march in to rural Pakistan and eradicate the enemy in their nest. No safe havens, no respite, no quarter.
Kiss off, bub! I know exactly what I’m talking about, more than the likes of you would ever know.
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