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.
May they Rest In Peace.
Yeah, I agree. I’be got some buddies over there right now in the thick of it, and there have been some problems with the isolated U.S. outposts, specifically with resupply and relief in place. I’m guessing that the Taliban took advantage of the outpost’s location, as part of the larger offensive, and then resorted to ambush tactics, using the local schools and and houses for cover, rules of war be damned.
For the record, the numbers are dead in one day...not casualties, you are correct about casualties at Antietam in the 50,000 man range but we are talking about dead in a single day.
Next headline Democrats will decide it’s not winnable and time to retreat to Darfur.
As a vet, you do know the difference between ‘killed’ and ‘casualties’, don’t you?
““Casualties” refers to all losses suffered by the armed forces: killed, wounded, missing in action (meaning that their bodies were not found) and prisoners of war. There is no “official” casualty figure for D-Day. Under the circumstances, accurate record keeping was very difficult. For example, some troops who were listed as missing may actually have landed in the wrong place, and have rejoined their parent unit only later.
In April and May 1944, the Allied air forces lost nearly 12,000 men and over 2,000 aircraft in operations which paved the way for D-Day.
Total Allied casualties on D-Day are estimated at 10,000, including 2500 dead. British casualties on D-Day have been estimated at approximately 2700. The Canadians lost 946 casualties. The US forces lost 6603 men. Note that the casualty figures for smaller units do not always add up to equal these overall figures exactly, however (this simply reflects the problems of obtaining accurate casualty statistics).
Casualties on the British beaches were roughly 1000 on Gold Beach and the same number on Sword Beach. The remainder of the British losses were amongst the airborne troops: some 600 were killed or wounded, and 600 more were missing; 100 glider pilots also became casualties. The losses of 3rd Canadian Division at Juno Beach have been given as 340 killed, 574 wounded and 47 taken prisoner.
The breakdown of US casualties was 1465 dead, 3184 wounded, 1928 missing and 26 captured. Of the total US figure, 2499 casualties were from the US airborne troops (238 of them being deaths). The casualties at Utah Beach were relatively light: 197, including 60 missing. However, the US 1st and 29th Divisions together suffered around 2000 casualties at Omaha Beach.”
http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/faq.htm
It is such a shame that suicidal idiots live amongst us. It is costing our side big time.
I doubt it.
Are you in the box now? Unlikely, since internet access would be limited right now for reasons that I suspect you do understand.
Do you have SIPR access? Perhaps, but if you do then you shouldn't be running your mouth.
More likely, you don't have the facts - those on the ground do. And in due course, so we will. Then we can second guess what soldiers and leaders on the ground did or failed to do.
I agree, the story - as is - indicates some absolute errors in intelligence and planning. According to news reports, heavy fighting continues. After all this, the guerillas will melt away.
Could you imagine if we had today’s media during D-Day?
“We must retreat from Omaha Beach now, it’s a quagmire!!!!”
Democrat majority withholding support, from;
Thursday, July 3, 2008;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/02/AR2008070202010.html
In April, Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the United States was not doing all it should in Afghanistan
In April?
http://armed-services.senate.gov/members.htm
FULL COMMITTEE MEMBERS
DEMOCRATS
Carl Levin (Michigan)
Chairman
Edward M. Kennedy (Massachusetts)
Robert C. Byrd (West Virginia)
Joseph I. Lieberman (Connecticut)
Jack Reed (Rhode Island)
Daniel K. Akaka (Hawaii)
Bill Nelson (Florida)
E. Benjamin Nelson (Nebraska)
Evan Bayh (Indiana)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York)
Mark L. Pryor (Arkansas)
Jim Webb (Virginia)
Claire McCaskill (Missouri)
REPUBLICANS
John McCain (Arizona)
Ranking Member
John W. Warner (Virginia)
James M. Inhofe (Oklahoma)
Jeff Sessions (Alabama)
Susan M. Collins (Maine)
Saxby Chambliss (Georgia)
Lindsey O. Graham (South Carolina)
Elizabeth Dole (North Carolina)
John Cornyn (Texas)
John Thune (South Dakota)
Mel Martinez (Florida)
Roger F. Wicker (Mississippi)
If you really think about it the headline says so much about the MSM and how they view things today.
The loss of 9 of our finest is a horrible thing and I would never diminish it, but to report it as heavy losses is just plain ridiculous. Growing up my best friends father use to tell the stories of his life in the Marines across the pacific, especially Okinawa and Iwo Jima.
Our greatest generation knew what heavy losses were, I am afraid that our youth will never understand the sacrifice previous generations paid in blood for them to play on their Xbox and Iphones.
This makes it sound like more than one clash in more than one area. It could have been 9 separate incidents???
You're right. There still isn't.
Possible separate incident.
Conveniently it was reported by the media not in Mazar-i-Sharif but in Kandahar...
if 9 is heavy losses then what is 40?
Yea , how much could they take. I am so tired of these radical muzzies,
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