Posted on 10/06/2009 7:13:44 AM PDT by mfnorman
KABUL (BNO NEWS) – An intensive battle that left eight U.S. soldiers and two Afghan soldiers dead on Saturday also killed more than 100 militants, according to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Tuesday.
Officials had earlier said it inflicted "heavy enemy casualties" during the militant attack on two ISAF and Afghan National Security Forces outposts. "A more detailed battlefield assessment following the Oct. 3 attack in Nuristan has determined that enemy forces suffered more than 100 dead during the well-coordinated defense -- significantly higher losses than originally thought," ISAF said in a statement.
The Nuristani tribal militia was initially blamed for the attack, but it is now believed that the attack was conducted by local anti-Afghan forces, while local Taliban and elements of Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (HiG) may have helped facilitate the attack.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bnonews.com ...
Militarily speaking - it will be a disaster for the Taliban. Politically, Obama will apologize and surrender (pull out)...
ISAF = I Saw Americans Fight
I totally agree.
Where are our fighter planes? Where are our bombers? This is crazy. We have the best fighting forces in the world and we can’t eleminate these sand bunnys? I gotta tell ya, I’m tired of people saying “It’s a different kind of war.” It’s a war dam it, either fight it, win it....or get the hell out. Afghanistan will turn into another Viet Nam if our politicians try and run this war. In the recent past, I stayed away from a statement like that but now I see what’s happening. Politicians are setting the stratgey, not the military.
“Broken Arrow”!!!
Honest question:
Initial reports put the dead taliwhackers at 27.
Now its 100+.
Que?
This is fairly typical. Once the enemy masses for an attack, they become an easy target for our firepower. Unless, of course, we are too PC to use our firepower.
Air support was a significant factor in this particular battle.
We have the best fighting forces in the world and we can’t eleminate these sand bunnys?
You really think it's possible to kill every bad guy from the air? You're smoking something....
I gotta tell ya, I’m tired of people saying “It’s a different kind of war.” It’s a war dam it, either fight it, win it....or get the hell out.
I'm sure you've heard the old saying about "fighting the last war." It points to a true fact, that no war is the same as the last one -- there's always something different. I'm sure you would agree that fighting the Taliban is different from fighting the Japanese or Germans.
Afghanistan will turn into another Viet Nam if our politicians try and run this war.
Politicians have run every war we've ever fought.
I stayed away from a statement like that but now I see what’s happening. Politicians are setting the stratgey, not the military.
I even disagree with you here. "Politicians" in this case is a reference to Obama and his team -- and they're not "setting" anything. They're doing nothing. I have no doubt about Obama's ability to do something tremendously stupid and damaging, but as things stand now, he's doing nothing, because he is too ignorant and lost to make any sort of decision at all.
They need to flatten any mosque that an attack originates from. Why are we using the same tactics of allowing the enemy to have a safe zone that we used in vietnam? If there is any evidence of the enemy anywhere, that area should no longer be considered off limits.
The original reports on this battle noted that the taliban launched the attack from a Mosque.
Failing to level known sources of Taliban support makes this Vietnam II. The politicians won’t let the military win.
ROEs forbid use of air or arty when possibility of civilians present - McChrystal ROEs. Apparently these jihadis stormed en masse out of a mosque - also a forbiden target.
I'm currently reading "Charlie Wilson's War," and its clear that the Afghan/Pashtun/Tajik/etc. tribesmen will take enormous casualties during their jihad.
To them, it's a win-win situation---defeat foreigners on the battlefield and bask in Allah's glory. Get killed and go straight to Paradise. It's damned hard to fight against an enemy as fanatical as that, as the the Soviets found out in the 1980s.
BTW, I'm wondering where the tribesmen are getting all of their ammo and RPGs. In Crile's book about Wilson, the sheer cost and logistics of getting so much ordnance to the tribesmen was astronomical. Someone somewhere is sending them the weapons to fight us with.
Yeah, well... That's a very good way to make a war keep going, and going, and going...
The Dems are bound and determined to have their Vietnam so they can be just as important as the 60's liberals were.
Zero and his “brightest” are also setting the tactics, for example limiting use of artillery and air cover. That’s part of what is getting our people killed. It’s criminal IMHO...
Also cannot fire on anyone wearing a burka because the person might be a woman - same for obvious AK and RPG wielding jihadis mixed with other burka wearers and their “children” - this ROE will help us achieve better relations with the normally kind and gentle jihadis who are inflamed by “crusaders” in their midst - especially female ones.
Nuke Mecca Now.
Sounds like another quagmire. I remember the last time a
Dem president micromanaged a war.
War was designed to be terrible. Not to be like cops arresting badguys.
These mosques need to be made into rubble, ideally using
a MOAB or daisycutter.
All “mosques need to be made into rubble, ideally usinga MOAB or daisycutter.”
Boy, do I get tired of saying this...MILITANTS march with signs, block traffic, chant, scream and shout, and generally make a pain in the @$$ of themselves. At least 100 TERRORISTS were killed; use the correct terminology, BNO News!
They also enjoyed the support of gunships.
The days of carpet bombing an AO have been “out” for quite some time.
Most would have to admit an ARC Light strike in that small a valley would have killed Amricans as well as talibunnies.
So - putting a OP in the bottom of a bowl is not a good thing. Not allowed to have pre-registered arty - bad idea. Having a C in C that is a clueless idiot - very costly.
Before this is over I expect to see Gen McC and Gen P both to ‘retire’ - I would would guess within the next 90 days.
But, I have been wrong before.....
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.