Posted on 09/14/2011 7:44:36 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
KABUL United States ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said Wednesday that his embassy was hit with six grenades in a Taliban attack, but played down the insurgents' raid as "not a very big deal".
The attack launched on Tuesday lasted for 19 hours and left 14 people dead in a barrage of gunfire and suicide blasts targeting the US embassy and the neighbouring headquarters of NATO-led troops in Afghanistan.
Crocker said at least six rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) landed in the embassy compound although officials had earlier said that injuries there were limited to three Afghan visa applicants and one Afghan security guard.
"This really is not a very big deal, a hard day for the embassy and my staff who behaved with enormous courage and dedication," he said in a pooled media interview.
"Half a dozen RPG rounds from 800 metres away -- that isn't Tet (a key offensive in the Vietnam war), that's harassment."
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
I totally agree that this is a big deal that is being played down. My dh asked me what the reports said about the attack (hes over there.) I told him about the Fox News report that said there were only 6 insurgents that did this. He snorted. Dont believe everything you read.
I'm sure it's a "big deal" to the families of the 14 who were killed.
The top commander for NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan says the Kabul attack has left 27 dead _ including Afghan police, civilians and insurgents.
The 20-hour assault in the heart of the Afghan capital ended on Wednesday morning.
U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John Allen says of those killed, 11 were Afghan civilians, with more than half of them children. Allen says five Afghan police officers were also killed.
He says that 11 insurgents also died in the battle, seven of them in the clearing operation inside the building where the attackers were holed up near the U.S. embassy. Four other attackers served as suicide bombers.
http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=1706738
If it was no big deal, then why wasn’t he sipping tea out on the front porch? Noticed the bad guys were being supported by our good friends in Pokki-ston. How much did Hussein cut a check for them this week?
No big deal, update:
27 dead, 20-hour fire fight
11 were Afghan civilians, half of them children
5 Afghan police officers dead
11 insurgents dead: 7 in the clearing operation inside the building where the attackers were holed up near the U.S. embassy.
4 were suicide bombers.
Ground truthing the 20 hour assault
suggests someone might be ‘off their rocker’.
What a strange comment for Ambassador Crocker to make.
People in the hot zones tend to play things down on occasion to keep their loved ones back home from worrying.
But it’s different when you are the Ambassador and it was your Embassy that was attacked...
Pakistan is not on our side. I guess we need to send them more money.
If this happened under Bush it would be likened to the Tet Offensive.
Any attack that kills people is a big deal. However, this attack seems to be the best they could pull off to “celebrate” 9/11. Bin Laden was reportedly trying to arrange something spectacular in the USA for the tenth anniversary to the 9/11 attacks. It looks to me like they couldn’t even come close, so they did this a couple days later because they felt like they had to do “something” or lose face.
Where is Code Pink and the Ladies in Black and all the other war protesters?
“Sounds like a big deal to me.”
I guess it might not have been such a big deal if the ambassador was one of the dead. Too bad.
I don't consider 9 Taliban and 6 RPGs to be that big a deal.
Yep... no big deal! Half of the dead were children. Makes me ill. Nothing to see here. Move along.
If you are one of the Afghan families that lost a loved one.
If you panic easily or are frantically looking for some excuse to exit Afghanistan RIGHT NOW. e.g.: RON PAUL! (or is it Ronpaul!)
In the grand scheme of things this was a typical grandstand attack. Probably their big 9/11, we still matter, attack. Or it could be their, winter is coming and we need to expend these foreigners (non-pashtun fellow travelers) so we don't have to feed them all winter, attack.
Funny: When I ran spell checker, non-pashtun was corrected to nonpolluting.
IOW:
Please don’t fire me.
Please don’t fire me.
Please don’t fire me.
Please don’t fire me.
Please, oh please don’t fire me.
“lasted for 19 hours and left 14 people dead in a barrage of gunfire and suicide blasts”
“`tis but a scratch,” sayeth brave Sir Robama.
They’re all hiding under a rock somewhere with Cindy Sheehan.
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