=> Taliban bolder and more sophisticated <= U$ Military LOSES ANOTHER War against a smaller, weaker and poorer nation... pathetic!
Reality_CheckŠ
There are about three dozen US-NATO outposts in Afghanistan, situated mainly
in the eastern regions bordering Pakistan. They are called "forward
operating bases, and are they are staffed by both US and Afghan army troops.
The idea behind these bases is twofold: to try to control and stop Taliban
militants from crossing into Afghanistan, and to instill confidence in the
local people by showing that international forces are there to stay to
provide permanent security. The danger for US-NATO troops at these bases is
that they risk being outnumbered and attacked or even overrun by the
Taliban, as almost happened in the raid exactly a week ago today.
According to various reports, last Sunday at 4:30 a.m. about 200 Taliban
militants began attacking a small base near the village of Wanat on the
border of Nuristan and Kunar provinces. The base was a new base and had only
been partially constructed, with only 45 US and 25 Afghan soldiers deployed
there. The observation post near the base was incomplete and at the time of
attack was being watched by US and Afghan troops.
Before the attack Taliban militants had infiltrated overnight and ordered
villagers to leave before they began opening fire on the base from the west
and southwest. At roughly the same time, US officials said, another group of
militants began the second prong of the attack, firing on the observation
post from the east. Some breached the perimeter wall and entered the main
compound of the base and advanced a few hundred yards.
US ground commanders immediately called in artillery and air strikes from a
B-1 bomber, as well as A-10 tankbuster and F-15E attack aircraft. Apache
helicopter gunships and a remotely piloted, armed Predator drone fired
Hellfire missiles at the Taliban groups. Faced with this massive fire from
the air as well with the resolute resistance of the US and Afghan troops on
the base, the Taliban militants could not continue their assault and in the
end had to withdraw, leaving behind some of their dead at the base.
The attack, which nearly ended with the base being overrun, left nine US
soldiers dead with 15 wounded. It was the biggest single loss of life for US
forces in Afghanistan since 2005, when 16 Navy Seals were killed when their
Chinook helicopter was downed by a Taliban rocket attack. The dead and the
wounded are from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy.
Incidentally, this was the brigade that first landed in northern Iraq at the
beginning of the Iraq war, and it did not suffer any casualties then.
The surprise, deadly and well-planned attack highlighted several important
issues with regard to war in Afghanistan: first, the vulnerability of US
forces in Afghanistan, which are being stretched increasingly thin; second,
a change in tactics by Taliban; and third, the wrong military analysis,
which for some time suggested that the Taliban had abandoned frontal
assaults on US-NATO forces and bases for suicide bombings and IEDs.
Well, the last point was proven wrong with the almost successful attack in
Wanat and further, it not only brought the war in Afghanistan to the
forefront of presidential campaign politics, as both Barack Obama and John
McCain wowed more troops for Afghanistan, but also sent a very strong
message to the Pentagon and the US top brass that Afghanistan urgently needs
more attention and more resources than before, a fact admitted recently by
both Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs
of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, who said after the abovementioned attack that
the enemy in Afghanistan had grown bolder, more sophisticated and more
diverse.
Indeed, the Taliban is more sophisticated and bolder now, as shown by the
daring attack, and it needs more attention and resources with which to
tackle it.
bigTITS
U.S. CAN'T LEAVE IRAQ, AND NOBODY CAN PUNISH THE BUSHIES!
It's unfortunate, but the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The
Hague has indicted less than a dozen criminals on charges of CRIMES
AGAINST HUMANITY, and only one of these has ever been scheduled for
"trial." (Some bum from Serbia, Jovica Stanisic.)
As we've continually pointed out here, all the BUSHIES will basically
get away with murder, like O.J. There is no official body willing or
capable of bringing charges.
http://www.icc-cpi.int/home.html&l=en
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/18/AR2008071802562.html