The U.S. army and their Taliban-al Qaeda enemy reinforced their positions amid fierce fighting in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday. Hundreds of U.S. troops were flown to the battlefield to counter the al Qaeda-Taliban fighters, who were believed to be bolstering their positions as infiltrators slip into the mountain frontline to join besieged comrades. In what has developed into the biggest battle of the war, the U.S. military said 500 of 1,000 rebels, including some high ranking leaders, had already died in six days of fighting. But General F.L. Buster Hagenbeck, commander of "Operation Anaconda," said more fundamentalist followers in the area were rushing to join in a holy war against the United States. It'll be interesting to see where these reinforcements are coming from for the other side - seeing as how they're supposed to be surrounded. Also be interesting to see how many are al-Qaeda, Taliban, and Hezb-e-Islami. If they're Hekmatyar's men, the Karzai government will have to move against him. If not, we might as well all go home because the effort will have been wasted.
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03/06/2002 ||
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Hamid Karzai, said it was the greatest show of unity among Afghanistan's ethnic leaders in 23 years. "You have come here to strengthen stability and protect Afghanistan's national interests," he told the warlords at the start of their two-day meeting. Karzai echoed his defence minister in calling for a "disciplined and well-equipped army which stays neutral on political issues".
"I promise that there will not be chaos and war in this country again," the defence minister said. "We want all people in Afghanistan from any tribe to be Afghans and think about their national interests first."
Most of Afghanistan's major warlords were present, including the governor of Herat, Ismail Khan, and ethnic Uzbek leader General Dostum. "Enough of fighting," General Dostum told the gathering. "What is the use? Let's break out of this vicious circle. Whether from north, south, east or west, we are all brothers. I am willing to give my blood for this army." Assuming the words are more than lip service, this is what Afghanistan needs. No bets on how much of it's lip service. Our guess would be upwards of 50%. On the other hand, if the Afghans do somehow manage to cobble together an army that stays out of politics, the warlords will have an intense interest in keeping it pretty weak, so as not to have the potential to offset the power of their "militias."
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British special forces are leading a hunt for the Taliban potentate, Mullah Mohammed Omar, in southern Afghanistan. The operation, in conjunction with US troops and Afghan fighters, is being mounted in the border areas of Kandahar and Zabol province where large numbers of defeated Taliban and al-Qa'ida forces are believed to be regrouping. British forces are concentrated in the south, which is the reason they are not involved in the continuing operation further north, in Gardez.
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Just before the U.S. missiles would hit, al-Qaida fighters would duck into caves from their positions launching mortars at Capt. Kevin Butler's troops below. When the F-15s were gone, the enemy would emerge -- only to throw stones, wave and shout taunts at the Americans in a show of defiance.
The 101st Airborne Division troops were facing a well-armed and well-entrenched foe. They'd had little sleep and were shivering in subfreezing temperatures that left many of their uniforms tinged with frost. The Americans were preparing to flush out enemy fighters on ridges overlooking their positions, their piece of action on the second day of the biggest joint offensive yet in the Afghan war.
"We were moving our command post to high ground," said Cpl. Jeremy Gaul, 25, from Marietta, Ohio. "When I looked out on the horizon I saw a flash of light and I saw a projectile coming and fall to the earth. It must have exploded no more than 30 yards away."
Butler requested another airstrike, watching through a scope. Again the enemy fighters disappeared into caves dug into the granite, snowcapped mountains at 9,000 feet. When the explosions ended, they emerged with wide grins, flailing their arms over their heads.
That's when Butler had enough. He sprinted forward, running uphill on the peak -- a task made more difficult by the thin mountain air -- and exposing himself to hostile fire so he could pinpoint his enemy. Getting a read on their location, he raced 45 yards back to relay the coordinates to his radio man behind him. He needed six trips before he could make sure he'd gotten all the data he needed. Now he was ready to put his own plan into action.
The jets roared ahead, and just like before, the enemy ducked into the caves, emerging for a third time to taunt the Americans. But as they came out, the mortars detonated over their heads, spraying the al-Qaida fighters with shrapnel. Four of them died, said U.S. special operations soldiers who scaled the mountains and counted bodies. "It was like a game of mortar pingpong," Butler said. "They might think twice before they try that move again." He will toast your gigglin', turban-wearin' ass.
I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
The American soldiers seem to be finishing the job the russians couldn't. Posted by scraping fetus [fark.com] 3/6/2002 11:38:50 PM
What is interesting about this whole scenario is the fact that the 101st is learning again that close support mortars and artillery are more effective than air strikes at hitting fleeting targets. I was wondering 3 days ago when the 10th Mtn Div CO was saying that he hadn't brought any artillery to provide direct support. Now the infantry is forced to use only its organic 81mm mortars, while even 105mm howitzers would have been several times more effective. Posted by Tom Roberts 3/7/2002 9:02:06 AM
Well, they can be, but they're a lot more effective if the area's been daisy cut first. Certainly it slaps the fellows who were expressing the opinion that the Foot Cavalry's irrelevant and that air power can do the job alone. The Russers must be sitting around right now scratching their heads trying to figure out how, after all their writing and theoretizing and CPXing on the Combined Arms concept, the US has managed to actually produce it and use it under widely varying conditions with near clockwork precision. Posted by Fred 3/7/2002 9:43:05 AM
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Three Danish and two German soldiers have died in an explosion in the Afghan capital, Kabul. The German Defence Ministry said the five men, who were serving with the international peacekeeping force, were killed while destroying two Russian-made SA-3 ground-to-air missiles at a munitions dump in the capital.
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And yet, James Zogby, the head of the Arab-American Institute insists America has to work harder to persuade we have a lot in common with Arab countries. President Bush, he says, has a lot of work to do in explaining that we share their values. Hey Jim, we don't want to share too many values with these countries.
Zogby's comments are typical propaganda from a hyphenated American who hasn't yet figured out what the implications of being an American citizen are. Zogby's polls are well design exercises in trying to elucidate focus groups within America, which have served in the past to help various scurvy politicos to triangulate their way to victory in elections or neuter the legislative or judicial system. Zogby is a prime example of how smart guys can be simply dead wrong in their conclusions. Posted by Tom Roberts 3/7/2002 9:09:34 AM
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An estimated 2.5 million children under five years of age die due to diarrhoea, an intestinal disorder mainly caused by use of untreated water, every year in Pakistan, Project Officer, Unicef, Birendra Shestha said. Ummm... Is that almost two percent of a population of 130 million? Meaning that in 50 years the entire population of Pakland will have literally crapped out? Shall we issue a bogus - this is a stat given by a UN official, after all - statistic alert? Or does Pakland have a lot more important things to worry about than turbans and AKs and hollering jihad?
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Pakistan's ISI kept information about Daniel Pearl's death secret from General Pervez Musharraf, says Newsweek. After Omar Saeed Sheikh turned himself over to ISI on February 5, he told them Pearl's captors had sent him a coded message that Pearl had been murdered. But the ISI instead told Musharraf that Pearl "would be rescued shortly." Musharraf did not mention that Sheikh was in custody when he visited the US soon afterwards. But he did say he was "reasonably certain" Pearl was alive. Newsweek quotes police saying, "The ISI never shared with us any information about what Saeed told them." The article says "that missing week may have sabotaged the investigations." Musharraf was described as humiliated and angry. That happens when you've got an organization that considers itself as above or apart from the state. Musharraf can be as humiliated and angry as he pleases, and if he does nothing to correct the situation, the next time something awful happens he'll be treated with just as much casual contempt.
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Four people were killed and ten wounded when clashes erupted between two tribes in Aab province over claims to a water well. A Yemeni police official said the al-Bahm and al-Tweiti tribes have been shooting each other up for the past year. The two sides used all types of light and intermediate weapons and somehow managed to burn down Ze al-Houd village. Armed clashes between tribes are very common in Yemen. It is estimated that Yemeni civilians own more than 60 million weapons, an average of three for every citizen.
Kinda makes you think about Heinlein's statement that "an armed society is a polite society," doesn't it? Posted by Jan 3/7/2002 12:53:17 AM
I understand they're elaborately polite to each other on an individual level, but downright prickly about "points of honor." The shootin' arn also equates to manliness - without a rod (of either kind) you don't count. So you might have to modify that to read "an armed society is a polite society, but if it's primitive it's also bullet-riddled." Posted by Fred 3/7/2002 9:50:29 AM
This episode brings up basic political science to me: one mark of an organized society is when the government has a monopoly on large scale violence. Yemen has not met that basic quality in its hinterlands yet, and your quote [Jan's] of Heinlein was taken out of context as it presupposed the existence of an organized society. Posted by Tom Roberts 3/7/2002 9:57:15 AM
I'll bet the surviving Yemenis are more polite now. Posted by Anonymous 3/10/2002 3:24:26 PM
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Israel continued to beat up the Palestinian Authority, killing seven Palestinians and losing two of its own soldiers in overnight attacks throughout the Gaza Strip. The incursions came after Palestinian home-made rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip hit a Jewish community in Israeli territory for the first time late Tuesday, injuring four people. President George W. Bush kept his distance from the conflict, following a summit meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, although vice president Dick Cheney is due in the region next week. He might as well stay out of it. Nothing we've done so far has had any effect.
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At least 32 people, including 22 suspected snuffies, were killed in clashes as separatist violence gathered momentum in Kashmir. Three people were killed Tuesday as Muslim separatists holed up in civilian homes exchanged heavy gunfire with Indian troops. A civilian, a snuffy and a policemen died in the encounter and six security personnel were injured. Indian troops in a separate raid Tuesday blew away three Muslim militants in northern Kupwara district. Another militant belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed was also iced in the same neighbourhood. India's solid citizenry managed to bruise the Body Politic, and that makes it a fine time for the Pak-based hard boys to see if they can't gain a little advantage. Question still remains, where are the Paksnuffies getting their money?
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An Abu Sayyaf leader has been captured and four members of the Muslim rebel group killed. Military intelligence operatives arrested Abu Sayyaf Commander Sonny Pingon Basilan. Villagers tipped off the authorities on Ping as he conducted "surveillance operations" on possible U.S. and Filipino military targets in the town of Lamitan. He is currently being investigated and interrogated. Ping has a one million-peso ($19,600) bounty on his head. The military said he is an aide to Abu Sayyaf Leader Abu Sabaya, who has reportedly fallen ill amid a massive pursuit operation. C'mon, don't give us that. Successful Mr. Bigs aren't named Sonny. They're named Fat Tony or Knuckles or Joey the Heater. "Sonny's" get bumped off at toll booths - everybody knows that. And there's poor Don Sabaya, deathly ill with the coppers and the infidels swarming over the island. Now he's gotta get up from his sick bed and go visit the undertaker that he made fun of back when his daughter got married, and the poor guy's gonna be scared to death, and then he's gonna see what's left of Sonny when the cops are done with him. "Don't let his Momma see him like dis," sez Don Sabaya. Heart-rending, simply heart-rending.
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The Algerian daily al-Khabar said on Tuesday that 13 gunnies were killed by Algerian armed forces while a "war lord" was killed by his own gang. The paper said that security men operations also recently killed 11 members of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Fighting in Bu Taleb district and al-Jafla, while 100 snuffies were arrested.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
