| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Eight US soldiers killed in Nuristan province |
| 2009-10-05 |
| KABUL, Oct. 4 -- Firing rockets and rifles, Taliban militiamen attacked American and Afghan military outposts in a daylong siege on Saturday that killed eight U.S. soldiers and two Afghan security forces in one of the deadliest battles in months, according to U.S. and Afghan officials. The fighting began early Saturday morning and raged throughout the day in a remote region of eastern Afghanistan in Nuristan province, which borders Pakistan. Staging their attack from steep mountainsides that overlook the outposts in the valley below, on a morning when weather made visibility poor, the Taliban fighters attacked the small American and Afghan bases using rifles, machine guns, grenades and rockets, according to U.S. military officials. By Sunday morning, when the U.S. military made the attack public in a statement, the area was "largely secure but I do think there is still some activity," said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a U.S. military spokeswoman. In addition to the eight soldiers killed, several others were injured, said Rear Adml. Gregory J. Smith, but he did not specify the number. The American soldiers called in ground reinforcements, along with attack helicopter, airplanes and surveillance drones during the fighting. U.S. forces eventually repelled the attack while inflicting "a significant amount of casualties" on insurgents, Smith said. Due to the "very challenging terrain," the insurgents had "pretty effective firing positions," Smith said. "It was obviously a very, very difficult day." "Virtually everything that could be thrown at it was thrown at it," Smith said of the American response to the attack. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #8 Administrative procrastination cost lives! |
| Posted by: Willy 2009-10-05 18:09 |
| #7 The Battle of Wanat occurred on July 13, 2008 in Nuristan, Afghanistan. The position was being defended members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Five soldiers were killed; four in the first 20 minutes. The Taliban surrounded the remote base and its observation post and attacked it from both the village and the surrounding farmland. They were repelled by artillary and airpower. Thought this story sounded familiar. We'd better decide whether we are going to fish or cut bait. If we are going to fight a war, let's fight the war unfettered and get on with it. I'm not certain we have too many choices here. There's a lot at stake if we don't do it right. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-10-05 17:06 |
| #6 Good Point, but LBJ wasn't so great either. My lady friend is at Ft. Carson, they are very unhappy. |
| Posted by: bman 2009-10-05 16:02 |
| #5 you cant effectively defend your FOB from the 'commander' in chief.. :( |
| Posted by: abu do you love 2009-10-05 15:15 |
| #4 I thought we learned how to defend FOB's during the war in Vietnam. |
| Posted by: bman 2009-10-05 14:26 |
| #3 BTW, these eight soldiers were part of the 4th Brigade Combat Team from Fort Carson, about 10 miles south of my house. Their families live here. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-10-05 13:49 |
| #2 how can you safely operate a base where you don't control the high ground within attack range, especially in a 'weather-challenged' environment like A'stan? You quit playing games and start fighting a war. That means napalming the ridges when the "insurgents" attack. That means using WP and flachette rounds to respond to attacks on areas you can't reach with rifle fire. That means ensuring you always have a couple of recoilless rifles assigned to one of these outposts that can "dust" ridgetops from within your compound. That means telling the "World Court" to go hang, and that anyone trying to "arrest" a US servicemember will be returned to his nation of origin minus his head. That means sending a Tomahawk missile into the ICC to prove your seriousness. That means telling the Afghan government they have two choices: let the US and its allies fight a war to win, or we pull out and nuke the place until it's sterile - including the Pakistani side of "Pashtunistan". That means telling Pakistan that if one more "insurgent" attack is staged from Pakistani territory, there won't be a Pakistan any more. You DON'T fight a war making your servicemembers wear boxing gloves and keep one foot in a gallon pail all the time. Of course, our "political leadership" is too "civilized" to do that, so we'll probably lose - just as we did in Vietnam. I HATE the idiot "government" of the United States. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-10-05 13:47 |
| #1 I believe I have read that a large number of Afghan police were captured in this battle. Makes me wonder if they were 'captured' instead - allies of the attacking Taliban rather than opponents. Question for the military guys - how can you safely operate a base where you don't control the high ground within attack range, especially in a 'weather-challenged' environment like A'stan? |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-10-05 13:14 |