Don't you love the names they come up with for these things?
I'm waiting for the day they will call one Operation Mass Murder of Muslims.
And now the lying AmeriKan MSM tries to tell us it is a LUV INVASION!!!
See how long you can last reading this garbage we are fed as "news."
"Marines launch major operation in Afghanistan; Aim to restore government, oust Taliban" by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post | July 2, 2009
CAMP LEATHERNECK - Thousands of US Marines descended upon the volatile Helmand River valley in helicopters and armored convoys early this morning, mounting an operation that represents the first large-scale test of the US military’s new counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan....
Once Marine units arrive in their designated towns and villages, they have been instructed to build and live in small outposts among the local population. The brigade’s commander, Brigadier General Lawrence Nicholson, said his Marines will focus their efforts on protecting civilians from the Taliban, and on restoring Afghan government services, instead of a series of hunt-and-kill missions against the insurgents.
That means NO HOUSE RAIDS and NO BOMBINGS, right?
“We’re doing this very differently,’’ Nicholson said to his senior officers a few hours before the mission began. “We’re going to be with the people. We’re not going to drive to work. We’re going to walk to work.’’
Took you guys eight years to figure this out?
Similar approaches have been tried in the eastern part of the country, but none has had the scope of the mission in Helmand, a vast province that is largely an arid moonscape save for a band of fertile land that lines the Helmand River. Poppies grown in that territory produce half of the world’s supply of opium and provide the Taliban with a valuable source of income.
I'm so SICK of that DAMN LIE!
"U.N. drug control officers said the Taliban religious militia has nearly wiped out opium production in Afghanistan -- once the world's largest producer -- since banning poppy cultivation last summer."
Related: Einstein, insanity and the war on drugs
The operation launched early this morning represents a shift in strategy after years of thwarted US-led efforts to destroy Taliban sanctuaries in Afghanistan and extend the authority of the Afghan government into the nation’s southern and eastern heartlands. More than seven years after the fall of the Taliban government, the radical Islamist militia remains a potent force across broad swaths of the country.
Do you KNOW WHY?
"The Taliban is growing and creating new alliances not because its sectarian religious practices have become popular, but because it is the only available umbrella for national liberation," says Pakistani historian and political commentator Tariq Ali. "As the British and the Soviets discovered to their cost in the preceding two centuries, Afghans never like being occupied."
Also see: Afghanistan's Other Government
And today, readers?
"More and more, people here look back to the era of harsh Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, describing it as a time of security and peace."
Oh, oh, oh!!!! I'm so offended by the AmeriKan MSM and its bullshit!
Also see: How I Came to Love the Veil
The Obama administration has made turning the war around a top priority, and the Helmand operation, if it succeeds, is seen as a potentially critical first step.
SCREW THAT! You guys HAD EIGHT YEARS over that LIE!
It is TIME to STOP KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE and COME HOME!
Traveling though swirling dust clouds under the light of a half-moon, the first Marine units departed from this remote desert base shortly after midnight local time on dual-rotor CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters backed by AH-64
Those for hugs then?
Additional forces were slated to pour into the valley during the predawn hours on more helicopters and in heavy transport vehicles designed to withstand the makeshift-but-lethal bombs that Taliban fighters have implanted along the roads.
It was not immediately clear whether the initial Marine units faced resistance as they converged on their destinations. Marine commanders said prior to the start of the operation that they expected only minimal Taliban opposition at the outset but that assaults on the forces probably would increase once they move into towns and begin patrols. Field commanders have been told to prepare for suicide attacks, ambushes, and roadside bombings.
Officers here said the mission, which required months of planning, is the Marines’ largest operation since the 2004 invasion of Fallujah, in Iraq.
Oh, yeah, about Fallujah: Memory Hole: Willie Pete
Rarely, if ever, mentioned in the MSM, is it?
The US strategy here is predicated on the belief that a majority of people in Helmand do not favor the Taliban, which enforces a strict brand of Islam that includes an eye-for-an-eye justice and strict limits on personal behavior.
I'm tired of the Muslim-hating BS from AmeriKa's jewspapers. I no longer believe it. The "Taliban" LOVE THEIR KIDS and FAMILIES as much as Americans do -- maybe even more!
Instead, US officials believe, residents would rather have the Afghan government in control, but they have been cowed into supporting the Taliban because there was nobody to protect them.
Yeah, we are TOO BUSY DROPPING BOMBS and MISSILES on their heads!!!!
All right, before the next article you need some TRUTH, folks:
"U.S. Faces Resentment in Afghan Region The mood of the Afghan people has tipped into a popular revolt in some parts of southern Afghanistan, presenting incoming American forces with an even harder job than expected in reversing military losses to the Taliban and winning over the population.
Villagers in some districts have taken up arms against foreign troops to protect their homes or in anger after losing relatives in airstrikes, several community representatives interviewed said. Others have been moved to join the insurgents out of poverty or simply because the Taliban’s influence is so pervasive here."
That's "cowed," huh?
Good way to keep some wars going, 'eh, cui bono?
"Marines push into Afghanistan; Drive south to cut off Taliban supply routes" by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Washington Post | July 3, 2009
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan - Columns of US Marines in eight-wheeled armored vehicles pushed deep into southern Afghanistan yesterday in an attempt to cut off Taliban supply lines from Pakistan and restore order in areas long neglected by short-handed NATO forces.
Although the troops encountered roadside bombs and small-arms attacks, which resulted in the death of one Marine, commanders opted to mute their return fire. In the first 24 hours of the operation, the Marines did not lob artillery or call for aerial bombardment.
So we are being told.
The movement of the Marines to the town of Khan Neshin in the lower Helmand River valley is the most significant deployment of US forces in areas near the Pakistani border with southern Afghanistan, and it reflects a growing concern among US military and intelligence officials that much of the violence that has plagued the south is linked to a flow of fighters and munitions from Pakistan’s Baluchistan region.
Oh, NOW mix the BALUCHS into all this!!!
You can SEE WHAT is going on here, right?
So WHEN do we OCCUPY PAKISTAN and INVADE IRAN, 'bamer?
The drive to Khan Neshin is part of a Marine campaign to root out Taliban insurgents by restoring the authority of local government officials and police departments in the Helmand River valley. The 4,000-strong operation, one of the largest conducted by the US military in Afghanistan, is intended to demonstrate new strategies advocated by the Obama administration to turn around a struggling, 8-year-old war effort.
As units from the 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade fanned out on foot in other parts of the valley yesterday, their principal focus was to meet local leaders, and to set about winning their confidence, not to hunt down Taliban fighters. Marine officers distributed handbills explaining their presence and talked to residents with the help of interpreters. Some Marine companies, which had arrived by helicopter early yesterday morning, bedded down for the night in empty homes instead of constructing bases with razor wire and sand-filled barriers....
The U.S. military must have the most loving occupations in world history, 'eh?
This stuff is literally letting loose my colon.
US military and diplomatic officials say that the vast majority of Afghans, even those in violence-wracked places such as Helmand province, do not want to be ruled by the Taliban and its extremist ideology. The officials contend that if Afghans are provided security and basic services, they will switch allegiances and support the local government.
Just figured that out, or.... ?
And I NO LONGER BELIEVE what US OFFICIALS SAY or what the MSM papers report, so.... ?
Reactions to the Marine operation varied across the valley. In Khan Neshin, residents largely stayed off the streets, wary of being caught in the crossfire of possible Taliban attacks on the troops. In the northern areas, around the Nawa district, several residents approached Marines with information about where roadside bombs had been planted. Farther south, in Garmser district, a Marine company was attacked by a group of insurgents, who eventually retreated to a housing compound along a canal.
A gun battle at the house was the day’s most significant combat engagement, resulting in the Marine fatality and the deaths of at least three insurgents. As the sun set, it appeared that the standoff would continue through the night. Another significant challenge for the Marines was the 110-degree heat. Loaded down with backpacks and ammunition, and insulated by flak vests and Kevlar helmets, several fell ill from heat stroke, and five had to be evacuated for further attention.
I'm sorry, but serves them f***ing right!
Think GOD is tying to TELL THEM SOMETHING?
“All in all, it’s been a pretty good day....’’ said Major Tom Clinton, the senior watch officer in the brigade’s combat operations center at Camp Leatherneck. The experience in Khan Neshin suggests that Taliban fighters there and elsewhere in the Helmand River valley might be lying low to assess what the Marines do before trying to retaliate.
Elsewhere, the US military announced that insurgents were believed to have captured an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday.
Captured American soldier: free reign to waterboard him.
The soldier was not involved in Operation Khanjar, or “Strike of the Sword,’’ underway in southern Afghanistan.
--more--"So what is that loving sword striking?
"US presses deeper into Taliban areas; Seeks to cut off supplies, win Afghans’ trust" by Jason Straziuso and Chris Brummitt, Associated Press | July 4, 2009
NAWA, Afghanistan - US Marines pushed deeper into Taliban areas of southern Afghanistan yesterday, seeking to cut insurgent supply lines and win over local elders on the second day of the biggest US military operation here since the American-led invasion of 2001.
On the other side of the border, US missiles struck a Pakistani Taliban militant training center and communications center, killing 17 people and wounding nearly 30, Pakistani intelligence officials said. Both US operations were aimed at what President Obama considers as the biggest dangers in the region: a resurgent Taliban-led insurgency allied with Al Qaeda that threatens both nuclear-armed Pakistan and the US-backed government in Afghanistan.
Have YOU had it with the WAR-PROMOTING BS, or.... ?
The 4,000-strong US force met little resistance yesterday as troops fanned out into villages in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand Province, although one Marine was killed and several others were wounded the day before, US officials said. Despite minimal contact, the Marines could see militants using flashlights late Thursday to signal one another about American troop movements.
Captain Bill Pelletier, a military spokesman, said the goal of the Helmand operation was not simply to kill Taliban fighters but to win over the local population - a difficult task in a region where foreigners are viewed with suspicion.
If you want to win them over then LEAVE! And it's a good thing AmeriKans don't view foreigners with suspicion, 'eh? Especially Muslim ones.
Marines also hope to cut the routes used by militants to funnel weapons, ammunition, and fighters from Pakistan.... The US operation will test the Obama administration’s new strategy of holding territory to let the Afghan government establish a presence in rural areas where Taliban influence is strong.
As Operation Khanjar, or “Strike of the Sword,’’ entered its second day, Marines took control of the district centers of Nawa and Garmser, and negotiated entry into Khan Neshin, the capital of Rig district, Pelletier said.
I don't know if that is winning people over.
In Nawa, Marines met with about 20 Afghan men and boys, seeking to reassure them that the Americans wanted to protect them from the Taliban. “Are you going to enter our houses?’’ asked Mohammad
So says the MSM.
They also complained that local police were thieves not to be trusted.
It's the same everywhere, isn't it?
Marine officers promised not to enter homes and said they would remain in the area to keep out the Taliban. One elder with a gray beard asked the Marines whether they would prevent residents from saying Muslim prayers. The troops assured him they would not. In one village near Nawa, however, the atmosphere was tense....
Taking territory from the Taliban has always proved easier than holding it. The challenge is especially great in Helmand because it is a center of Afghanistan’s thriving opium production, and drug profits feed both the insurgency and corrupt government officials.
After a while you really do get tired of refuting the same bs day after day after day!
On Wednesday, a British lieutenant colonel was killed in an explosion in Helmand. Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, commander of the First Battalion Welsh Guards, was the highest-ranking British officer killed in Afghanistan.
A Canadian soldier, Corporal Nicholas Bulger, 30, was killed yesterday in Kandahar Province after his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device, the Canadian military said. Five other soldiers were hurt.
--more--"
