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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: Officials: 9 US troops killed in Afghanistan Officials: 9 US troops killed in Afghanistan By JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago KABUL, Afghanistan - A multi-pronged militant assault on a small, remote U.S. base killed nine American soldiers and wounded 15 Sunday in the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years, officials said. The attack on the U.S. outpost came the same day a suicide bomber targeting a police patrol killed 24 people, while U.S. coalition and Afghan soldiers killed 40 militants elsewhere in the south. The militant assault on the American troops began around 4:30 a.m. in a dangerous region close to the Pakistan border and lasted throughout the day. Militants fired machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars from homes and a mosque in the village of Wanat in the mountainous northeastern province of Kunar, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement. Nine U.S. troops were killed in the attack, a Western official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the troops' nationalities. NATO confirmed nine of its soldiers had been killed and 15 wounded. Four Afghan soldiers also were wounded, NATO said. "Although no final assessment has been made, it is believed insurgents suffered heavy casualties during several hours of fighting," NATO said in a statement. Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, the top U.S. military spokeswoman in Afghanistan, said she could not comment because the fight was ongoing. The attack appeared to be the deadliest for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since June 2005, when 16 American troops were killed — also in Kunar province — when their helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. Those troops were on their way to rescue a four-man team of Navy SEALs caught in a militant ambush. Three SEALs were killed, the fourth was rescued days later by a farmer. Sunday's attack came during a period of rising violence in Afghanistan. Monthly death tolls of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan surpassed U.S. military deaths in Iraq in May and June. Last Monday, a suicide bomber attacked the Indian Embassy in Kabul, killing 58 people in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since 2001. In two other incidents this month, an Afghan government commission found that U.S. aircraft killed 47 civilians during a bombing run in Nangarhar province, while a separate incident in Nuristan province is alleged by an Afghan officials to have killed 22 civilians. The high casualty tolls have prompted the International Committee of the Red Cross this week to ask all sides to show restraint and avoid civilian casualties. But violence continued around the country on Sunday. A suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up next to a police patrol Sunday in the southern province of Uruzgan, killing 24 people. The bomb attack on a police patrol at a busy intersection of the Deh Rawood district killed five police officers and 19 civilians, wounding more than 30 others, said Juma Gul Himat, Uruzgan's police chief. Most of those killed and wounded were shopkeepers and young boys selling goods in the street, he said. Elsewhere, Taliban militants executed two women in central Afghanistan late Saturday after accusing them of working as prostitutes on a U.S. base. The women, dressed in blue burqas, were shot and killed just outside Ghazni city in central Afghanistan, said Sayed Ismal, a spokesman for Ghazni's governor. He called the two "innocent local people." Taliban fighters told Associated Press Television News the two women were executed for allegedly running a prostitution ring catering to U.S. soldiers and other foreign contractors at a U.S. base in Ghazni city. 1st Lt. Nathan Perry, a U.S. military spokesman, said he had not heard allegations "anything close to that nature." Meanwhile, at least 40 militants were killed following an attack on Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces in Helmand province, the coalition said in a statement. The militants attacked the combined forces near Sangin on Saturday from "multiple concealed and fortified positions," the coalition said. Thirty "enemy boats" and several small bridges have been destroyed on the Helmand River during two days of fighting, it said. A soldier with NATO's International Security Assistance Force died in a roadside blast in Helmand province Sunday, a statement said. The soldier's nationality was not released and it wasn't clear if the death was connected to the two-day battle. More than 2,300 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of official figures. In the country's north, a soldier serving with ISAF died of wounds caused by an explosion Saturday, the military alliance said in a statement. The statement did not give any further details of the explosion. The soldier's nationality was not been disclosed. There are nearly 53,000 troops from 40 nations serving the ISAF in Afghanistan.
Poster Comment: Obama, McCain split over Afghan strategy ; Debate shifting troops from Iraq From: The Boston Globe Date: July 6, 2008 Author: Bryan Bender -Snip If elected, Obama says, he would immediately withdraw thousands of ground troops from Iraq and send them to Afghanistan to help undermanned US forces defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda. "It's time to refocus our attention on the war we have to win in Afghanistan," Obama said in a speech last week. "It is time to go after the Al Qaeda leadership where it actually exists." -Snip The Illinois senator, whose opposition to the Iraq war is a campaign centerpiece, has concluded that the US presence there has fanned Islamic terrorism and diverted scarce military resources from taking on new terrorist camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Al Qaeda operatives trained for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. -Snip "Afghanistan should have been our fight," said retired Air Force General Merrill "Tony" McPeak, national cochairman of Obama's campaign. -Snip
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#1. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
Just what we need in Afghan, more girls with high rank sitting behind desks by day and gracing the club bar by night. Meanwhile the Private Grunts are stuck out in no mans land being killed. Stupid damned government, military and feminists. Voters want more war and they will have it.
I was just watching the Military channel and they were discussing "Non-Kinetic Operations" in Afghanistan. I have to agree, between the tiny little woman Marines and this fully PC'd military, these kids haven't a snowballs chance in hell in beating these hardened goat herders. Not that we belong there, but frankly that's another story. If there was an economy for these middle class kids, they would never be in the service to begin with. This attack is shades of bad things ahead. As Iraq cools, this place is popping. And lets not forget this is where we supplied bin Laden and his Mujahedeen. Talk about US getting our lumps where the Soviets met their Waterloo. Good grief, get them home. PS: Will the OPILES feel as strongly about ending this mess as we all do Iraq???
When the draft starts, the O'Piles will have to make a stand with Americans, or justify the draft and more killing. Those that left here are so in love with Israel that they WILL go for more killing as long as it is not them nor Israelis.
The PILES have already made their intentions known. If Obama supports war in Afghanistan against a mythical al Qaeda, they will support Him and his war.
And with a draft, guess who will be the ones making sure their young ones do NOT go? The bitter small town riffraff will all be invited.
#7. To: Cynicom (#5)
frauds
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