Originally posted by DaddyBare
reply to post by fooffstarr

---

Well to answer your question let me first say there is a conflict of opinions between the Army and Marines over this weapon...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Pakistani military moved deeper into South Waziristan on Sunday, hitting Taliban targets with F-16 fighter jets, as troops supported by helicopter gunships climbed higher into the mountainous terrain, according to military personnel and a spokesman for the militants.

Pakistani Air Force fighter jets struck the militant-held towns of Makeen, Ladha and Kotkai in the heart of Taliban territory, and ground forces have occupied territory on the edge of the militant enclave, Pakistani military personnel said.

Taliban fighters offered fierce resistance as ground troops backed by warplanes and artillery pushed into South Waziristan, the mountain headquarters of the notorious Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan said it killed more than 60 militants and lost 11 soldiers as a force of 30,000 pushed into Taliban's tribal stronghold.

Intelligence officials said at least eight more militants have died in a fierce battle in the Khaisur area, where they approached troop positions.

This Fall, Winter and coming Spring will see a possible increase in US/West casualties IMO. Action will increase as the Taliban increase their activity after they infiltrate back into Afghanistan positions from Pakistan.

This is also why McCrystal has been asking for more troops. Obama has ok'd 13000 to be exact. Once the Pakistanis push them out of their safe haven they will flood back into Afghanistan.

Originally posted by Jakes51
reply to post by SLAYER69

---

Yeah, I just re-read it, and it looks like the Taliban are playing a game of leap frog with the US and Pakistan.When one side gets to hairy, they go to another and back and forth. So apparently, if Nato doesn't cut off the retreat from Pakistan into Afghanistan from the west, it is going to be a long winter. Lets hope, they cut off that retreat and shut down the mountain passes.

Thread Situational update.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan | U.S.-led forces are intensifying operations against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan to counter an anticipated increase in attacks before a presidential runoff election next month.

At Kandahar airfield, U.S. and British pilots Wednesday monitored live streaming video from an unmanned aerial vehicle flying in a clear morning sky over southern Afghanistan, where improvised explosive device (IED) attacks have become increasingly deadly and frequent.

BRATISLAVA, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The head of NATO urged member states on Thursday to step up efforts to train and equip Afghan forces, warning that inaction would have serious consequences.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke before a meeting with alliance defence ministers in Bratislava on a new approach against the widening Taliban insurgency.

U.S. President Barack Obama is still considering a call from the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, for tens of thousands more soldiers.

"We all have to achieve more in training and equipping the Afghan security forces," Rasmussen told a security conference before the ministers' meeting in the Slovak capital, which is not expected to announce decisions on troop levels.

AND

Aboard a military jet - NATO allies in Afghanistan are in strategic limbo as they await a decision from the Obama administration on its strategy and the troops needed to implement it.

That may make it difficult to discuss anything of any substance at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Bratislava, Slovakia, Friday, where Topic A will be the mission in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates touches down there Thursday evening on his way home from stops in Hawaii, Tokyo, and Seoul. Mr. Gates acknowledged that NATO allies have many questions about how the US will proceed, but says there is still plenty to discuss since the future of the Afghanistan mission isn't only about what the US does or doesn't do.

By Viola Gienger and James G. Neuger

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- NATO backed calls by the top commander in Afghanistan to tilt allied war strategy toward protecting civilians, pointing the way to a buildup of the U.S.- led forces fighting the Taliban.

Defense ministers endorsed an assessment by U.S. General Stanley McChrystal that he says would require a strengthening of the 105,000-strong contingent charged with stabilizing the country.

"The question is do we have the strategy right in light of the situation we face? Does it need refinement in some way?" Gates noted. "And if it does need some adjustment in light of the events that have taken place over the last number of months, including the election and so on, and then what are the implications of that in terms of General McChrystal's resource request?"

Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen says defence ministers broadly support the strategy for Afghanistan outlined by the international commander there.

Gen Stanley McChrystal is thought to want around 40,000 extra troops as part of a revised military strategy.

But at a meeting of Nato ministers in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates again publicly declined to endorse the plan.

Monday was the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan in nearly over years. "Up to the Minute" Military Analyst Col. Mitch Mitchell (Ret.) discusses the situation overseas and whether or not to send more troops.

KABUL -- A series of powerful bombs killed eight American soldiers and an interpreter in southern Afghanistan Tuesday morning, according to U.S. military officials. The attacks, a day after 14 Americans died in two helicopter crashes, made October the deadliest month for the U.S. military of the eight-year Afghanistan war.

The growing violence -- along with continued political turmoil in Afghanistan -- pose urgent challenges for the Obama administration as it deliberates over how best to fight insurgents here.