President Obama has asked senior officials for a province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan to determine which regions are being managed effectively by local leaders and which require international help, information that his advisers say will guide his decision on how many additional U.S. troops to send to the battle
President Obama met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff about troop levels in Afghanistan. As David Martin reports, the military now admits just getting troops there would take a long time.
.....Thread Update....
Maj Gen Messenger told how British troops had taken control of areas with "minimal interference" from the Taliban. He said military chiefs on the ground were "very pleased with how it has gone - the key objectives have been secured and have been done so with minimal interference".
US-led airstrikes rained down on the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province, where up to 1,000 insurgents are believed to be holed up.
An MoD spokeswoman said 1,200 British troops were engaged in the offensive - and a further 3,000 were available - as the operation, led by US Marine Corps, started. Soldiers from the Grenadier Guards Battle Group, Coldstream Guards and the Royal Welsh were taking part, with the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team and the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team. Operation Moshtarak - which means together in the Dari language - involves around 15,000 International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) and Afghan National Army troops.
American marines landed by helicopter in a pre-dawn assault on the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, seizing two central shopping bazaars and firing rockets at Taliban fighters who attacked from mud-walled compounds.
As the marines secured their first objective, a jumble of buildings at the centre of the farming town, thousands of soldiers moved in on foot.
Harrier jets called in by the marines fired heavy-calibre machineguns at the Taliban. Fighting continued for hours, according to an embedded correspondent. Cobra gunships unleashed Hellfire missiles into bunkers and tunnels.
By nightfall, marines appeared to be in control of the centre of Marjah, home to about 75,000 people. “The Americans are walking by on the street outside my house,” a bazaar resident said. “They’re carrying large bags and guns but they’re not fighting any more.” Asked what he thought of their presence, he said: “I have hope for the future.”
Gentlemen. The conduct of this 'offensive' offends my sense of humor. I can't, for the life of me, think of a logical and compelling reason to broadcast and advertise, to a guerrilla force, that you are coming to get them.
Local Marjah residents crept out from hiding after dawn Sunday, some reaching out to Afghan troops partnered with Marine platoons.
"Could you please take the mines out?" Mohammad Kazeem, a local pharmacist, asked the Marines through an interpreter. The entrance to his shop had been completely booby-trapped, without any way for him to re-enter his home, he said.
Taliban fighters unleashed automatic gunfire at NATO helicopters flying in and out of the town of Marjah, and fired on Marines at a ceremony to raise the Afghan flag over a building to mark progress in the offensive.
Captain Ryan Sparks compared the intensity of the fighting to the U.S.-led offensive against militants in the Iraqi town of Fallujah in 2004.
"In Fallujah, it was just as intense. But there, we started from the north and worked down to the south. In Marjah, we're coming in from different locations and working toward the center, so we're taking fire from all angles," Sparks said.
MARJAH, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents tried to overrun a U.S. Marine outpost with a combination of rocket-propelled grenades and homicide bombers in a brazen attack just after sundown on Sunday.
The Marines and Afghan soldiers fended off the assault, shooting the homicide attackers before they had a chance to detonate their weapons.
The attack took place on the second day of a major offensive to wrest control of this town of 75,000 people from the Taliban insurgents who have dominated it for years.
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A son of the leader of a major Taliban faction attacking Western forces in Afghanistan was killed in a recent missile strike by a U.S. drone in Pakistan, security officials said on Friday.
Originally posted by SLAYER69
I am simply posting whats happening. Reporting whats going on is a far cry from glorifying war. If that's your take on it then so be it. Would you prefer censorship and not allow the public to see whats really happening?
[edit on 17-10-2009 by SLAYER69]
Updated in 2003, the policy states, "There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning or departing from Ramstein Air Base or Dover Air Force Base." And the justification has ostensibly been respect for the soldiers and their families.
The case of a freelance photographer in Iraq who was barred from covering the Marines after he posted photos on the Internet of several of them dead has underscored what some journalists say is a growing effort by the American military to control graphic images from the war.
