Posted on Apr 14, 2015
Taliban summer assault begins in Afghanistan by killing 18 ANA with large assaulting force
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"Taliban fighters swarmed over Afghan army posts in the country's northeast, killing at least 18 soldiers and beheading some in a major attack to mark the start of the country's summer fighting season, authorities said Monday. The assault marks a grim first summer battle for Afghan forces, now fighting largely alone after the U.S. and NATO ended their combat mission in the country at the start of this year."
Are we at the tipping point, is it time to cut our loses, is our job done, how do we stay at the larger COPs/FOBs and camps without a combat (supporting) role while this is going on, are the ANA really ready? Are you surprised this attack happened, are the foreign fighters convinced we are "done" and just waiting for the calendar to change?
Have we confused the people of Afghanistan with our labeling? The term Talib is a term of honor (relating to a student of Islam/Islamic religion) and we've continued to call those we are fighting "Taliban", which puts us at a disadvantage in the simplest basic means at the boots on the ground level, especially when trying to conduct FID. Are we giving our kids a hornets nest that they will have to confront and finish?
http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-attack-kills-18-afghan-soldiers-beheaded-093811547.html
Are we at the tipping point, is it time to cut our loses, is our job done, how do we stay at the larger COPs/FOBs and camps without a combat (supporting) role while this is going on, are the ANA really ready? Are you surprised this attack happened, are the foreign fighters convinced we are "done" and just waiting for the calendar to change?
Have we confused the people of Afghanistan with our labeling? The term Talib is a term of honor (relating to a student of Islam/Islamic religion) and we've continued to call those we are fighting "Taliban", which puts us at a disadvantage in the simplest basic means at the boots on the ground level, especially when trying to conduct FID. Are we giving our kids a hornets nest that they will have to confront and finish?
http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-attack-kills-18-afghan-soldiers-beheaded-093811547.html
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Taliban
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 28
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We kept forces in England, France, Germany, Japan, Korea and built strong ties and brought some countries into great prosperity. It wasn't done by blowing a country up and saying here's your chance.....you are on your own." Does that mean that I favor us staying for decades? Not a chance in Hades! We are trying to fix the world with our own national infrastructure crumbling around us. Take these trillions of dollars and fix our transportation systems, tunnels, bridges, aquifers, pipelines, sewers, and updating these massive civil engineering investments that turned our nation into a superpower in the first place. Put our unemployed and under-employed to work rebuilding our own nation, secure the borders, and find/create/develop alternate energy resources outside of the sandbox.
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SSG (Join to see)
Terrorism has been a fact of life in most of the world for a very long time, we need to stop giving it so much power.
We also need to really commit to something when we do it, I doubt we would have won WW2 had we tried to fight it like we wage war today. If we want to start winning again, it might help to go back to the playbook that produced positive results.
We also need to really commit to something when we do it, I doubt we would have won WW2 had we tried to fight it like we wage war today. If we want to start winning again, it might help to go back to the playbook that produced positive results.
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SFC Mark Merino
I've started a few threads about that very statement.....fighting WWII with today's media embedded.
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SSG (Join to see)
I don't have a problem with media being embedded, I believe the American people should understand the sacrifices their soldiers are making for them. I have a problem with the idea that we would commit to a war without committing to what it takes to win.
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This is nothing different than what has been going on for the past 15 years. This is how the Taliban announces the start of the fighting season. Yes, there are not as many American combat troops on the ground anymore but that doesn't mean there are none.
The Afghans are as trained as they are going to get, just like the Iraqis were trained. We can only do so much to help them. Yes, it is horrible that we spent all that time and blood training the Iraqis and are now back to do it again. The Afghans are a little better than the Iraqis, the majority will stand and fight and the command is fairly capable and able to push reinforcements to locations throughout Afghanistan pretty quickly.
Is it time to leave, I say yes! My opinion does not matter because the Afghan President doesn't want us to leave. I think we will continue to drawdown but it will be a good while before we completely pull out of Afghanistan.
We will see how this fighting season goes and how well the Afghan forces defend the country. I am currently advising a Kandak fairly close to where this happened, looks like it's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum...the PX is all out of bubble gum.
The Afghans are as trained as they are going to get, just like the Iraqis were trained. We can only do so much to help them. Yes, it is horrible that we spent all that time and blood training the Iraqis and are now back to do it again. The Afghans are a little better than the Iraqis, the majority will stand and fight and the command is fairly capable and able to push reinforcements to locations throughout Afghanistan pretty quickly.
Is it time to leave, I say yes! My opinion does not matter because the Afghan President doesn't want us to leave. I think we will continue to drawdown but it will be a good while before we completely pull out of Afghanistan.
We will see how this fighting season goes and how well the Afghan forces defend the country. I am currently advising a Kandak fairly close to where this happened, looks like it's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum...the PX is all out of bubble gum.
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CSM Michael J. Uhlig
I believe the Afghans are more a warrior culture as well CSM (Join to see), using the Pashtunwali culture and in general more willing to fight than Iraqi's.
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SFC Mark Merino
If you could take the warrior spirit of the Kurds and inject it into the Iraqi people, they would have a chance to stand on their own two feet. I totally agree about the Afghan people. In Afghanistan, those who oppose the Taliban will fight to the death. I never deployed there so I can only go by what I learned from my friends returning home. I take what the government and media tells me with 1/2 a grain of salt.
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Give the country "self-determination", 14 years of American occupation and what the people there want is for us to go home. Our continued presence is not a win for us. Leave and we can parlay with the guys who come out on top as the true leaders of the nation.
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