Wonderful: U.S. Seeks Direct Talks With Mullah Omar

I guess this will be a negotiated surrender. Should do wonders for Obama's re-election and let's face it, that's what this is all about.

American officials have set a goal of direct negotiations with Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, prompting Washington to approach intermediaries to broker meetings within months.

With America expected to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July, Washington has stepped up the pace of talks with Taliban leaders.

During a visit to Islamabad last month, Marc Grossman, Washington's special envoy to the region, appealed for help in contacting the reclusive Taliban leader, according to Imtiaz Gul, the head of the Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad.

"He said we are looking for people or groups that can demonstrate their access to Mullah Omar," Mr Gul said.

In February, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, signalled a sea change in policy when she compared talking with the Taliban to President Ronald Reagan's decision to "sit down with the Soviets". During a farewell trip to the region last week, Robert Gates, the outgoing US defence secretary, predicted that talks would start "by the end of the year".

Mr Grossman, the replacement for special envoy Richard Holbrooke, has been nicknamed "Mr Reconciliation" and has been told to focus on tying up an agreement that will speed up the return of American troops.

American officials had already contacted Tayyab Aga, Mullah Omar's personal secretary, who was the last public voice of the Taliban in 2001. Analysts believe that President Barack Obama, with Osama bin Laden dead and an economic crisis at home, could announce a larger than expected initial withdrawal this year – at least 10,000 troops – although no announcement has yet been made.

One senior defence official said: "The president has said he wants the withdrawal to start in July and to be meaningful. Those are the discussions that have to happen."

Mr Gul said that time was running out to strike a political deal between Afghanistan's warring factions.

"They [the Americans] are desperate. The timeline has already been announced so they are operating by the idiom 'the sooner the better'," he said. Last year a shopkeeper posed as Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, a former Taliban minister, and twice met Western officials before they realised they had been tricked – and fleeced for thousands of dollars.

Eight People Murdered for Book Burning Half a World Away

Some days I just feel like throwing my hands in the air and today is shaping up to be one of those days as far as the Middle East is concerned, or to clarify, those wonderful fun-loving fanatics of the Islamic cult.

Reports are coming out of some medieval head choppers in Afghanistan, who probably while acting under the influence of some strong opiates and stoked by the hate speech spewed at their mosque, have killed eight members of a UN mission. They beheaded two of them. The news is coming out in drips and drabs and I am having to piece together the information from various reports, especially since there are some in the news business that seem to have an aversion to labeling the killers. I hate to imagine the debates taking place in the editorial rooms.

The killings were sparked by the burning of a Koran by some guy in Florida.

At least eight people have been killed in Afghanistan during an attack on a UN compound in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, officials say.

The violence occurred during a protest reported to be over the burning of the Koran in a US church last month.

What never ceases to amaze me is that in a country that is so backwards as Afghanistan, where the main instrument for receiving news besides the weird beards are AM radios, can hear about such an incident in the first place. To get them whipped up into such a frenzy that you can go out and slaughter eight people like cattle is truly a testament to how this cult can claim the title of the Religion of Peace™. The sad part is the folks who were murdered were probably not even aware of the Koran burning.

The reason I want to throw up my hands is because these folks do a good enough job of killing each other with their whole Sunni/Shiite hatefest that I would like to see westerners just completely withdraw from the region, let them slaughter each other to their little hearts content, but if they export their murder, punish them harshly. It is obvious that all of our best intentions are a waste of time. They want to live in the 9th century, let them. Screw the oil; hell, America has the largest quantity of untapped oil in the world if the politicians would just let us at it. We are smart enough to come up with all sorts of alternative energy sources also, even though most of it is not viable for mass use yet, but it will be.

People of course are going to blame the preacher for burning the book and placing the blame for these murders on him which, even if the act is stupid, is no reason to murder. Put the blame where it belongs and quit bowing to the violence of the followers of a pedophile make-believe prophet. As long as violence works, they are going to continue using it. What incentive is there to change?

These people are not worthy of any of our expenditures in time, blood or money.

VIDEO: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) Reports From Afghanistan

This has been out for a few days now but shouldn't be missed.

Obligatory snark: Let's hope a certain someone is taking notes.



h/t: Amanda Carpenter. Cross-posted.

'One-legged Warrior of Ashoqeh'

The spirit, determination, and sheer guts of today's soldiers never ceases to amaze and impress. I know much has been written and said about how this current generation of Americans just doesn't have the same gumption as those of previous generations, but then along comes a story like this to prove that maybe, just maybe we ain't in as bad a shape as we think. Granted the military is naturally going to attract a different breed of person anyway just by the very nature of the deadly serious business they are engaged in, but still you have to revel in the intestinal fortitude of an individual like now CPT Dan Luckett.

Long story short. While serving in Iraq his HMMV was hit by an VIED, the type that is tied to Iran, which severed the toes of one foot and amputated one leg. CPT Dan is back on active duty, and not only on duty but serving in Afghanistan and performing his duties.

Capt. Brant Auge, Luckett's 30-year-old company commander, said Luckett was as capable as every soldier in his company, and treated no different.

"He's a soldier who just happens to be missing a leg," said Auge, who is from Ocean Springs, Mississippi. "He tries to play it down as much as possible, he doesn't like to bring a lot of attention to it."

On one of those early patrols, Luckett took to a knee and his pants leg rode up a little bit, revealing the prosthetic limb to a shocked group of Afghan soldiers nearby, Auge said. One gave him the nickname, the "One-legged Warrior of Ashoqeh."

When Tearing Pages Out of the Koran Is Acceptable

This is the face of the enemy we are fighting and the tactics they employ. The left in this country, who no doubt has been the source of amusement and entertainment of the Taliban and their ilk, just can't seem to be bothered with recognizing this aspect of the wonderful religion of peace.

From 3- and 4-year-olds used as human shields or to gather spent cartridges, to teenagers offered motorcycles for planting roadside bombs, children are being used more and more to fight Americans here, Marines say.

“We’ve seen children actually dropping mortar rounds in the (firing) tubes against us,” says Lt. Col. Michael Manning, commander of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment that is rotating home after seven months in this hilly northern district of Helmand province.

“I’ve never seen a culture that cares so little for human life. They [The Taliban] truly don’t care unless it impacts their own personal family,” says Manning, who has lost 13 Marines and seen 127 wounded since March.

When will the media and the progressives in this country who fancy themselves better then everybody else cause they have some sort of imaginary "moral high ground" finally come to grips the truth on the ground? They are being used, but I guess just like every other addict until they can admit they have a problem they can't begin the road to recovery. The addiction in this case is their blind allegiance to promoting a socialist agenda.

Speaking of addicts.

At a remote firebase east of here, a squad leader, Sgt. John Ellis, says he found children selling heroin dosages wrapped in torn pages of the Koran in the village streets.

Sort of makes all that hoopla last week over the minister, who is a fool, with his little stunt seem nothing more then a crisis fabricated for our western consumption with our newsreader overlords vastly over-inflating the story.

Here is a little test for you. See if you can spot the good guys and the bad guys in these photos.



How is that view from your moral high ground? One side murders, maims, and tortures women and children while the other side offers themselves up as human shields to protect them.

'Hey, You Know, We Only Have To Hold Out For So Long'

This is what happens when community organizers try on the big boy pants.

The top U.S. Marine general in Afghanistan said President Barack Obama’s announced July 2011 deadline to start withdrawing troops from the country had given “sustenance” to the Taliban.

“We know the president was talking to several audiences at the same time when he made his comments on July 2011,” Gen. James Conway told reporters on Tuesday. “In some ways, we think right now it’s probably giving our enemy sustenance….In fact, we’ve intercepted communications that say, ‘Hey, you know, we only have to hold out for so long.’”

Conway, who recently returned from a trip to the region, said he expected Marines to remain on the ground in southern Afghanistan, the traditional stronghold for the Taliban, well after July 2011, though he himself is set to retire in the fall.

Conway probably shouldn't plan on a return to Afghanistan any time soon.

Taliban Claim Captured U.S. Soldier Has Converted to Islam

Maybe John Kerry can look into this while he's busy negotiating our surrender. I suspect this is all propaganda but it'll surely play into the hands of those who'd prefer to cut and run from Afghanistan.

A captured American soldier is training Taliban fighters bomb-making and ambush skills, according to one of his captors and Afghan intelligence officials.

Private Bowe Bergdahl disappeared in June 2009 while based in eastern Afghanistan and is thought to be the only U.S. serviceman in captivity.

The 24-year-old has converted to Islam and now has the Muslim name Abdullah, one of his captors told The Sunday Times.

A Taliban deputy district commander in Paktika, who called himself Haji Nadeem, told the newspaper that Bergdahl taught him how to dismantle a mobile phone and turn it into a remote control for a roadside bomb.

Nadeem claimed he also received basic ambush training from the U.S. soldier.

'Most of the skills he taught us we already knew,' he said. 'Some of my comrades think he's pretending to be a Muslim to save himself so they wouldn't behead him.'

Afghan intelligence officials also believe that Bergdahl is 'cooperating with the Taliban' and is acting as adviser to fighters at a base in the tribal area of Pakistan.

Obama Whines: 'I Don't Have a Crystal Ball'

He doesn't have a crystal ball, he can't suck up the oil spill with a straw, he's totally in over his head, he hasn't got a clue and could we all just leave the poor baby alone so he can relax and work in a few rounds of golf?

He's frustrated!

President Barack Obama has referred to the 'obsession' with the withdrawal date for US troops from Afghanistan and reiterated his focus on making sure the mission is successful.

Mr Obama's show of frustration about when he will end the unpopular war in Afghanistan came in his closing press conference at the G-20 summit in Toronto, where industrialised countries committed to slash their budget deficits in half by 2013.

The president said the United States shares that commitment.

At the end of a week in which he dismissed his top commander in Afghanistan, Mr Obama defended his war strategy and said the United States would assist the Afghans 'for a long time to come.'

'I don't have a crystal ball,' the president said when asked about a five-year Afghanistan exit strategy endorsed on Saturday by the Group of Eight major industrial democracies.

'I think that right now the debate surrounding Afghanistan is presented as either we get up and leave immediately because there's no chance at a positive outcome, or we stay basically indefinitely and do quote unquote whatever it takes for as long as it takes.'

Of course he's the one who set the date to start withdrawal, but don't anyone bring that up right now, OK?

Meanwhile, after 70 days, The Most Incompetent President Ever has finally relented and accepted help to plug the damn hole his kid has been pestering him about.

What a sport.

This probably did the trick.

Oil Spill Timeline from RightChange on Vimeo.

Will He Stay or Will He Go?

First off let me say that I haven't read the much ballyhooed Gen. McChrystal interview, actually more of a piece filled with anecdotal stories, in Rolling Stones magazine, nor do I intend to. In it's rawest form it is just a story on the animosity that exists between the military and the politicians.

The tensions have always been there and will always be there. Even the vaunted warrior civilization of Sparta had it's disagreements. The heroic battle involving the 300 at Thermopylae would never have taken place if not for the fact that the political leaders in Sparta, not wishing to fully engage the Persians, instead sent a token force to be sacrificed to appease the generals.

I served under 5 presidents, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush and with the exception of Reagan most were held in at least suspicion and others downright disdain within the ranks. One truism is that nobody wants the military until the barbarians are at the wall. One belief that I hold dear is that once the politicians make the decision to pick up the phone and call the Pentagon they then need to sit down, shut up, and wait for the call back advising them that the problem is solved and they can now go about screwing it back up.

The fact that this Rolling Stone reporter decided to run with the story, which I don't blame him really, leads me to believe that he had some visions of those scenes from the movie Patton in which Patton stayed in hot water because of his expressed disdain for the political class.

Should McChrystal and his aides minded their opinions while in the presence of this reporter? No doubt, just like you should anytime there is a microphone, a camera, or a member of the press present. None of them are your friends and nothing is off the record.

Will he lose his job? Who knows, and for a president who now has a track record of consistently making the wrong decisions, nothing is beyond the realm of possibilities. It will probably come down to how loud and in his face the anti war crowd can get. The only thing Obama fears is appearing to not be liberal enough. We all know he is thin skinned and the little baby gets his feelings hurt easily so we will have to see how he treats his hand picked choice to lead the war in Afghanistan.

On the bright side maybe he will take the general to his favorite golf course for a round or two. Seems to be something he is best at.

Quite honestly, now that the Afghan President has issued a statement saying he thinks McChrystal is the best thing to happen since sliced bread, he will probably get fired. See, that old suspicion of all things political that is now hard wired into my psyche, is whispering in my ears, "Of course he will fire him. What makes you think he wants to succeed in Afghanistan? He needs to line up more "Blame Bush" talking points for his reelection campaign."

Never underestimate the ability of this administration to miss an opportunity while exploiting a crisis. Even if they have to manufacture the crisis.

The 'Saudi Arabia of Lithium'

One can imagine hyperventilating environmentalists reaching for the pharmaceutical lithium when they read this today. Can it be long until someone accuses us of being in Afghanistan so we can steal their minerals?

The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials. The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.

The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.

While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.

“There is stunning potential here,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”

The value of the newly discovered mineral deposits dwarfs the size of Afghanistan’s existing war-bedraggled economy, which is based largely on opium production and narcotics trafficking as well as aid from the United States and other industrialized countries. Afghanistan’s gross domestic product is only about $12 billion.

“This will become the backbone of the Afghan economy,” said Jalil Jumriany, an adviser to the Afghan minister of mines.

Of course by the time they get up to speed and the United States is no longer in the country it'll wind up being controlled by the Taliban.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

'This is the Definition of a Dirty War'

Our guys look the wrong way at a terrorist and they're hauled up on charges. The Israelis are constantly under attack for using supposed WMD when defending themselves against the Islamist marauders.

Yet when we see stories like this we get stifled yawns. No fretting over Geneva Convention protections, no war crimes tribunals, no condemnation from the UN.

Nothing. In fact, we'll probably hear that they wouldn't resort to such brutality if we just let them live in peace.

We made them do it.

British troops risk being infected with HIV as Taliban fighters are hiding contaminated needles with their bombs.

Heroin syringes as well as razor blades are being buried in the ground by insurgents in Afghanistan so that they prick bomb squad experts.

It is believed that the needles, used in Helmand province, are contaminated with hepatitis and HIV as the Taliban use increasingly 'despicable' tactics.

Protective Kevlar gloves have been issued to all Royal Engineer and Royal Logistic Corps bomb search teams.

Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, a former Army officer, exposed the tactic. ‘Are there no depths to which these people will stoop?’ he told the Sun.

‘This is the definition of a dirty war.’

Lieutenant Colonel David Southall, Commanding Officer of the Counter-IED Task Force said: 'Improvised explosive devices remain a tactic of desperation and last resort.

More Grist For the Palin Conspiracy Nuts

How long before the alleged actions of this soldier are linked to former governor Sarah Palin via her son's service in the same unit? A unit based out of Alaska and the soldier in question being from Wasilla it shouldn't take too long.

A U.S. soldier has been charged with premeditated murder in the deaths of three Afghan civilians, Fox News has confirmed.

Specialist Jeremy Morlock, a 22-year-old Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier, was charged Friday with murdering three Afghan civilians this year in Kandahar province. He also was charged with assaulting a soldier in his unit.

Morlock, of Wasilla, Alaska, could face the death penalty if convicted.

As with all stories of this sort, judgment should be withheld until the facts are revealed and any prosecution, if it even materializes, is made. We have heard of too many of these sort of stories which have either resulted in charges being dropped or the accused being found not guilty. Let's not act like the late Congressman whatshisname from Pennsylvania.

British Army Sniper Ices Pair of Taliban From 8,120 Feet

They never saw it coming. In fact they didn't hear it coming either. Let's have a tip of the cap to Craig Harrison, perhaps the most accurate sniper ever.

A BRITISH Army sniper has set a new sharpshooting distance record by killing two Taliban machinegunners in Afghanistan from more than 1 miles away.

Craig Harrison, a member of the Household Cavalry, killed the insurgents with consecutive shots — even though they were 3,000ft beyond the most effective range of his rifle.

“The first round hit a machinegunner in the stomach and killed him outright,” said Harrison, a Corporal of Horse. “He went straight down and didn’t move.

“The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and turned as my second shot hit him in the side. He went down, too. They were both dead.”

The shooting — which took place while Harrison’s colleagues came under attack — was at such extreme range that the 8.59mm bullets took almost three seconds to reach their target after leaving the barrel of the rifle at almost three times the speed of sound.

The distance to Harrison’s two targets was measured by a GPS system at 8,120ft, or 1.54 miles. The previous record for a sniper kill is 7,972ft, set by a Canadian soldier who shot dead an Al-Qaeda gunman in March 2002.

In a remarkable tour of duty, Harrison cheated death a few weeks later when a Taliban bullet pierced his helmet but was deflected away from his skull. He later broke both arms when his army vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb.

Harrison was sent back to the UK for treatment, but insisted on returning to the front line after making a full recovery.

“I was lucky that my physical fitness levels were very high before my arms were fractured and after six weeks in plaster I was still in pretty good shape,” he said. “It hasn’t affected my ability as a sniper.”

Harrison, from Gloucestershire, was reunited in Britain with his wife Tanya and daughter Dani, 16, last month. Recalling his shooting prowess in Helmand province, he said: “It was just unlucky for the Taliban that conditions were so good and we could see them so clearly.”

Harrison and his colleagues were in open-topped Jackal 4x4 vehicles providing cover for an Afghan national army patrol south of Musa Qala in November last year. When the Afghan soldiers and Harrison’s troop commander came under enemy fire, the sniper, whose vehicle was further back on a ridge, trained his sights on a Taliban compound in the distance. His L115A3 long-range rifle, the army’s most powerful sniper weapon, is designed to be effective at up to 4,921ft and supposedly capable of only “harassing fire” beyond that range.

“We saw two insurgents running through its courtyard, one in a black dishdasha, one in green,” he said. “They came forward carrying a PKM machinegun, set it up and opened fire on the commander’s wagon.

“Conditions were perfect, no wind, mild weather, clear visibility. I rested the bipod of my weapon on a compound wall and aimed for the gunner firing the machinegun.

“The driver of my Jackal, Trooper Cliff O’Farrell, spotted for me, providing all the information needed for the shot, which was at the extreme range of the weapon.”

Harrison killed one machinegunner with his first attempt and felled the other with his next shot. He then let off a final round to knock the enemy weapon out of action.

Harrison discovered that he had set a new record only on his return to UK barracks nine days ago. The previous record was held by Corporal Rob Furlong, of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, who was using a 12.7mm McMillan TAC-50 rifle.

Tom Irwin, a director of Accuracy International, the British manufacturer of the L115A3 rifle, said: “It is still fairly accurate beyond 4,921ft, but at that distance luck plays as much of a part as anything.”

Meet Madison Wisconsin's Newest K9 Member

Uncle Jimbo, Jim Hanson, from Blackfive posted a link to this video about the father of a fallen paratrooper who is a member of the Madison, WI police force. The police department just took the unusual step of naming one their most recent graduates of K9 training in memory of his son Josh.

Damn dust keeps getting in the eyes. Maybe it is the pollen.

Whoa! Doctors Remove Live Explosive From Afghan Soldier's Head

Talk about having a steady hand.

US military doctors in Afghanistan -- decked out in full body armor and surrounded by a bomb squad -- surgically removed a live explosive device that had become lodged in a soldier's scalp after an attack.

The risky operation at Bagram Airfield took five hours to complete and is believed to be the first of its kind in the Afghanistan war, according to the Air Force News Service.

When the injured soldier was initially brought into the emergency room, the medical staff thought the 2.5-inch-long, unexploded ordnance was just scrap metal. But after peering at the CAT scan, Lt. Col. Anthony Terreri realized he was looking at something far from normal.

I then looked at the scout image and could see there was an air gap on one end, and what looked almost like the tip of a tube of lipstick at the end, and decided this didn't look quite right," he said.

Once they figured out they were dealing with an explosive-packed device, all unnecessary personnel were evacuated, and an explosive-ordnance disposal team was called in.

The solider has been left with traumatic brain injury.

Obama Administration Ready To Piss Away Ten Years of Sacrifice

In yet further proof of this administration's application of "smart power" they have now managed to totally hack off the president of Afghanistan. Nobody is going to deny that there were problems with the elections recently held, but if this administration is going to hail Chavez in Venezuela as some sort of hero then they need to drop their criticism of Karzai.

The Afghan President’s frustration boiled over at a closed meeting on Saturday. According to one Afghan MP who was present, Mr Karzai said: “If I come under foreign pressure, I might join the Taleban.”

This country hasn't seen this level of destruction since Sherman made his infamous march to the sea. Instead of leaving torn-up railroad tracks and burned plantations in their wake, they have instead used the Constitution to light the stogies of their political allies, and shackled all of us with the chains of debt and reliance on the federal government for everything from the cars we buy, the banks we do business with, loans for school and our very life by their takeover of healthcare in America.

This revelation coming on the heels of the nuanced new policy in regards to our nuclear stockpiles have our enemies not just knocking on the gates, but coming into the kingdom in a ticker tape parade.

Everybody wants to stay optimistic and talk about upcoming elections as a chance to restore the republic; I have my doubts we will survive that long or that the damage being done by this administration can be reversed.

Life Just Got Tougher For Our Troops In Afghanistan

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has ordered the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to close many of the restaurants (Burger King, Subway and TGI Friday's included), stores, sports venues and concert stages that provide U.S. troops with some comforts of home while fighting a war abroad.

Hell of a way to fight a war, huh? Once again a decision has been made not with the welfare of our troops in mind but rather appeasing local sensitivities. Our troops are deployed to Afghanistan for a year at a time in the case of the Army, different branches have different rules, but having a little slice of home at the bigger bases was a nice morale boost.

I am sure those that are deployed to the more forward bases will the most affected. It used to be something to look forward to on those infrequent times when you got to get off of your FOB with the slit trenches for latrines and five gallon cans hung for showers and visit a big base and be reminded that life would get better.

This is a poor decision in my opinion and is just further proof of the rumblings that I have heard more and more of from the guys deployed about how "garrison" has broken out. Most of those complaints were coming from service members stationed in Iraq. Basically what it means that now the officers and anal retentive NCO's are more concerned with the big things in life like starched ACU's and rendering proper salutes then they are the tactical situation.

Along with the highly restrictive Rules of Engagement, which is some sort of perversion of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which boils down to Don't Shoot, Don't Attack, taking away what can only be viewed as a luxury for these service members can only further the dissension in the ranks.

As for CSM Hall who said on an official blog that "this is a war zone, not an amusement park", might I suggest he get out into the Hinterlands and live for a couple weeks eating MRE's and humping a 100 pounds of grunt junk around the mountains while chasing the Taliban and it might just change his definition of what an amusement park is.

Community Rallies To Save Deployed Soldier's Horse Farm

A little good news to go along with all of the bad news that assaults us each and every day.

This is the story of a National Guard soldier who, while deployed to Afghanistan, had his horse farm flooded during the recent flooding we experienced in Georgia. He was not the only one affected; former American woman's soccer team star Michelle Akers suffered the same fate. While I am glad to see the community ralied around this soldier, I would hope the same sense of giving extends to Ms. Akers.

Both of these individuals have represented their country admirably.

The Table Is Set - Battle of Marjah To Start Soon

For quite some time US and Afghanistan military leaders have been going public about their plans to attack the city of Marjah. Just like the battle of Fallujah there were a couple of reasons for this.

First of course is to warn the civilian population and allow those that can escape to do so. The Taliban of course has a vested interest in holding onto their captives.

Second is to allow all those sympathetic to the Taliban the opportunity to come join what will no doubt turn out to be yet one more mass migration to visit their version of paradise and to wallow in the lushness of the 72 raisins waiting for them there.

All the pieces are now in place and all that is left is to actually kick off the attack.

The American forces of course are going to be hampered by the Rules of Engagement (ROE) that they must follow, which is why the Taliban held onto as many civilians as possible. The current tactic is for them to hide behind women and children until they run out ammo and then throw their weapon to the ground, effectively rendering our forces incapable of engaging them any further. They simply walk away.

There will be no shock and awe type attack, rather it will be a very slow and deliberate process to clear the mines and IED's which surround the city and then a very dangerous and manpower intensive house to house clearing operation.

Keep them in your hearts and minds in the coming days.

Imagine The Baggage Fees Airlines Would Charge

Here is a little video to show what our guys in Afghanistan have to carry, what we called hump, when they go outside the wire.

LANGUAGE WARNING:



Water - Check
Bullets - Check
iPod - Check

iPod???

Back in the day when I did this for a living we did not have the ballistic armor vests that they have nowadays. The only thing between me and a bullet was the buttons on my BDU's, like we used to say. I know it is a hassle to wear, but not having it is far worse.

The poncho liner that he talks about is basically a nylon blanket. It can provide some protection from the cold down to about 35° or so but it certainly doesn't replace the warmth of a sleeping bag.

I am puzzled by the 2 MRE's for a seven day mission so I can only presume that they intend to resupply them.

As far as the ammo, he ain't carrying no where near enough. He needs to stock up in that department. Going outside the wire with anything less then 500 rounds for your personal weapon ain't going to cut it in my book.

Batteries, batteries, and more batteries. Those things are heavy, but they are used to power everything from their GPS, to their radios, to their Night Vision Goggles (NVG) so they are also an necessary evil.