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bobdina
09-10-2009, 01:24 PM
Report: Marines killed in ambush denied fire support

Staff report
Posted : Thursday Sep 10, 2009 9:48:44 EDT

Four Marines were killed Tuesday during an hours-long shootout in eastern Afghanistan, according to reports.

In a frantic first-person account of the battle, a U.S. journalist who watched it unfold said the Marines, part of an embedded training team working alongside U.S. and Afghan soldiers in the Sarkani District of Kunar province, requested artillery support to beat back the enemy ambush but were repeatedly denied by commanders who feared it would cause civilian casualties. Air support, which included U.S. helicopters, took more than an hour to arrive on the scene, according to the report published by the McClatchy News Service.

The incident is being investigated, according to the Defense Department.

Eight Afghan troops and an interpreter also died in the fighting, which the report characterized as a “furious storm” of small-arms fire and rocket attacks. Another three U.S. troops and 19 Afghans were reported wounded.

The Defense Department has not identified the dead, pending notification of their families. Marine ETTs in Afghanistan are assigned to Regional Corps Advisory Command. These advisers, who operate in four- and six-man teams, are members of the 3rd Marine Division.

Pentagon officials have disputed the accuracy of McClatchy’s report, saying Wednesday that the incident cannot be blamed on the guidelines recently enacted by U.S. commanders under pressure to reduce civilian deaths in Afghanistan.

The delay in getting helicopters to the scene “was a result, as is often the case in Afghanistan, of the fact that there are great distances between bases where such assets are located and where our troops are out operating,” said Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman. “That is just the nature of the beast in Afghanistan. It is a large country and we operate all over it.”

He could not confirm whether commanders had denied the team’s other requests for fire support.

When the attack occurred, 13 Marine and Army trainers were partnered with about 80 Afghan soldiers and border police, McClatchy reported. Their mission to the village of Ganjal, less than 10 miles from the Pakistan border, was supposed to include a meeting with local elders, with the Afghans taking the lead.


also see this post for more details http://www.apacheclips.com/boards/showthread.php?t=3645
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/09/marine_ambush_090909w/

Toki
09-10-2009, 06:08 PM
Sickening. Fuck politicians.

ghost
09-10-2009, 06:52 PM
Sickening. Fuck politicians.


Yeah. But in a conflict like this one, there's not much that you can do. Victory lies in winning the hearts and minds. Unfortunately this ties down ours troops, and gets them stuck with bullshit ROE.

Toki
09-10-2009, 09:59 PM
Yeah. But in a conflict like this one, there's not much that you can do. Victory lies in winning the hearts and minds. Unfortunately this ties down ours troops, and gets them stuck with bullshit ROE.

In war you can expect civilian casualties but my only question is why a high number of civilian die in one strike. Take the latest news from the other day. Over 100 civilians died during one air strike. What were 100 civilians doing bunched up and being in the heat of a battle? This doesn't sound.

ghost
09-11-2009, 12:50 AM
In war you can expect civilian casualties but my only question is why a high number of civilian die in one strike. Take the latest news from the other day. Over 100 civilians died during one air strike. What were 100 civilians doing bunched up and being in the heat of a battle? This doesn't sound.


Well, it's still being investigated. A German commander called in the strike after the fuel trucks were hijacked. It was also at night, so there was no reason for civilians to be out. One of the trucks got stuck, and "civilians" started taking the fuel(in buckets..etc). Some have said that the Taliban were telling them to do it, some were saying that those were the Taliban, and the weapons were removed later. But regardless of what happened, I am sure that the German commander had good reasons for calling in the strike(with the knowledge that was available to him at the time). Maybe it was reported that the trucks were hijacked, the strike was approved, and he called it in, but the truck broke down further down. Maybe there was no way for him to know that there were civilians. Not to mention there was alot of fighting that had occurred prior to this happening(so obviously there was some build up in the scenario). If there were bodies all around, and it was an airstrike that killed them, how would you know the number of people around? There would be nothing left(especially of the ones that were right by the trucks). And the only thing that has to be done to turn a dead taliban fighter into a dead civilian is remove the kalashnikov. This happens all the time in the Gaza strip. And after everything that has happened in the past with the Taliban, why should we expect anything different. Fighting from houses, hiding amongst civilians.

So you know what, I've got the official story already. It was a truck carrying baby bottles, and the drivers were on their way to a wedding party.

All of the news networks that are reporting about this can shove it up their asses, because they sure as hell weren't there. They're just speculating. They don't know anymore than the fucker next to them. And I sure as hell won't second guess because I wasn't there. All I can do is give the German commander the benefit of the doubt.

Want to see something ironic?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8241499.stm

Fuck me.

Toki
09-11-2009, 10:20 AM
Well said Ghost,