Eight U.S. Troops Killed in Afghan Battle

[question everything]

Source: Reuters

Eight U.S. troops were killed in battle after tribal militia attacked two combat outposts in a remote area in eastern Afghanistan, the military said on Sunday, the deadliest battle for U.S. troops in more than a year.

Two Afghan soldiers were also killed in the battle, which took place in a remote area from which U.S. forces had already announced plans to withdraw as part of commander General Stanley McChrystal's strategy to focus his forces on population centers.

Saturday's attacks were launched by militia in Nuristan province from a local mosque and a nearby village on two joint NATO and Afghan outposts, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said. The NATO troops in the area are American.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/04/world/news-us-afghanistan-violence.html

[earcandle]

1. I Have a nephew there and I don't want him to be killed. Please help.

[question everything]

3. I can only hope that we will get out of there, soon

Let the local tribes and neighbors reach some kind of a settlement. This is what we should have done in Iraq.

I do not believe in praying, but can only hold my fingers and heart and mind for the safe return of your nephew and all others.

:hug:

[gimama]

4. Your nephew, You, Your Family are in my thoughts & prayers

When You feel the fear, try to consider it a 'signal'.. stop, & wherever You are, envision him whole, happy, & protected. Channel Your anxiety into sending him Wisdom, Intuition, Divine Guidance.
Please KNOW YOU are NOT alone in this experience. And please continue in any efforts YOU can, to bring them ALL HOME,now.
I don't post often, but ck in nearly every day. If You need a shoulder, please let me know.. I have been thru this, too. Bless You & Yours..PEACE,now~===]

[Arrowhead2k1]

5. Well considering how many troops are there, there's probably less than a 1% chance that

your nephew in particular would become one of the casualties. Take comfort in the statistics.

[atreides1]

8. You might want to adjust that percentage

It also depends on what his MOS is and where his unit is located.

If he's at an outpost, like the 8 that were killed, the percentage goes up.

[MissDeeds]

16. You and your nephew are in my thoughts

:grouphug:

[midnight]

20. For your sake and your nephew's, let's call the whole thing off.

[iris27]

22. I hear you...two of my four brothers are there right now too.

They are only 20 and 22, both joined the Marines right out of high school. I hope for everyone's sakes, we will be out of there soon. But I'm not holding my breath. Right now it seems like we are decreasing troop levels in Iraq only to increase them in Afghanistan.

[question everything]

27. Holding my thoughts with you and your brothers

How difficult this must be for your family.

We need to realize that just adding more troops is not the answer. Not when the local population does not show any interest.

:hug:

[gimama]

39. Your Brothers, You, Your Family in my thoughts

please see my prev. post,above, maybe it will be helpful.. KNOW You are not alone in this. Here if You need to vent,etc.
I do enCourage making calls to DC..good outlet for YOU, plus 'they' NEED to hear from YOU,'they' DO respect & 'HEAR' the Military Family members who contact them..I know from personal experience..even my horrible texas elected employees HEARD me.Take care of YourSELF,during this time,ok?

[elocs]

24. My godson returned last spring after 9 months in NE Afghanistan

in the mountains near the border with Pakistan. It was the Korengal Valley and 5 American troops were killed there just before he arrived last summer. I worried about him and yes, it was a dangerous place to be, but I knew that the odds were good that he would come back safe. I was actually more fearful of his mental health than his physical safety.

The bottom line, though, is that he volunteered to join the Army knowing full well the risks and knowing full well that he would likely be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan. Before he enlisted I talked with him about his choice and its possible consequences, included being wounded or killed. He understood that no matter if it were Iraq or Afghanistan he might be at risk anywhere he was sent because he could potentially go to some dangerous hot spot in the world as part of a peace keeping force.

My godson returned safely from Afghanistan and I am sure your nephew will also. Young people make their own choices, sometimes risky ones, and there is no way we can keep them safe from their own choices.

[CherokeeDem]

28. None of us want to see that happen...

may he be safe and come back to his family and friends. I get physically sick when I hear about these brave men and women who have given their lives because of Bush and Cheney. I read somewhere that the soldiers who go back for tour after tour do so because they want to help keep their buddies safe; that's all they care about. That's what we care about, too.

How did we ever let this situation develop? Simple, we allowed ourselves to be lied to and did nothing about it. I spent my college years protesting the Viet Nam war and yet, this time, all I managed to do was send letters and call my congressmen. We should have done more, I should have done more, but it too late for so many. Why doesn't Obama just get them out and take another direction to combat these terrorist? I've heard all the arguments about, "we just can't pull them out, things would get really bad." So...things have been bad and are only getting worse. I want the military home and I don't care if it is considered a defeat for the US. I want them home, as I know everyone does. This has to end.

[masuki bance]

2. It's time to end the occupations. nt

[Selatius]

6. These militias run by local warlords are going to bleed us until we quit the war.

They are not going to stop. It is their land.

[liquid diamond]

40. Just like Vietnam.

Obama said he was a student of history yet he is making the same damn mistakes as former presidents.

[joeycola]

7. May the families find peace.

[steven johnson]

9. I think we need to go back to the 'ghost war' strategy k/r

We need to go back to the 'ghost war' approach that the CIA and ISI used during the soviet invasion, to work with the Afghani tribal leaders. It is reported that the Pakistani ISI has good lines of communication with these same Pashtuns so the job wouldn't be that difficult.

The way we won in Iraq was to work with the Sunni Awakening and create jobs for the unemployed Sunni's by hiring them to keep peace. A similar strategy could work in Afghanistan.

I think the way to win in Afghanistan is to bypass the corrupt central government of Karzai and go to the disaffected Pashtun, Sunni tribal chiefs and warlords. They dislike both Karzai and the Taliban. This worked for us in Iraq. We need surrogates to take some of the load and the central governmental army won't do. The Russians found this out.


Path to a Pashtun Rebellion in Afghanistan

[NeoConsSuck]

25. Thank you.

As many military people have already said, we cannot bomb our way to victory. I'm sure a majority of Afghans can't stand the Taliban or Karzai the war criminal. Until we give them another option, we look like occupiers who show little regard for the Afghan populace.

You should send your post to Obama.

[daleo]

42. The U.S. won in Iraq?

What exactly was won?

[NeoConsSuck]

43. Capitalism has access to Iraqi oilfields

why do you think the oil ministry was the first (and only) building secured after the invasion?

[bemildred]

44. Iraq delays hydrocarbons law until after election: MP

It seems to me that it is premature to consider that matter settled. I think there is an excellent chance of futher disputes about the ownership of the oil once the US is finally shown the door.

BAGHDAD — Iraq has delayed the discussion of a stalled hydrocarbons law, seen as key to the country ramping up its oil production, until after parliamentary elections in January, a senior MP said on Saturday.

The proposed law, which would regulate the oil sector and divide responsibility between the central government in Baghdad and Iraq's provinces, has been held up for three years due to disagreements between MPs from the country's majority Shia and minority Sunni, Kurd and other communities.

"There is no agreement on the contents of the oil law ... because this government wants the management of the oil sector to be centralised," said Ali Hussein Balo, a Kurd and chairman of the parliamentary oil and gas committee.

"Due to these conflicts, we have decided to delay the oil law enactment until after the election," he told AFP.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hpoZqEgE-v9myybT-8JOw_8q672g

[proteus_lives]

45. Excellent strategy.

I think this should since day one.

[BobRossi]

10. It's Obama's war.

He and he alone must take responsibility.

[Mari333]

11. yep.

[Braulio]

13. It's Bush's and Obama's War

It's both Bush's and Obama's war. My analysis shows the underlying causes are the special interest lobbies (military industrial complex, Israel, etc), coupled to American exceptionalism and tendencies towards imperialism. And as long as most of those being killed and wounded aren't members of the ruling elites, the USA will continue on this disastrous path.

[MissDeeds]

15. This is not the change I voted for

Not by a long shot. Those of us who marched for the end of the blood letting during the Bush administration might want to take to the streets again. This has to stop, and we have to demand that it does.

[PurityOfEssence]

41. This is one of the few things he was actually rather clear on and he's followed through

Well, sort of on the follow through part. He still hasn't really signed off on a specific strategy there, but he's definitely continuing the war effort.

For all the vague intimations of things he'd do, on THIS, he was pretty damned clear.

I didn't like it then, either, and attributed it to a need to prove himself "tough" to the reactionaries, as well as a hard-liner on Islamists.

Sigh.

[tabasco]

23. Yeah, right.

Bush ignored warnings that terrorists, who trained in Afghanistan, were going to make an imminent strike in the US, using hijacked planes.

Bush did not dedicate sufficient forces to Afghanistan, where we had a just cause to invade, because he and his corrupt cabal wanted to get on top of the iraqi oil.

The Afghan war became a quagmire under Bush, who made Iraq "the central front on the war on terror." (lol)

Obama was handed a steaming bag of shit, like Daddy Bush handed to Clinton with Somalia.

Obama comes in and refocuses the effort where it should have been from the start.

But it's Obama'a war. Riiiiiight.

[Mari333]

12. the families will never find peace

I know.

[Stuart G]

14. To read about this is very very sad. Someone wrote..

"When will it end, When will it end.."

[bemildred]

17. Ten US soldiers killed in Afghanistan

Ten American troops were killed at the weekend in two surprise attacks that caused alarm in Nato’s US-led coalition.

In one, hundreds of insurgents attacked a pair of isolated outposts in eastern Afghanistan, killing eight US soldiers and several Afghan policemen in the deadliest battle in 15 months. Scores more Afghan policemen were reportedly captured by the Taleban.

In the other an Afghan policeman opened fire on the American soldiers with whom he was working in central Wardak province, killing two and injuring three.

It was unclear whether the policeman was working for the Taleban or simply ran amok but the attack fuelled the distrust that many Nato soldiers already feel for the Afghan security forces that they are supposed to be working with and training as part of the coalition’s eventual exit strategy.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6860616.ece

[barbtries]

18. when is the next march against the wars?

:cry: all this useless death and pain and suffering and waste.

[coalition_unwilling]

29. There are major demonstrations set for this

coming Wednesday, October 7.

[barbtries]

46. and i can only be there in spirit.

waa

thank you both for responding. i will check ivaw

[gimama]

37. previously posted on "8 more have died"thread..

see Iraq Vets Against War, VETERANS FOR peace, & Military Families Speak Out sites for PEACE ACTIONS taking place NOW,thru next wk.Also, please call DC :( ~edit due to anger/sadness

[bemildred]

19. ‘What’s the point? The Taliban will be back within a week’

Specialist Alexander Miller had been watching a mysterious Afghan standing in a cornfield for 20 minutes. But it took only a split second for the American soldier to be mortally wounded.

As Miller turned his back momentarily, the Afghan picked up a weapon hidden at his feet and fired a burst. One of the rounds tore into the 21- year-old soldier’s groin. Troops rushed to apply pressure to the wound as they called in a helicopter, but he was dead on arrival at the nearest field hospital.

Miller, a keen roller-hockey player with a goofy smile, left behind a girlfriend in Clermont, Florida. He was one of three American soldiers killed in the battle for Barji Matal, a village in the eastern province of Nuristan that nestles in a fertile valley surrounded by the barren peaks of the Hindu Kush.

Nuristan’s rugged landscape, dotted with stone huts encircled by farmland, formed the backdrop to Rudyard Kipling’s short story The Man Who Would Be King, written when the province was still called Kafiristan or “Land of the Infidels” for its struggle to resist the spread of Islam. American commanders say little has changed since the story was written: the province’s clans still retain a fierce independence.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6860157.ece

[Bigmack]

21. "... killed in the battle for Barji Matal..."

What an epitaph.

"Killed for a worthless shithole objective in a worthless shithole country" would be more accurate.

Get out now!

[BOG PERSON]

38. LOL

"Mysterious Afghan" vs "keen roller-hockey player with a goofy smile (who) left behind a girlfriend in Clermont, Florida"

No contest.

[ooglymoogly]

26. Afghanistan is not worth one American life

It is as if we are expending life and treasure for a hole into hell. Just like our own American Taliban the GOP, the Taliban live in La La land and will not give up their power to live there for anything. For them it is a fight to the death, for the GOP it is just another money making war machine for fat cats to pick the bones of the tax payer while stealing tons of treasure in the act. Forget the Oil companies Pipelines planned for Afghanistan and the lucrative war machines that feed only the rich and bring our boys home. If the folks in Afghanistan don't have the courage to take their country back after it has been decimated, there is no hope. The Warlords have weathered the onslaught of "super powers" for hundreds of years by just weathering the storm, hiding out in inaccessible caves and striking in the dark of night till the invader just gets to tired to stay. They are oblivious to how many die or how long it takes.

[madokie]

30. In this mornings tulsa paper they are reporting that 2 us troops were killed by

their afghanistan companion who was on patrol with them. No where in the online tulsa world is this story though. Which in itself seems mighty strange cause in the article i have in front of me that was in this mornings paper is not the one that you're linking to and the one I read at your link. So it looks like we lost 10 troops instead of the two in my paper and the 8 in the online story you link too.

[question everything]

32. The only other stories that i find is that, in addition to the 8 Americans

there were also two Afghans who were killed.

Also, from the Washington Post

In a separate incident Saturday, another U.S. serviceman was killed in eastern Afghanistan in a bombing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/04/AR2009100400778_2.html?hpid=topnews

[madokie]

33. But its right here in front of me in this mornings tulsa world paper

something is going on and I doubt we're reading the truth about any of this.

I done a search in the 'tulsa world' but didn't find anything except the story about the eight killed

added: in the tulsa world

[humbled_opinion]

31. The Mistake Would Be To Send

More meat to the grinder. Out of Afghanistan NOW.

[SandWalker1984]

34. Read "War is a Racket" by Smedley Butler to know what's really going on

Smedley Butler was a retired, much decorated, general that wrote a small book titled "War is a Racket." He wrote it in the 1940's but his words still apply today.

You can read more here: http://www.wanttoknow.info/warisaracket

Mr. Butler claims almost all wars are waged for profit by businesses and millionaires. He said there are just 2 things we should fight for: (1) defense of our HOMES and (2) the Bill of Rights.

He also has suggestions on how to stop the racket.
"Well, it's a racket, all right. A few profit – and the many pay. But there is a way to stop it. You can't end it by disarmament conferences. You can't eliminate it by peace parleys at Geneva. Well-meaning but impractical groups can't wipe it out by resolutions. It can be smashed effectively only by taking the profit out of war."

THE ONLY WAY TO GET THEM TO STOP WAGING WAR IS TO TAKE THE PROFIT OUT OF IT.

Right now our military budget for 2009 is $651 Billion, not including the $150 Billion for the 2 wars waging in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military manufacturing is now 123% higher than in 2000 while the rest of manufacturing shrank 19%.

We are being fed the propaganda about a war on terror when the reality is Afghanistan is about control of gas pipelines and Iraq was waged by the PNAC (Project for a New American Century) gang that thinks they can control the world by controlling the mideast oil production.


We are facing the same problem with stopping these wars that we are facing in the health care debate -- the corporations, who now "own" and control our Congress & the White House (no matter which party is in office) are in control.

The only way I see to take back control is to push hard for campaign reform and make all campaigns for Congress & for the Presidental office PUBLICLY FUNDED. No private contributions, no PAC money, no RNC or DNC money. Until that changes, they will keep waging wars for profits and health care will continue to be about profits instead of healthcare.

[DallasNE]

35. One Thing Is For Sure

What we are doing right now is not working. The problem is that we have invested 8 years into a strategy that has not worked so it likely cannot work. It did not work at Tora Bora and it has not worked here either.

One principle reason that Taliban have been able to come back is because we are viewed as an occupying force, much like the Soviet Union was. That will only intensify with additional forces on the ground. VP Biden understands this so he is pushing a counter-terrorist strategy to focus on al Qaeda and drive a wedge between the Taliban and al Qaeda. I stand with Biden on what our strategy should be and wonder what we have been doing for the last 8 years.

[mvd]

36. I agree; we need a total change in strategy

Despite my thinking 9/11 was at least LIHOP, there are real terrorists. But they are mobile, and occupying a country does not help. Maybe a more targeted focus is what we need? I just know that we spend way to much on the war machine.

[The abyss]

47. Sad news

I’m reasonably sure that “Greta” felt pretty sad when the resistance put a bullet into the back of Hans’ head in Denmark somewhere in 1943.

The American people need to wake up and realize just what they have become.

I know this is cold – but we need to see and understand just what we now represent.

[annm4peace]

48. Take to the Streets and Join you Local Protest !

This week another anniversary of War in Afghanistan.

All across this nation there are protests. Some are this week, the next week, or in some cases the next. It is the perfect time to raise your voices. Especially those who have had a loved one killed, injured, or is in Afghanistan (or Iraq).
There might be a march, a rally, or just a group of people on a corner.

This week Congress might be deciding to give more money to the military, and to send more troops.

Besides protesting/marches/rallies. we are also calling and emailing our Congress members. Some of us do it every single day. If more people would join our efforts, maybe our troops will be sent home alive. And money could be sent for humanitarian efforts that is the real threat to the Taliban.