The Last Patrol

[TallBill]

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/11/the-last-patrol/8266/1/

So intense Not sure how to even respond to stories like these. Makes my survivor's guilt go through the roof though.

 

[Squisher]

Wow, intense is an understatement.

 

[ichy]

“If I don’t have any legs, don’t let them save me”

Eeep...

 

[JTsyo]

That's freaking nuts. I would have thought that if there was known Taliban positions, the US forces would use overwhelming force to clear it. Guess it's just too big of a front.

 

[yllus]

The Americans, together with a small contingent of Afghan National Police, controlled everything north of the canal, because it is flat and open. Everything south of the canal—the roads and fields, a second canal, and the villages on toward the river—was up for grabs. Since their arrival in December 2009 at Tynes, the men of 2 Charlie, like all soldiers in Afghanistan, had been tasked with counterinsurgency operations: protecting the population, building schools and markets, mentoring local security forces, and empowering local government.

But those are mostly wintertime activities in the Arghandab, when the trees are bare and soldiers can see farther than 100 meters, when they can bring blankets and coats to the villagers, talk to the elders, and elicit promises of cooperation.

In situations like that, is clearing brush using napalm (or whatever it's called now) in order to be able to see further clearly out of the question? Do we not do so because it's just too much area to do, or out of respect for those farmers' fields, or...? Don't know anything about this, just wondering at the tactics.

 

[PricklyPete]

Thanks for sharing...tough to read and realize what people are going through everyday over there.