Battle for Afghanistan

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Battle for Afghanistan
A resurgent Taliban tests U.S. forces with deadly new attacks and tactics
By Jonathan S. Landay
Inquirer Foreign Staff

First of two parts

LANDING ZONE NORTH DAKOTA, Afghanistan - For the last four months, Battle Company and other American units have been fighting a war thousands of feet up in the sun-blasted peaks and boulder-strewn gorges of one of history's most grueling battlefields.

They are facing guerrillas who were born here, hardened by poverty and backwardness, and steeped in a centuries-old tradition of resisting foreigners. The guerrillas' aim is to impose another hard-line Islamic regime on Afghanistan, one that might make the country once again a sanctuary for Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda jihadists.

The Taliban forces have killed more than 40 U.S. service personnel and more than 800 Afghan officials, police, troops, aid workers and civilians since March in a campaign aimed at derailing Sept. 18 parliamentary and provincial elections and eroding confidence in President Hamid Karzai and his American-led backers.

Borrowing tactics from their counterparts in Iraq, they have beheaded alleged informers and staged two suicide bombings, a type of attack rarely seen in Afghanistan.

The fighters of the resurgent Taliban movement are no match in face-to-face clashes for highly trained U.S. troops, who are equipped to fight at night and are backed by helicopter gunships, jets, unmanned spy planes, Afghan soldiers, and local intelligence officers.

But after suffering heavy casualties in a series of major firefights, the Taliban fighters have learned to avoid set-piece battles with the U.S. and Afghan troops who are trying to pen the guerrillas up in the mountains so they cannot sabotage the voting.

The war has evolved into a bloody game of cat and mouse, a classic guerrilla struggle with echoes of the much larger and far bloodier conflicts in Iraq, Chechnya and Vietnam. Since the war began in October 2001, more than 220 U.S. service members have died in the mission, nearly 190 of them in and around Afghanistan.

The outcome may well come down to which side can outlast the other.

The Taliban fighters operate in small bands, staging hit-and-run attacks, assassinations and ambushes, laying mines and firing missiles and rocket-propelled grenades before melting back into local populations. U.S. intelligence reports indicate that Taliban leaders constantly change locations.

"One day, they could be firing at you and serving you chai [tea] the next," said Army Capt. Michael Kloepper, 29, of Caldwell, N.J., after a helicopter dropped him and some of his men on a boulder-strewn hilltop dubbed Landing Zone North Dakota on a two-day mission in southern Zabul province.

Kloepper commands Battle Company, Second Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade.

Based in Vincenza, Italy, Battle Company belongs to a task force of about 900 U.S. troops and 800 soldiers of the newly minted Afghan army operating in Zabul, one of the provinces worst affected by the insurgency. An area the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, Zabul resembles the blighted moonscape and canine-sharp peaks of Mordor in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

The guerrillas stash their arms in the wheat stacks, wells, thick groves, and the off-limits women's quarters of adobe compounds. Their hiding places are scattered in the small oases of almond and apple trees in valleys wedged between mountains that seem to roll ever onward like immense, dun-colored tidal waves.

Hiding in mountain caves and crevices, the Taliban forces track U.S. troops and aircraft - sometimes for scores of miles - and pass intelligence to one another in coded language via walkie-talkies that are extremely difficult to get a fix on.

"A lot of times, it's like chasing ghosts," said Kloepper's radio operator, Spec. Mark Cushman, 20, of Norman, Okla., during the recent patrol in the district of Deh Chopan, a Taliban stronghold.

Some locals are forced to feed and shelter the guerrillas. Others collaborate because they share the Taliban's harsh interpretation of Islam or are linked to fighters through tribal and family ties.

The Taliban fighters also may be profiting from outrage at U.S. troops who inadvertently violate cultural taboos while searching compounds, and from rising anger over the slow pace of U.S.-led reconstruction programs that seem focused mostly on urban centers.

Nearly four years after the U.S.-led intervention that drove the Taliban from power and made bin Laden the world's most hunted man, Afghanistan has effectively become two countries.

In 24 provinces in the north, west and center, home to the main ethnic minorities, little major violence has been reported.

NATO-protected international reconstruction efforts are moving ahead, and there is optimism that the elections, a key point in Washington's efforts to push the country toward democracy and allow a withdrawal of U.S. forces, will not be disrupted.

But in Zabul and nine other southern and eastern provinces bordering Pakistan, the upsurge in Taliban violence has stalled international aid efforts and may impede the elections, which would be a serious blow to Karzai and the United States.

The north and south are the heartland of the Pashtuns, the ethnic majority from which the Taliban come. Pashtuns also dominate the lawless tribal belt on Pakistan's side of the border. It is there that the Taliban forces, allies of Pakistan's Islamist political parties and former clients of its military intelligence service, are said to maintain havens, supply depots and training camps. The Pakistan government denies the allegation.

The commanders of the 18,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan have responded with a hard-hitting counterinsurgency campaign. They have also been reaching out to tribal elders and their people with humanitarian and medical assistance and pledges of better security to encourage them to turn in guerrillas and vote in the elections.

More than 400 guerrillas reportedly have been killed or captured in the counterinsurgency. Still, U.S. commanders expect the bloodshed to escalate through election day. Then comes winter, when snow blocks the mountain passes, and the Taliban, most of whose top leaders were never captured, can rest, regroup, rearm and recruit new fighters.

Contact reporter Jonathan Landay at 202-383-6012 or jlanday@krwashington.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Posted on Tue, Aug. 23, 2005 <br />
For U.S. unit, a grueling battleground <br />
The young men of Battle Company deal with elusive foe, angry civilians. <br />
By Jonathan S. Landay <br />
Inquirer Foreign Staff <br />
...

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Marines conduct spoiling attack in advance of upcoming elections
MCB Hawaii
Story by Sgt. Robert M. Storm

ASADABAD, Afghanistan (Aug. 21, 2005) -- Marines and sailors from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, together with the Afghan National Army, conducted security operations in the Korengal Valley August 10 through 20. In preparation for elections next month, Marines conducted a preemptive attack on known areas of anti-coalition militia activity.

Commanders met with elders at numerous villages and received information on village needs and suspected insurgent activity. The Marines also conducted security patrols to protect the population from the thuggish tactics of local insurgents.

“Our goal going into the operation was to disrupt the insurgents’ ability to interfere with the upcoming elections. We clearly accomplished that goal,” said Lt. Col James Donnellan, commanding officer, 2nd Bn, 3rd Marines.

According to villagers, insurgents used strong-arm tactics against villagers that did not help them. One village reported the deaths of twelve citizens after the village denied assistance to insurgent forces.

The Korengal Valley is 400 square kilometers and is well known for the constant attacks against military forces that venture there. Because of the size and difficulty of the terrain, insurgent forces can easily use hit and run tactics. Last month the deadliest attack on American forces in Afghanistan killed 19 service members when a special operations team was ambushed, and a helicopter shot down prompting rescue operations from Marines, soldiers, sailors, and Afghan National Army forces. In all 87 service members have been killed during combat operations in and around Afghanistan since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001.

“We just have to do our best to show them that we’re here to help them,” said Lance Cpl. Peter D. Jones, infantryman, from St. Louis, Mo. “They always tell us that there are no insurgents, yet we’re always getting attacked every time we come here.”

The Marines advanced forces on a wide front, attacking the enemy from many different directions, as well as establishing combined vehicle checkpoints with the Afghan National Police. Marine forces were continuously engaged during the operation. F Company was engaged in a sustained firefight against an estimated 100 insurgents, and E Company Marines were subjected to a platoon ambush, to which they responded with both direct and indirect fires, killing at least two and causing the enemy to break contact. Despite the near constant harassing attacks the Marines displayed unwavering resolve in their efforts to help the people of Afghanistan.

“We also worked for the first time at the battalion level with our ANA counterparts, which was a tremendous experience that will serve us well in future operations,” said Donnellan. “The Marines, soldiers and sailors performed exceptionally, and the insurgents now know that Task Force Koa will be relentless in pursuing them wherever they may hide.”

E-mail Sgt. Robert M. Storm at robert.storm@usmc.mil

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines repel ambush in Afghanistan
MCB Hawaii
Story by Sgt. Robert M. Storm

KORENGAL VALLEY, Afghanistan (Sept. 1, 2005) -- Marines with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment were ambushed on August 18 during an extraction following a mission that lasted nine days in the Korengal Valley. The ambush took place at sundown while Marines were passing through the village Tāleban.

“The road exploded with rocket propelled grenades and small arms fire,” said Cpl. Salvatore Cirencione, infantryman, from Freehold, N.J. “Marines immediately dropped their packs and dove for cover on either side of the road and returned fire.”

The Marines were dangerously exposed to enemy fire from all directions. The insurgents also fired mortars against the Marines during the hour-long firefight. After action reports estimate 20-30 insurgents attacked the platoon.

The mission involved three line companies conducting security and stabilization operations in the Korengal Valley. The area is notorious for the consistent attacks on coalition forces. The purpose of the increased manpower and security was to conduct a show of force and solidarity for the upcoming elections.

“Our platoon’s main mission was to clog up the valley and regulate traffic coming in and out, over the course of the mission the platoon moved about 20 kilometers including the security patrols,” said Staff Sgt. Demetrius King, infantry unit leader, 2nd Bn., 3rd Marines, from Washington, D.C

The Marines from second platoon were leaving the valley to return to base and were reinforced with machine guns and Afghan National Army soldiers. At the end of the mission, while traveling in a tactical column on a road that ran the base of the valley, the platoon was ambushed. They were just two kilometers from the extraction point with coalition forces.

“At first I couldn’t tell how many insurgents were attacking, rounds were coming from everywhere and everything just seemed to be happening in slow motion,” said Cirencione. “It seemed like it was going to last forever and at the same time it was moving so fast you didn’t have time to be afraid, you just reacted the way our training taught us.”

Previously, insurgents in small groups of two or three would fire at Marines and then quickly fade into the hills and backcountry. This time the insurgents were firing at the Marines from three positions, using advanced ambush tactics. They used a pile of rocks placed in the middle of the road as a range marker for their initial volley, and fired from both sides of the high ground towards the Marines. The insurgents also fired from ground level towards the front after the Marines attention was drawn towards the rear.

Marines confirmed the death of at least three insurgents and recovered ammunition and other sources of intelligence after the attack.

E-mail Sgt. Robert M. Storm at robert.storm@usmc.mil

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine chopper beats Magic Mountain <br />
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Friday, September 2, 2005. <br />
By DENNIS ANDERSON <br />
Valley Press Editor <br />
<br />
LANCASTER - Flying as crew chief in a...

[thedrifter]

Afghani troops save local Marine who trained them
Friday, September 02, 2005
By MARK PERKISS
Staff Writer

Marine 1st Lt. Mark Reinhardt of Princeton Borough spent months training and advising Afghan soldiers on how to handle combat situations.

And that effort paid off early in August when Afghan troops he trained saved the 26-year-old Reinhardt's life after the Humvee he was riding in hit a land mine. He was thrown 20 feet from the vehicle and suffered seven broken ribs, a punctured lung and other internal injuries.

"I'm grateful to the Afghans who helped him," Reinhardt's mother, May Reinhardt, said yesterday. "They could have run from the attack but they didn't. Without them, who knows what might have happened?"

Mark Reinhardt, a 2001 Princeton University graduate whose father, Uwe Reinhardt, is an economics professor at the university, was injured Aug. 4 while on patrol in Pakitka Province near the border with Pakistan.

"It's an area where neither the Afghan nor Pakistani governments have any control or even want to go into," Uwe Reinhardt said. "That's where Mark was trying to help out."

Mark Reinhardt's decision to go to Afghanistan followed two tours of duty in Iraq, first as a forward observer in advance of the invading U.S. forces in 2003 and then as a platoon leader providing convoy security in the Sunni Triangle.

"Those 21 days to Baghdad in 2003 was like a death sentence," May Reinhardt said. "I was always afraid some car would be waiting for me in the driveway with the worst possible news."

After being flown from Afghanistan to a military hospital in Germany for treatment, Mark Reinhardt was sent back to his base, the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in California, where he is being treated for internal injuries.

"He tires easily, but he can walk and he's in good spirits," Uwe Reinhardt said. "He's a Marine. He can't do what the regular Marines do at this point, but he wants to help train other people going over there so they know what to expect. He wants to help others."

His mother agreed. "Mark looked at this as an opportunity to help a young country get on its feet," she said. "He believed he was providing true value and helping. He was being true to the university's motto of `Princeton in the nation's service and in the service of nations.' "

Mark Reinhardt's involvement in Afghanistan extended beyond his military duties.

"He was working with village elders where he was and he wanted to build a government center with a medical clinic, school, customs office and a voting office - something that would remain after he left," May Reinhardt said.

"He wanted to help establish an Afghan identity," she said. "He said they don't know if they're Afghans or Pakistanis. I stand in awe of him. This is a fearless guy who has lots of ideals."

Reinhardt's father agreed. "I've always respected the military and while this is not the choice I would have wanted for our son, I respect his decision and I admire him awesomely," he said. "He's doing what he believes in and he's having an effect." NOTE: Contact Mark Perkiss at mperkiss@njtimes.com or at (609) 989-5723.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines come under rocket attack on otherwise quiet election day
U.S. troops in Afghanistan stay far away from polling areas
By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, September 19, 2005

MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan — For many of the U.S. servicemembers at bases east of Kabul, election day was spent in relative quiet and isolation inside the wire. They were largely sequestered on bases or patrolling areas away from polling places, in accordance with U.S. plans to keep a low profile during the historic vote.

But election day wasn’t quiet for everyone. Insurgents fired three rockets at a Marine platoon patrolling near Alishang at approximately 9 a.m. Sunday. The rockets sailed high, missing their intended targets. No Marines were injured in the incident.

“You could hear them whizzing by,” said Marine Cpl. Douglas Hampton with Company F of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.

Also, Afghan National Army troops were attacked near Alingar. But early reports that a female candidate was shot and killed Sunday near Mehtar Lam turned out to be false.

Overall, U.S. troops here maintained a decidedly low profile on a day when roughly 12 million Afghans nationwide were expected to take to the polls to elect parliament and provincial council leaders.

“Today is a day for Afghanistan, not the coalition,” said Navy Cmdr. Frank Gutierrez, commanding officer of the Mehtar Lam provisional reconstruction team.

Afghan police and the Afghan Army provided security in and around polling locations. U.S. forces were kept on their bases as quick reaction forces, if needed to respond to a request for assistance by Afghan forces.

“We’ve just got to sit back, let it happen and pray for a quiet election,” Gutierrez said.

In the Laghman province — where Mehtar Lam is the capital city — 210,000 of the 400,000 residents were registered to vote in Sunday’s election. During the October 2004 presidential election, just 37 percent of the registered voters in the province cast ballots. Rain and pressure not to vote were cited as reasons for the low turnout.

But U.S. officials expected Sunday’s election to bring 65 percent of registered Laghman province voters to the polls, which would be a healthy turnout even for a U.S. election.

Sixty-five candidates from the Laghman province are seeking four spots on the Afghan National Assembly. Three of those spots will be held by men, and a woman will earn the fourth available position.

Also in the Laghman province, 99 candidates are vying for nine seats on the provincial council. Three of those spots will be filled by women.

Afghans undoubtedly will rely on their newly elected leaders to push for local projects. But such advances will not likely happen overnight.

“They feel invested in this, and they want to see a return on it,” said Glenn Warren, a U.S. State Department foreign service officer attached to the Mehtar Lam provisional reconstruction team. “It’s going to take time.”

Gutierrez reinforced that Sunday’s election was about the Afghan people, and that U.S. troops would only be called on if requested.

“It’ll be interesting to see if my phone rings today,” he said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines take the fight up Afghan mountain
Troops pushed into high terrain to battle it out with the enemy

By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, October 3, 2005

ALISHANG VALLEY, Afghanistan — Incoming.

An instant later, U.S. Marines with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division out of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, palmed the earth behind dug-in positions as an enemy mortar sailed past and exploded well beyond their patrol base in eastern Afghanistan’s Laghman province.

The enemy had succeeded in getting the Marines’ attention in the brief Thursday afternoon attack. Now, the Marines were coming for them.

Outgoing.

Minutes later, the Marines launched seven 81-millimeter mortar rounds at the mountain where the enemy was thought to have fired from. The shells peppered the peak, but that would not be the only Marine imprint left on the slope.

Prior to the mortar attack, Marines with Company F’s weapons light platoon planned to hike up an adjacent mountain on the other side of the Alishang Valley, hoping to encounter the enemy. Now, the enemy revealed its presence from a peak where they had fired previously on Marines.

First Lt. Ryan Cohen, weapons light platoon commander, altered plans and decided to hike up the mountain from where the enemy attack came.

Moving out.

A pair of Apache helicopters appeared over head as the Marine and Afghan National Army convoy left its patrol base. With protection from above, the convoy made its way to the foot of the ridge where the mortars rang from. Marines shouldered their packs. Everyone began the long march.

For four hours, Marines broiled in the afternoon sun and ascended the bouldered ridge that split the Alishang and Gonapal valleys. By nightfall, weapons light platoon had humped between six and eight kilometers and climbed about 3,500 vertical feet. The men camped Thursday night just below the mountain peak, and the evening passed without major incident.

Incoming.

At 7 a.m. Friday, Marines were diving again as Cohen sounded the call of “incoming.” But, it was determined that the shells were fired from a distant mountain at an even more distant target. Another enemy mortar fired at the same far-off target pierced the morning calm at 7:15 a.m.

The Marines were back on the trail shortly thereafter, and reached a 6,300-foot peak by about 8:30 a.m. The spot offered sweeping vistas of several valleys and villages. But a nearby 7,000-foot peak where the enemy was believed to have launched its Thursday afternoon mortar attack still had to be reached.

The summit.

If the Marines were to make contact with the enemy, this would have been a likely place. Afghan troops and weapons light platoon’s 3rd squad scrambled up the steep slope and found the 7,000-foot high peak deserted.

With no enemy fighters around Friday morning, it became more apparent than ever that the rebels had performed their standard inaccurate shoot-and-scoot attack with Thursday’s mortar.

But several fortified fighting positions were scattered about the mountain top. It was apparent the strategic overlook had been used by the enemy.

“This is their stomping grounds,” said Cpl. Travis Ocanna, 23, of Albuquerque, N.M. “Being up here gives us a better understanding of the enemy’s capabilities, tactics and sectors of fire.”

Staff Sgt. William Swinson, weapons light platoon sergeant, said the mission was a success.

“We took it to them,” said the 35-year-old from Greensboro, N.C. “We did what we need to be doing, pushing up into the high terrain.”

The squad then returned to the 6,300-foot mountain top to regroup with the rest of the Marines.

The descent.

When you push into high terrain, you must eventually push out of it.

Around 1 p.m., Afghan troops led the way down the steep, rocky and unstable front face of the 6,300-foot mountain. The contingent of Marines cautiously made its way down, stepping from rock to rock as their legs burned from the strain. Shortly after 4 p.m., all the Marines had descended the steep mountain face, cruised through an Afghan village and walked through agricultural fields.

They had made it back to the patrol base, tired but intact.

With unbridled intensity, Cohen, the weapons light platoon commander, congratulated the Marines on their tenacity.

“You see that hill? That is weapons light’s hill,” said the 26-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “You know why you kept going? Not for yourselves, but for your unit. Outstanding.”

Ellie

http://p089.ezboard.com/bthefontmanscommunity

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Marines trudge up Afghan mountain to find insurgents
By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, October 9, 2005

QATAR KALA, Afghanistan — Four Afghan men were spotted ascending a mountain trail Thursday in eastern Afghanistan’s Watapoor Valley. It looked as if they had tried to discreetly sling AK-47s around their backs.

When the Marines with the 3rd Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division out of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, saw them, they began climbing toward the mountain trail in pursuit.

“Even though it’s a big mountain, you don’t think about it,” said Cpl. Edilberto Fernandez, the platoon’s 3rd Squad leader.

“When you get fired at or you see a guy with an AK[-47], you get that pump. You want to go up there and see what’s up.”

The Marines trudged up the mountain under the noonday sun, strapped with enough fire power to take care of the four men and whatever else might arise.

When they arrived at the place where they had last spotted the men from the valley, no one was around. But a fortified fighting position had been pulled together at the site — a ramshackle stone defense the Marines kicked over before leaving.

Earlier, on Wednesday night, the Marines camped in a harvested cornfield in Watapoor Valley. During a mile-long uphill hike that afternoon, they passed through several villages but did not make contact with enemy forces.

After a quiet evening, Marines were back on the trail, hiking to the village of Qatar Kala. First Lt. Nick Guyton, the 3rd Platoon’s commander, met with village elders there early Thursday morning, asking them about the health, safety and welfare of the residents with winter on its way.

“We want to help you out with humanitarian assistance,” Guyton, 26, of DuBois, Pa., told the elders.

School officials in the village asked for desks and chairs for the students, who are currently sitting on the floor at school.

On the issue of safety, villagers said they live in a very peaceful place and no Taliban were in the area. However, Kunar province has been a hotbed of enemy activity in recent weeks with four Marines injured in a roadside bomb blast and another Marine killed in a mortar attack.

Villagers served tea and candies to Guyton and media accompanying the platoon. The elders themselves refrained from eating or drinking in accordance with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began Monday. From sunup to sundown, Muslims cannot eat or drink during October.

Guyton reassured the villagers of the Marines’ desire to provide assistance.

“We’re not here to cause any trouble,” he said. “We want to help. We want to reward the people who are doing the right thing.”

Third Platoon Marines gave an upbeat assessment of their role.

“The mission is definitely an impressionable one,” said Sgt. Correy Wilson, 27, of Chicago.

“The amount of forces we have and working along with the Afghan National Army gives a positive impression to the local population.”

Ellie

[thedrifter]

October 10, 2005
In Afghanistan with an Ashland Marine
By Susan Lloyd
For the Tidings

The Marines of the 2/3 walk around their camp at the Jalalabad Air Field in the pitch black on this moonless night. I accompany them through the camp — only a special green flashlight allowed. C130 transport planes and helicopters fly in and out, using night vision in the dark. The battalion has just returned from Afghanistan’s Kunar province, up north, providing security for the parliamentary elections last week. Its been a tedious process.

One of the Marine lieutenants is my son. I’ve come over from Kabul with a driver on the old road, a pitted, horrific goat path of sorts, passing bombed out Soviet tanks from the 1980s and Kuchi nomads camped amidst grazing camels and colorful tents. Seven hours to travel 100 miles. The driver has carried a pistol, useless protection against bandits or possible roadside bombs.

There’s a tension in the air as we creep around. My son is distressed that I haven’t arrived with more security. The Marines, an obvious target, never leave the base without a full convoy. I’ve tried to look innocuous — like an Afghan complete with hijab scarf and shalwar kameez.

We eat dinner in the chow hall, housed in a tent. The chicken teriyaki is not bad. I load my plate with broccoli and carrots — haven’t eaten any vegetables in weeks. The company commander comes in. We talk about Massoud; among other things I’ve been researching a film project about this revered Afghan leader of the Northern Alliance, killed by Arabs posed as journalists just before 9/11.

Through sketchy news reports, I’ve also been following my son on his forays up to Kunar. The platoon of one of his buddies was recently ambushed by Taliban when they evacuated Marines who had set up a Forward Advance Base high in Kunar’s mountains. They’d been chasing out Taliban who, in July, had ambushed four Navy SEALs and shot down a Chinook helicopter, killing 17 others. It was the biggest Special Forces loss in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion.

We make our way back to the platoon leaders’ tent. Its like a college dorm room: microwave, boxes of protein bars, Tang, Nescafe, candy snacks, dried mango, and a mound of other goodies sent by parents, wives and girlfriends. Eight cots line the tent’s walls. A Lone Star state flag drapes the cubicle of one of the lieutenants. My son sets up a cot for me.

According to the lieutenants — and parliamentary candidates, newspaper editors and Human Rights Commissioners I’ve interviewed in Kabul — the “enemy” is unnamable: Taliban, “other” militia, war lords or personal enemies of war-lords-turned-parliamentary-candidates who’ve paid or pressured villagers to vote for them. For the lieutenants in the tent, it’s been an ongoing battle to get information.

“One guy in a village knows we need intelligence. He wants us to pay him,” says one lieutenant. “Every week he comes in with a ‘new’ report, leads us up the road to show us where there’s an IED. It’s all bogus. We never find anything.”

But with voters going to the ballot boxes in September with few incidents, Jalalabad appears to be a sleepy town. Kabul is business a usual, the only incident a rocket attack on election day, with one injured, at a U.N. compound.

But security is still on as the country awaits the vote outcome. The Marines have the biggest burden. ISAF (International Security Assistance Forces) and Afghan National Army soldiers train with coalition forces. But the Marines are in the danger zone, patrolling along the porous Afghanistan- Pakistan border.

“Some of these villagers believe the Soviets are still in the country,” says another lieutenant. “They think that wearing sunglasses lets a person see into someone’s body. One elder tried some on, but he closed his eyes.”

In the tent, I feel I’m at a camp out. Drinking Lipton tea — which one of the guys has scored from the chow hall — we look at photos of Kunar on one of the lieutenants’ laptops and watch a Latino stand-up comedian on DVD. We hit the sack, some of the lieutenants reading Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars while my son goes out on watch.

But I’m reminded again that Afghanistan is not a camp out. My driver picks me up at the gate the next morning and we head back to Kabul, an unending conflagration of bilious decorated Pakistani trucks and ISAF personnel carriers plowing over the precipitous “new road” under construction by the Chinese but open to traffic today. We arrive to blocked out streets on the Jalalabad highway just outside Kabul.

A suicide bomber on a motorcycle has struck a group of Afghan Army soldiers waiting to board minivans outside their compound along the highway.

Its chaos everywhere. Ambulances sound all over the city; Afghan National Police direct traffic around a huge logjam. Women in burqas run from the scene, carrying children and packages.

The Afghan Police force us around the road block. We make our way back to the hotel; the evening news reports 13 dead and 27 wounded. A huge hit, claimed by al-Qaida, for “calm” Kabul.

The lieutenants are right: Things are not as quiet as they seem.

Security tightens in Kabul: Another suicide bomber, dressed in an Afghan Army uniform, is reportedly in the city.

The Marines took off again today, on another patrol. There’s still a lot left to do in Afghanistan, the “forgotten war.”

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines &amp; sailors guard edge of empire <br />
MCB Hawaii <br />
Story by Sgt. Robert M. Storm <br />
<br />
NANGALAM, Afghanistan (Oct. 2, 2005) -- Camp Blessing is arguably one of the most successful bases in Afghanistan....

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Marines looking for a few good mountain men
By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, October 13, 2005



ASADABAD, Afghanistan — They’ve stormed beaches, planted the American flag at Iwo Jima and are best known for amphibious landings.

But in Afghanistan, the U.S. Marine Corps operates in a country without shores to perform its traditional mission. In landlocked Afghanistan, the Marines are more at home with boulders under their feet than sand.

“War is changing,” said Marine Cpl. Edilberto Fernandez, a squad leader with 3rd Platoon, Company E, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, out of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. “Even though we are amphibious, and that’s how we got our name and made ourselves Marines, we are able to fight successfully in the mountains. Marines are fighting a different type of war now than we were in World War II or Vietnam.”

Adapting to the environment, Marines here are humping up massive mountains to chase down enemy forces who are normally unburdened by heavy packs. The “Devil Dogs” have become adept at operating on steep mountainsides in high altitudes around 10,000 feet.

They lug 80- to 100-pound packs, weapons, ammunition, body armor and helmets for days on end with no flat land in sight. And they do it every day, largely unbeknownst to the broader American public. Every time Company E Marines leave the wire at Forward Operating Base Asadabad, they know they’re going up a mountain.

So what does it take to be a mountain man?

“Endurance,” said Cpl. Jason Stout, 22, of Elko, Nev. “You have to have the mentality for it. You just gotta be able to do it.”

Hiking up mountains in the hot sun under the strain of heavy packs does take endurance, but it’s not as physical as one may think, said Lance Cpl. Larry Gonzales.

“It’s mental,” said the 21-year- old from Lodi, Calif. “You have to stay positive and never give up on yourself. You may hear us complaining, but it’s mainly joking around. If you don’t take it seriously, the mountain will kick your butt.”

Historical motivation also keeps the Marines taking one thigh-burning step after another.

“People put us on a higher pedestal,” Stout said. “It’s our job to keep up the standard that the Marines before us set.”


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Reporter’s Notebook: Afghan roads claim vehicles
By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, October 15, 2005

Think back to the worst dirt road you’ve ever driven on in America. Add about 1,000 misplaced rocks, and cover it all in a quarter-inch of powder-fine dust. The result is your typical Afghan road.

So, it’s not hard to imagine that these “roads” take out a Humvee or two from time to time.

Early Saturday morning, as a platoon of Marines made its way back to a patrol base in Watapoor, Afghanistan, a Humvee fell victim to the Afghan roads. It encountered problems with its front wheel, and Marine Staff Sgt. Barry St. Onge, the platoon sergeant, arranged to get it towed back to the patrol base.

The going was slow, but the Humvee was near the end of its trip when what appeared to be the CV boot fell off. A Marine hopped out of a trailing vehicle, nonchalantly tossed the part in the back and the vehicles rolled on. The Humvee was repaired once it was returned to the patrol base, ending another tale on life on the “roads” of Afghanistan.
How Bazaar

In their off time, Marines sit down to card tables, playing gin rummy, spades and hearts. Now, adding another game to their arsenal, they have picked up an Afghan card game from interpreters called Bazaar.

Each player is dealt four cards and four cards are dealt to the middle. The game is played with two teams composed of two players. The aim of the game is to make books of similarly numbered cards. The cards are assigned points, and the first team that gets 300 wins.

The game is anything but bizarre and will likely make it back to the States when these Marines based out of Hawaii finish their deployment.
Tree go boom

Members of Company E, 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, were traveling in a convoy last week to link up with and resupply fellow Marines in eastern Afghanistan’s Watapoor valley. During the convoy, they encountered an impassable section of road blocked by a tree. The tree appeared to be in bad shape and didn’t look to be holding any fruit.

In order to reach their fellow Marines, who had hiked into the area and were running low on supplies, members of the convoy attached explosives to the tree, took cover, yelled “fire in the hole” three times and blew down the tree.

Unfortunately, when the tree fell, its stump and root system ended up in the road. It was no problem for more explosives. A second explosion echoed up the valley and cleared the path for the convoy. No one was hurt in the explosions.

Word of the exploded tree prompted a query to the platoon commander to determine whether the convoy was going to be delivering toothpicks, in addition to food and water.

Ellie

[Ed Palmer]

KABUL, Afghanistan - Islamic clerics expressed outrage Thursday at television footage that purportedly shows U.S. soldiers burning the bodies of two dead Taliban fighters to taunt other militants and warned of a possible violent anti-American backlash.

what the hell they get upset over us burning their dead bodys ?
But nobody gets upset over those axsholes beheading our people while thier
still alive where is their reality?

[thedrifter]

Operation Pil targets Taliban in Kunar province
U.S., Afghan forces aim to disrupt enemy activities
By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, October 24, 2005

WATAPOOR, Afghanistan — Bullets were tinging off the Humvees and rocket-propelled grenades were hitting so close to the Marines that they could see orange flecks as the grenades exploded.

Marines in an eight-Humvee convoy with the Company E, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division’s combined anti-armor team — on their way to Camp Blessing, a forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province — were under ambush near Kandagl, Afghanistan, the night of Oct. 17 during Operation Pil.

Lance Cpl. Nathan Davenport, 20, of Phoenix, Ariz., was manning a MK-19 grenade launcher in a Humvee turret when the convoy came under attack.

“It was the first time I’ve been scared,” he said.

The Marines then returned fire, shooting about 1,200 rounds from an M-240 machine gun, 100 rounds out of the MK-19 grenade launcher and 1,200 rounds from a .50-caliber machine gun.

Despite the punishing firepower the Marines slung, the enemy was still shooting at them as the Marines drove away.

Davenport made it through the engagement unscathed, but three Marines were wounded in the incident. Two Marines were hit with shrapnel and a third suffered a gunshot wound to the arm.

The incident was one of roughly 12 engagements during Operation Pil, a seven day, battalion-reinforced operation aimed at disrupting enemy activities and sanctuaries in Afghanistan’s volatile Kunar province. In recent weeks, U.S. troops have come under fire and been subject to roadside bombs in Kunar province.

Pil is the Dari word for “elephant,” and giving the operation a local name shows the ongoing push by U.S. forces to move Afghan forces to the forefront. Previous battalion-size operations waged by Marines this year have used names such as “Red Wings” and “Whalers.” Afghan National Police and about 300 Afghan soldiers from the Commando, 31st and 32nd Afghan National Army Kandak battalions participated in the operation, which began Oct. 16 and ended Sunday.

U.S. troops from four military branches joined together for the operation. Roughly 800 Marines from companies with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division out of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, composed the majority of the ground forces. Army soldiers worked with Afghan National Army troops in embedded training teams.

Navy corpsmen provided medical expertise while hiking up the area’s brutal mountains with Marines. And Air Force tactical air controllers called in air support during the operation. Army Apache helicopters and Air Force A-10 Warthogs were among the aircraft providing support.

No U.S. troops were killed during the operation and only four were wounded.

“We’ve been very lucky that way,” said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Rob Scott, executive officer for 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

No official number of enemy troops killed during Operation Pil was available.

The biggest hurdle in launching a battalion-sized operation during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was dealing with religious issues, Scott said.

During Ramadan, Muslims refrain from eating or drinking during daylight hours. Troops were reminded not to eat or drink in front of locals during the operation’s missions.

“We were able to work hand-in-hand with Afghan National Security Forces and the Government of Afghanistan through religious and cultural sensitivities to have a successful operation,” said Scott, 37, of Harlingen, Texas.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Afghan soldiers bolster credibility in ‘cordon and soft knock’ mission

WATAPOOR, Afghanistan — Mountain-worn Marines with 1st Platoon, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division were ready for the “cordon and soft knock” mission — even though their feet told them something else.

The Company F Marines had finished descending a monstrous mountain earlier Friday after spending several days climbing and patrolling the mountain in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province as part of Operation Pil.

By 2 p.m. Friday, the 1st Platoon Marines were back on the road with Afghan National Army soldiers, heading to a village near Watapoor to search houses.

Platoon commander 1st Lt. Stewart Geise reminded Marines and Afghan troops that in their tired state they still had to remain alert as anything could happen at anytime.

When the platoon entered the village, one group of Marines took to the high ground to provide security for fellow Marines and Afghan National Army troops.

Being a “soft knock” mission, Geise approached Afghan homeowners — through an interpreter — and asked if Afghan troops could search their homes. All the homeowners obliged and no enemy weapons were uncovered during the searching that lasted about three hours Friday afternoon.

Using the Afghan troops to perform the searches bolsters the credibility of the Afghan soldiers, fosters relations in the village and gets them used to conducting such mission, Geise said.

“Cordon and knock missions are more civil and encourage good relations with the people,” he said. “At the same time, we’re putting more pressure on the enemy so he knows he won’t have a safe area.”

— Steve Mraz

Ellie