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thedrifter
01-14-09, 06:34 AM
The Royal Marines Show How It's Done

January 14, 2009: British Marine Commandos (all British marines are commandos) recently conducted an 18 day operation against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. This operation, involving 1,500 marines and a few hundred Danish and Afghan troops, serves as a model for the kind of operations possible as several additional brigades of American troops enter the area over the next year.



The British marines killed over a hundred Taliban, and lost five of their own. More importantly, they also killed a key Taliban leader in the area, seized $3 million worth of opium (such drugs are a major source of income for the Taliban) and an IED workshop. The British marines chased down the Taliban, who tried to flee. Staying on the Taliban day after day, the marines ultimately shattered the local organization. The operation disrupted the ability of several hundred Taliban to operate and crippled their support and command network. The operation also had a bad effect on Taliban morale, and the willingness of locals to support, or simply tolerate, the Taliban.



The British made it very clear that they could decisively defeat the Taliban, and go after the enemy wherever they were, and no matter how hard their fought back. The British, in effect, dominated the battlefield, and the enemy. Multiply this several times, and run these operations constantly, and the Taliban military capability will be broken. This is nothing new. It's been done before to the Afghan tribal warriors, and accounts of such disasters are among the less popular tribal legends throughout the region.

Ellie

Bootneck1972
01-14-09, 08:40 AM
BZ Royal and R.I.P to those who fell during this latest operation.

Smith06
02-16-09, 06:48 AM
That is a great information what I was searching for...Let me know more about this as soon as possible...Thank you:thumbup:

Jeran
02-27-09, 03:57 AM
I was wondering if Marine in Royal Marines is capitalized? I noticed you do not Capitalize it. Not being a smart ass or anything, just wondering in case for future reference.

MWS
02-28-09, 07:46 AM
nice to see out brothers across the pond are taking care of business. OOH RAH!!

Eric Hood
03-01-09, 09:17 AM
Great job, Boot Necks!!!!! The US and Great Britain are still a great time.
Semper Fi,
Eric :usmc:

DWG
03-01-09, 12:49 PM
Good on ya Limeys! :thumbup::thumbup: Keep up the good work!

6yrforMar
03-02-09, 10:12 PM
Just watched a program on the Military Chan,about the Royal Marines Commando operations in the Falkland Islands in 1982,It looked like a logistics nightmare in the beginning.The Argentines had the Royal Marines outnumbered,better air support.But the Royal Marines still kicked the Argentines ass.The Royal Marines even forced a surrender from the argentines.Tough training really pays off. Semper Fi

pnwhite
03-03-09, 06:08 AM
6yrformar, the drifter, et al - Well this is good news, but the statement about good training pays off misses the point. I doubt that the Royal Marines are any better trained than the US Marines are, but I do think that their leaders (officers) might be better trained.
To drop back a couple months, a little mentioned news item caused me consternation. I heard that the DOD was requesting money to buy more helicopters to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. While I feel that we need more armament in our arsenal, that bit of news wasn't good news to me. It (along with how we are already fighting the Taliban) just pointed out (to me) the need to re-vamp our strategy in the war on terror. As I've already said on this website, what we really need is to get in there with all that we have and kick ass. To me, helicopters represent the type of warfare we employed in Viet-Nam, where we deployed to some firefight away from the base and when the commies retreated, we loaded back up in the helicopters and flew back to the base instead of pursuing the commies and wiping them out. I know it sounds easier said than done, but when we went after the same group time after time without inflictiing that "knock-out punch" what is the use. I don't know, but it sounds like that is what the Royal Marines did - just kept up the attack and finally kicked ass. What do I know - but I remember (and this is about all I remember from that time) in R.O.T.C. military tactics, that to conquer a people, you had to occupy their land. Putting that together with what happened in Viet-Nam and what seems to be happening in Afghanistan, I feel that our Marines have enough training, but their leaders need to change our tactics - go after the Taliban and keep the heat on until victory is acheived.

pnwhite
03-03-09, 06:21 AM
Also - one of the "excuses" used by all the top "thinkers" in our government is that going after the Taliban might mean crossing over into Pakistan. DUH!!! Then the next day they will use the "excuse" that the border in that part of the planet is hard to determine. There's an old saying that could easily cover this situation - "It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to ask permission!"

6yrforMar
03-03-09, 04:43 PM
I did not say there Training was any better than ours.I hope and pray our Military leaders employ the right strategy in Afganistan,cross borders if need be and kick some ass.Preferably with Pakistans help.This fight is no Viet-Nam,this is for OUR lives,and Europe and the rest of the free world.

pnwhite
03-03-09, 07:40 PM
6yrforMar - I know what you mean. When I re-read that first message in this string, I noticed that the Royal Marines spent 18 days in this operation. I say that if it takes 18 days, it takes 18 days. My problem is that if we don't finish the task at hand, we are just going to keep getting duped into invading these different countries and then getting bogged down in long drawn out battles. I say its better to get in, give it hell and then get out. Those terrorists may be looney, but if they see that we're not going to fool around, I think they will realize that it's not going to do any good to provoke us if they're going to lose. Also, recruiting for them would be a lot harder if the recruitees(?) realized that they were going to die for nothing.

ssgtblue
03-19-09, 12:54 AM
You guys have done a hell of a job in Helmand and it was great working with you in Sangin at the DC.....