Marines Marjah Offensive

[Balls]

Interesting that this is being publicized so widely. I understand that the goal is to avoid civ casualties but hasn't this been tried before with marginal results? Are the Taliban really going to stand and fight 30,000 Marines and NATO troops?

Regardless, GET SOME and Stay Safe brothers. :cool:

The first link is from a new source I've never heard of before but provides a decent Q&A about the offensive. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0209/Marjah-offensive-Q-A-on-why-it-matters-to-Afghanistan-war

Second link is CBS for more info/comparison. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/09/world/main6189347.shtml?tag=cbsnewsSectionsArea;cbsnewsS ectionsArea.2

[Divot]

All sources have their biases but the CS Monitor is reputable.

My thoughts are with them...

[iraqgunz]

Happening right in my backyard. Things are pretty hectic here at the moment.

[RGR.Montcalm]

csmonitor = Christian Science Monitor

[CarnageWhiskey]

Get some brothers.

Wish I could be there with you...

[Snake]

There's an SBCT (plus Afghan forces) moving in from the north, as well.

[txlowbrow]

when is this supposed to start? secret?


i hear they are testing defenses currently..

[iraqgunz]

Thanks to Sky News (that's all we have) they are keeping everyone well informed of what is happening. From what I have heard they are probing the city and still staging. Yesterday they were getting nailed by some arty.

[smp52]

Assault Breaching Vehicles in action. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100211/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_the_breacher)

Goodluck and Godspeed to all on the front.

[txlowbrow]

Thanks to Sky News (that's all we have) they are keeping everyone well informed of what is happening. From what I have heard they are probing the city and still staging. Yesterday they were getting nailed by some arty.

incoming or outgoing?:confused:

[Marina]

Interesting that this is being publicized so widely. I understand that the goal is to avoid civ casualties but hasn't this been tried before with marginal results? Are the Taliban really going to stand and fight 30,000 Marines and NATO troops?

Regardless, GET SOME and Stay Safe brothers. :cool:


Definitely a PR/IO campaign to support the offensive. British press seem to have picked up on it a few days ago - unfortunately poor choice of words for the headline diverted some attention.

http://www.socnet.com/showthread.php?t=92514

Special forces assassins infiltrate Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan

AMERICAN and British troops poised to assault the Taliban stronghold of Marjah have begun targeting insurgent leaders for assassination . . .

At the British base of Camp Bastion and the adjoining Camp Leatherneck, the US marine base, troops and munitions have been airlifted in by night to avoid enemy rockets. It is clear that international forces are on the brink of a big battle. All yesterday morning, the thud-thud-thud of heavy machineguns and the crump of mortars filled the air.

In a break from traditional military secrecy, American, British and Afghan commanders have announced that Marjah, the last town in Helmand under Taliban control, will be attacked.

Operation Moshtarak (“Together”) will be by far the largest offensive since General Stanley McChrystal, the American commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan, instigated his counter-insurgency strategy, backed by President Barack Obama’s 30,000-troop “surge”.

[iraqgunz]

Outgoing. :biggrin:

incoming or outgoing?:confused:

[Seanmcd82]

I would love to be there to see Marjah fall, had some bad bad times down there on that canal. Happy hunting.

I wonder how they plan to get that Mine Sweeper over the canal bridges and into the village?

[humble pie]

http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/02/ap_marjah_fight_starts_021210w/

“The first wave of choppers has landed inside Marjah. The operation has begun,” said Capt. Joshua Winfrey, commander of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, which was at the forefront of the attack.

Good luck and Semper Fi brothers. Prayers outbound.

[rv808]

Good luck to our brothers on the ground.

[5831lvn]

Good luck....Semper Fi

[skyhawk691]

Get Some Marines !!
Semper Fi !!

[Massgrunt]

Godspeed boys. Get some.

[SOTB]

Good hunting, Marines....

[busdriver]

Jesus, good luck Marines. That place is nasty.

[The Fat Guy]

Put a bid ass dent in that supply of virgins

Semper Fi

[bigsapper]

Assault Breaching Vehicles in action. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100211/ap_on_re_as/as_afghan_the_breacher)


Awesome! That's like an old CEV on steroids.

And the MIC-LIC mis-fires are a problem inherent in that system and not with the new vehicle platform. I can count on one finger the number of times I didn't have to manually prime a live MIC-LIC.


Goodluck and Godspeed to all on the front.

Ditto!

[eyezweat]

Happening right in my backyard. Things are pretty hectic here at the moment.

Best of luck to all. Godspeed and stay safe, brothers.
May your "backyard" be a massive launch for the enemy to "meet" their virgins.

[OldSwabbie]

Good Luck Marines, stay safe my green shipmates..

[DEVSAW]

You have to love our Marines. They're respected world-wide for their fierce fighting and exceptional discipline.

Rage on, Devil Dogs!!

[heavyguns1/1]

Keep up the great job

[Guy]

In Marjah, most of the Marines said they would have preferred a straight-up gunbattle to the "death at every corner" crawl they faced as they made their way through the town.

:cool::biggrin:

Stay safe.

[Cayman]

Kudos to the guys there now, but it should have gone down a long time ago, before EVERYONE knew it was going down... But, "you have to have the follow on infrastructure ready", never mind letting the Taliban masterminds live or get away.

[pollux23]

To all those involved, stay safe and put those animals on the ropes

[Justaclerk]

Godspeed Marines. May your aim be true and let them taste the bitterness of your steel.

[ender_wiggins]

Good luck to all those involved (on our side :) ).
This place has been a major thorn in the side for quite awhile.

Almost a year ago they went into a single bazaar there in Marjah and came out with a boatload of explosives, weapons, narcotics, and took out at least a few dozen baddies in the process.

( ihttp://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/23/afghan.fighting/index.html?iref=allsearch )

This operation is long overdue, but I am really really glad that they are doing it in force, with thousands of troops, and by all accounts, they plan on HOLDING the ground.

[Boats]

Godspeed, Marines! Take out the trash!...

[Corsair]

Happy Hunting, Stay Safe
Semper Fidelis

[Dutch8654]

Godspeed Marines!

[BlackAdam01]

Kick ass and come back in one piece!

[e5wsf]

Good progress with the capture of Taliban HQ.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100219/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan
What really struck me as odd is the reference to graduation diplomas. Not sure why. It is a training school and perhaps I thought it was somehow less formal than a traditional military. Guess not.
Now I want to see one. The class photos must be damning.

They also found graduation diplomas from an insurgent training camp in Baluchistan, an area of southern Pakistan that borders Helmand province, along with photos of fighters posing with AK-47 assault rifles.

This generation of Americans is simply amazing. I hope they are taken care of properly when they come home.

[Spinner]

What really struck me as odd is the reference to graduation diplomas. Not sure why. It is a training school and perhaps I thought it was somehow less formal than a traditional military. Guess not.


Al Qaeda, in the days when it was more flush with money and the ability to operate more freely, offered recruits a salary, medical and dental, as well as a set number of days of vacation per month.

I wouldn't be surprised if they presented diplomas, too.

[Remington Raider]

It is a training school and perhaps I thought it was somehow less formal than a traditional military. Guess not.

"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" in the title of the book that was made into the movie "Bladerunner".

NOW we have to ask ourselves, do Taliban suffer posers?:biggrin:

[adtexan]

God Speed, Marines.

[Spinner]

I hope the photos of Marine Sgt. Whitcomb and Lt. Holub carrying wounded Afghan soldiers get wide play over there, especially amongst the Afghan Army.

http://www.daylife.com/photo/04389Ch2e8gvP?q=afghanistan

http://www.daylife.com/photo/008Hbdq77mc10?q=afghanistan

I'm still pissed at AP for releasing those photos showing a soldier just at the moment he was KIA. Sometimes they get it right.

The Marines are really on top of it, but I look forward to hearing an AAR on the performance of the Afghan Army during this operation.

[ender_wiggins]

This is a pretty good video demonstrating the Assault Breacher Vehicle, among other things it tears up the ground ahead of it looking for IEDs. You only see it a couple of times in the video though, after 30 sec.

They took these into Marjah as IEDs were a huge concern on the surrounding roads.

http://www.socnet.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=1269280

[ender_wiggins]

Boy, I screwed that one up

Here's the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c839FBFKyiw

[Desert Kid]

Wow, I was lurking through the site outta boredom and found this. Kinda cool. I was there during the initial assault and that place was crazy. We found more than 30 IEDs in 25 days on or near that damn canal road. We never did manage to get our Strykers into the villages though. That sucked...