Bold Afghan Raid On U.S. Base Casts Doubts

(AP)  An insurgent raid that penetrated an American outpost in eastern Afghanistan, killing nine soldiers, has deepened doubts about the U.S. military's effort to contain Islamic militants and keep locals on its side.

Moving in darkness before dawn Sunday, some 200 fighters surrounded the newly built base in a remote area near the Pakistan border without being spotted by the troops inside, said Gen. Mohammad Qasim Jangalbagh, the provincial police chief.

He said people in the adjacent village of Wanat aided the assault. About 20 local families left their homes in anticipation of the raid, while other tribesmen stayed behind "and helped the insurgents during the fight," Jangalbagh said.

The result was the deadliest incident for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since June 2005, when 16 American soldiers were killed as a rocket-propelled grenade shot down their helicopter.

Violence has been increasing in Afghanistan, and many people are questioning whether the Taliban-led insurgency is gaining, not losing, momentum seven years after the hard-line Islamic regime was ousted by a U.S.-led invasion.

The coordinated assault at Wanat sent a strong signal to other insurgent groups that "America cannot resist them anymore," said Tamim Nuristani, who was fired as provincial governor last week by President Hamid Karzai's administration for criticizing a U.S. airstrike that Afghan officials say killed civilians July 4 in the same area as Sunday's attack.

Nuristani said the attackers at Wanat were a mix of Afghan- and Pakistan-based militants, some with al Qaeda links - a sign, he said, that cooperation is growing between what had been often fractious factions fighting the Western military presence in Afghanistan.

"The (attackers) were not only from Nuristan but from other districts," Nuristani said. "They are not only Taliban. They were (Pakistan-based) Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Hezb-i-Islami, Taliban and those people who are dissatisfied with the (Karzai) government after these recent incidents. They all came together for this one."

The attack - which U.S. and NATO officials said happened in Kunar province but which Afghan officials said was in neighboring Nuristan - reinforced recent assessments by U.S. officials that militant attacks are becoming more complex and better coordinated.

A NATO official said the attackers used houses, shops and a mosque in Wanat for cover during the hours-long battle.

The militants showered the small base - which had been established just three days earlier - with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Some of the militants breached the wall and got inside, killing nine American soldiers and wounding 15 others, he said.

Other American soldiers managed to drive out the attackers and called in air support. Attack helicopters swooped over the battlefield, and in hours of fighting dozens of insurgents were killed and about 40 were wounded, the NATO official said.

The official described the militant raid as "serious," but also said it was a rarity for insurgents to get inside a base.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack expressed regret that American lives were lost, but argued the attack was a sign of the pressure being put on the insurgency.

The U.S.-led coalition and NATO military mission, which together have about 60,000 soldiers, have long maintained that insurgents can now operate only in small groups and have lost every battle with the militarily superior Western forces.

Yet the insurgents' ability to assemble a large militant force to launch the attack undetected and with the apparent complicity of locals is a worrying signal for U.S. commanders.

A Western official with detailed knowledge of the area said the raid underlined questions about the military campaign against the Taliban.

There is "overwhelming evidence that anti-coalition elements are operating effectively and that our counterinsurgency strategy is not successful ... because it has not addressed the most basic need to bring security to the people and devised a means to separate the people from the enemy," said the official, who agreed to discuss the sensitive issue only if not quoted by name.

Nuristan has been a tough nut to crack for any central authority for centuries and was a hub of resistance against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Its rough terrain - mountains with forests, deep ravines and countless caves and gorges - provides a well-protected gateway from Pakistan's lawless tribal areas where al Qaeda and Taliban fighters find haven.

[samsel3]

There are no benefits for Americans in Afghanistan. Your tax dollars and cumulative borrowed debt to finance these operations only benefit the corporations who purchased the oil& gas rights in the Caspian Sea Basin, nothing more nothing less.

July 15, 2008 Bush morning news conference: Everything''''s going well so far in the Caspian Basin "....

And the extermination continues:...........


February 12, 1998 John J. Maresca vp of UNOCAL oil appeared before a House sub committee. The purpose of the meeting was to gain support for exploitation of oil & natural gas resources, for the rights purchased by BIG OIL in the Caspian Sea area.

In his testimony he stated, "The key question is how the energy resources of Central Asia can be made available to nearby Asian markets ".

The exploitation option stated : "One obvious route south would cross Iran, but this is foreclosed by American companies because of U.S. sanctions (with Iran ) . The only other possible route is across Afghanistan, which of course has it''s own unique challenges. " He continued saying, " the pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments,lenders (world monitary fund & world bank ) ,and our company "......"

UNOCAL and other American companies are prepared to undertake the job ".

[rosieod4prez]

''I have a friend just outside Kandahar with an "independent US company"...he says it is much worse than what is being reported. - Posted by taotxzen


The far left news media missing a chance to deamonize Bush more and then claim McCain is the same ?

Not likely.

[taotxzen]

I have a friend just outside Kandahar with an ''independent US company''...he says it is much worse than what is being reported.

[gangesdak]

The "free spirited Afghans"? Wow, that''''s a hoot. I''''m sure as heck not going to vote for the option of allowing the "free spirited" Al Qaeda and Taliban to come back to roost.

Judging by your name you''''re a Muslim and are probably proud of the "accomplishments" of these fellow Muslim madmen. No wonder Islam has morphed from a respectable mainstream religion into a bloody cult.
Posted by diatreme at 12:26 PM : Jul 15, 2008

Nop, not at all. I am not a Muslim. Just better read than you.
If you know how to read beyond the comics, find out for yourself. Wean yourself away from the one -liner -Reagan culture. Afghanistan is the mire US should not get into. Just suck it up, and build the country from inside- encourage good education (multiculturalism is not education).

[xmanborg]

Call in the B-52s

[rwassel]

There is no longer a question that we are losing ground - we ARE losing ground. So much for the War on Terror.

[gangesdak]

No one owned Afghanistan. In 1842 the British suffered humiliating defeat in the hands of the Afghans; only one soldier returned. In modern days the Soviet could not take it (Reagan supplied Stingray missiles has very little to do with the humiliating defeat of the Russians).US should get out of Afghanistan. Just make bases in Pakistan, tihten the noose on ISI (the conniving Pakistan Intelligence) and destroy Taliban centers in Afghanistan from time to time from air. That''s all the US can and should do. No need to dream that US can destroy the free spirited Afghans.

[shawnp20]

Want to know why the "war" is taking so long... and costing so much money? Because we play by TOO MANY RULES!!! Who decided that there needed to be rules in war??? That is the absolute dumbest thing ever!!! There ARE NO RULES!!! War isn''t supposed to be neat, clean, and tidy!!! Go in... kill everything that isn''t in a US uniform.... pack up your stuff.... and go home!!! Simple!!!

[babooph]

How could the locals help the attackers-I thought we won their"hearts & minds"-blowing up all those children going to the wedding should not annoy them that much.

[singingrick]

This is just one more consequence of the moronic invasion of Iraq. Our attention and resources have been diverted from the country where terrorists are based to a country that posed no threat to us. Now Al Qaeda and the Taliban are taking back Afghanistan.


Thanks Bushies!