U.S. Ditches Isolated Afghan Outpost

Taliban Claim Victory for Kamdesh Withdrawal After Deadly Battle; U.S. Says Move Was Predetermined

(AP)  U.S. forces have withdrawn from an isolated base in eastern Afghanistan that insurgents attacked last week in one of the deadliest battles of the war for U.S. troops, the NATO-led coalition said Friday.

The pullout from the Kamdesh outpost near the Pakistani border is likely to embolden insurgent fighters in the region. The Taliban swiftly claimed "victory" for forcing the coalition to leave and said they had raised their flag above the town.

The withdrawal, however, had been planned well before the Oct. 3 battle and is part of a wider strategy outlined by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who has said for months he plans to shut down such isolated strongholds to focus on more heavily populated areas in an effort to protect civilians.

The firefight in Kamdesh left eight Americans, three Afghans and an estimated 100 insurgents dead, according to NATO. Insurgents fought their way into the base during the battle, a rare breach of security that underscored how thinly manned the post was. It was the largest loss of U.S. life in a single skirmish in more than a year.

CBS News Special Report: The Road Ahead

The Kamdesh base was largely burned down during the violence. But U.S. Master Sgt. Thomas Clementson said the damage did not affect the timing of the withdrawal and the U.S. was "just days" away from pulling out when the attack happened.

Clementson said coalition forces destroyed what was left of the outpost. The action was likely taken to prevent insurgents from using the base.

Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the U.S. bombarded the outpost with airstrikes after leaving, as well as the local police headquarters.

"This means they are not coming back," Mujahid said. "This is another victory for Taliban. We have control of another district in eastern Afghanistan."

"Right now Kamdesh is under our control, and the white flag of the Taliban is raised above Kamdesh," Mujahid said.

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In a statement Friday, the NATO-led force said troops and equipment were moved "to other locations in eastern Afghanistan in preparation for future assignment to more populated areas."

The move comes days after the war entered its ninth year and as the Obama administration debates a way forward as the conflict deepens. President Barack Obama, who on Friday won the Nobel Peace Prize, is considering a request from McChrystal for up to 40,000 more troops to boost the 65,000 who are already in the country along with 40,000 from other NATO nations.

In the latest reported coalition death, the NATO-led force said one of its soldiers died in a bomb strike Thursday in southern Afghanistan. It gave no other details.

On Thursday, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul, killing 17 people in the second major attack in the city in less than a month. The Afghan Foreign Ministry hinted at Pakistani involvement - a charge Pakistan denied.

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao arrived in Kabul on Friday and visited the embassy compound to assess the damage.

The Press Trust of India said she was expected to hold talks with Afghan authorities. The agency said India would remain committed to development work in Afghanistan.

Over the last decade, India has poured nearly $1.2 billion into Afghanistan, helping fund projects such as a new Parliament building in Kabul, roads and power plants.

On Friday, Gen. Jalander Shah Bahnam, the Afghan army commander responsible for western Afghanistan, said a joint Afghan-coalition force launched an operation in the region overnight, killing 20 insurgents including a senior Taliban commander.

Bahnam identified the slain commander as Ghulam Yahya Akbari, who served as the mayor of Herat from 2003-04 before joining Taliban forces. He said Akbari was responsible for a wave of kidnappings for ransom of a businessman in Herat, as well as beheadings, suicide attacks and roadside bombings.

The coalition said in a statement that as troops approached the area, they were attacked with small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Helicopters accompanying the troops returned fire, killing "a number" of insurgents.

The troops searched the compound and found an array of weapons that they destroyed.

Several other militants were killed in similar operations in Wardak on Friday, the coalition said.

In the eastern province of Paktia, a suicide car bomber rammed a convoy of road construction workers in Wazi Zadran district on Friday, killing five people and wounding four others, said provincial police chief Gen. Azizudin Wardak.

In Kunar, another eastern province bordering Pakistan, around 100 insurgents attacked a series of checkpoints and the police headquarters in Chapadura district, said the region's police chief Khalilullah Zaiyi. Seven of the attackers were killed in the ensuing gunbattle, and four police were wounded, Zaiyi said.

On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to extend U.N. authorization for the NATO force in Afghanistan for a year, underlining the importance of protecting civilians at a time when the U.S. and international commitment to the war is under review. The resolution calls for more personnel, equipment and other resources for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

[gosstom]

One of the big news stories in early 1968 was the enemy assault on Khe Sanh, Vietnam. The NVA repeated tried to take the base and the US took horrendous casulties in both men and material while defending it. President Johnson made the Marine commander swear on a Bible never to let them succees. After the Tet Offensive, the NVA eased the attack. After a few months, the US abandoned the base to them so they could concentrate their forces on the urban areas. Sound familiar?

Those who refuse to accept history are doomed to repeat it. Vietnam Rewind.

[GovIntegrity]

They never should have been at COP Keating in the first place.

http://govintegrity.blogspot.com/2009/10/cp-keating-soldier-before-attack-you.html

http://govintegrity.blogspot.com/2009/10/hills-around-cop-keating.html

[B-Live]

To members of the armed forces, Thanks for all you do, Sorry our president wont give you the assistance you need

[talk_down_2_you]

We should leave, then nuke this rathole and the whole region.

[elephants_memory]

... Your name Leonid Brezhnev is it...? Child.

[bubbadubba]

<<<Doesnt this sound just like Viet Nam ? No, of course not, how could
the wonderous America ever make the same mistake twice ?>>>>

You realize you are talking about the same country that elected Bush twice right?
Well sure the first time he was not actually elected he was appointed by the junta, but what is the excuse for the second time Bush was elected?
Based on the comments by the Obama haters there are still a lot of stupid Americans around stuck in the Vietnam mistake days.

[6306abc]

Doesnt this sound just like Viet Nam ? No, of course not, how could
the wonderous America ever make the same mistake twice ?

[mav547166]

I know the democrats cut off aid to Vietnam in 75, and are about to do the same in Iraq and Afghanistan, and then wonder why no one wants to help us.

[bubbadubba]

"When we first showed up and put our sensors on Keating, it was just kind of shock," said Bardwell, 35, of Liman, Wyo., who piloted one of a swarm of Apaches that rushed the base's defense. "All the amount of flames and the smoke and to see that amount of personnel running outside of their wire. It was really kind of shock."

Lewallen added, "I've been on three deployments and I've never seen that large of a force attacking one static position."

The number of attackers has been estimated from 100 to 200. Lewallen said he thought as many as 350 were involved in the assault. "

And that's where the oxycontin popping right wingers want our men to be based? Why do the right wingers hate our troops so much and want them to die?

[bubbadubba]

<<<The Taliban claimed "victory" for pushing the forces out and said they had raised their flag above the town.....
All while Obama "hip hop" commander in cheif plays Basketball>>>

Feel free to go to Pakistan and volunteer to retake that outpost.
Keyboard warriors are so brave when they are not doing the fighting or dying.
Cheney is the biggest war monger in US history and he never served either.

[underdogus09]

Pakistan?

[wyodutch]

$500,000 = What it costs to maintain one American troop in Afghanistan for a year.
.
$0 = What it costs the opposition to maintain one fighter in Afghanistan for a year.
.
$11,400,000,000,000 = America's national debt
.
$0 = The Taliban national debt

[republicanright]

Your numbers are a complete lie , everyone of them. This is Communist China style propaganda.

[jwesel1]

$500,000 = What it costs to maintain one American troop in Afghanistan for a year.
======================================================================
Neocon Idiocy doesn't come cheap. This should serve as a lesson to those voting republican

[Ms_enza]

The cost budgeted for AFGHANISTAN alone from 2002 to 2009 was $439,000,000,000

Since 2002, there have been a total of 180,000 US soldiers in-country.

Lemme see. 439,000,000,000/180,000 = 4,390,000/1.8

Dude, you're short with that $500,000 estimate by about 1.5 MILLION dollars.

[robinspp]

It is better not only isolate from one part of Afghanistan, but they should isolate from the whole area of Afghanistan.

[underdogus09]

The Taliban claimed "victory" for pushing the forces out and said they had raised their flag above the town.....
All while Obama "hip hop" commander in cheif plays Basketball

[republicanright]

Unlike Bush, who ordered US forces away from the surrounded Osama bin Laden, Obama lets his generals do their job.
GW Bush had more vacation and played more golf in his first two years in office than any other presidents did in their single or double terms.