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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Pakistan: Afghan Taliban Military Chief Captured, Aides Confirm

Filed under: Afghanistan,Al Qaeda,Military News,Pakistan — Tags: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, capture, Military News, most wanted, mullah abdul ghani baradar, Pakistan, Taliban — Matt @ 5:12 PM

Wow. What a catch, and I certainly hope they are able to get all the information they can out of this guy in order for us to get closer to Usama Bin Laden or Mullah Omar. We can only hope, and this is some outstanding war news. –Matt

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Afghan Taliban Military Chief Captured, Aides Confirm

By Eltaf Najafizada and James Rupert

Feb. 16, 2010

The Afghan Taliban’s top military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was captured by U.S.-led forces in what may be the most significant blow to the eight- year insurgency.

Baradar, who has directed daily operations as deputy to Mullah Omar, was seized last week, two Taliban officials said. They disputed a report by the New York Times earlier today that he was nabbed in Karachi by Pakistani and U.S. intelligence teams. Baradar is undergoing joint interrogation, the Times said, citing unnamed American government officials.

The capture of Baradar, whom various reports say is about 40 years old, comes as U.S., British and Afghan soldiers advance into Southern Afghanistan in the biggest offensive against the Taliban since the beginning of the war in 2001. His detention could hamper insurgent operations for months, said Waheed Mujda, an Afghan analyst and former Taliban official.

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Friday, February 12, 2010

Military News: U.S. Marines Launch Major Offensive Into Marja, Afghanistan

Filed under: Afghanistan,Military News — Tags: Afghanistan, Marines, Marja, Military News, offensive, Taliban — Matt @ 3:19 PM

Big news, and a big operation. The biggest since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, and I really hope the devil dogs tear apart the Taliban in Marja. Go get ’em!! –Matt

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U.S. Marines launch major offensive in Afghanistan

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran

February 12, 2010

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN — Thousands of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers traveling in helicopters and mine-resistant vehicles began punching into a key Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan early Saturday, as one of the largest operations to assert government control over this country got underway.

The first wave of Marines and Afghan soldiers swooped into the farming community of Marja at about 2 a.m. Saturday local time (4:30 p.m. Eastern), their CH-53 Super Stallion transport helicopters landing amid clouds of dust on fallow fields. As the troops, weighed down with ammunition and supplies, lumbered out and set up defensive positions, AV-8B Harrier fighter jets and AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters circled overhead in the moonless sky.

Subsequent waves of troops were expected to alight in other parts of Marja in the hours before dawn. At sunrise, hundreds more Marines and Afghan soldiers plan to enter Marja by land, using mobile bridges to ford irrigation canals — built by U.S. engineers 50 years ago — that have served as defensive moats for the Taliban. Heavily armored mine-sweeping trucks and specially outfitted tanks will try to carve a path through a belt of makeshift bombs buried around the town.

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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Iraq: U.S. Military Rushes Bomb Dogs To Iraq

Filed under: Iraq,Military News — Tags: bomb sniffing, Dogs, Iraq, Military News — Matt @ 2:01 PM

Now if we can actually get the Iraqis to play nicely with the puppies, we can really celebrate. But somehow I have this vision of the dogs being neglected or ‘accidently’ dying or running away under the control of the Iraqis. Maybe not, and I certainly hope they can man up and make friends with the dog. Because that animal, if taken care of properly, will certainly be more effective than those idiotic bomb detecting wands that they have been using. (eyes rolling) –Matt

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US military rushes bomb dogs to Iraq

Feb 4 2010

By CHELSEA J. CARTER

BAGHDAD (AP) – The American military is stepping up the delivery of bomb-sniffing dogs to Iraq with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government under pressure for using equipment that may be ineffective in finding explosives.

The first 25 of 145 trained bomb-detection dogs are due to arrive Friday in Baghdad, Army Maj. Sylvester Wegwu told The Associated Press. The remaining 120 dogs will be delivered over the course of a year, said Wegwu, who works as military adviser to the Baghdad Police College.

The airlift follows a request to the U.S. military from Iraqi officials for more of the trained dogs, signaling that Iraq is looking to use other bomb-detection methods after questions were raised about the capabilities of a wand-like, bomb-detection device widely used at checkpoints across Iraq.

The dogs will be paired with Iraqi police handlers at the college and will undergo training as a team.

The dogs’ arrival comes as U.S. and Iraqi officials warn of a possible increase in violence ahead of national elections slated for March 7.

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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Afghanistan: Tribe To Fight Taliban In Return For Aid From U.S.

Filed under: Afghanistan,Military News — Tags: Afghanistan, Jezailchis Scouts, Jim Gant, Military News, pseudo operations, Shinwari tribe, Taliban, tribal engagement teams — Matt @ 11:32 AM

This is good news, if in fact these guys want to oppose the Taliban. Boy, a 400,000 strong tribe is impressive, and 1 million dollars in aid for their loyalty is a good deal in my book. Now will they actually produce and truly run the Taliban out of town is the big question? Now would be an excellent time to keep on ODA team right there with these tribal leaders, and ensure that we get what we paid for. Some of that TET that Jim Gant was talking about. Hell, throw in a couple of shotguns as gifts, and lets fire this thing up.

I would be curious to hear what all the Afghan hands have to say about this latest deal. Also, this would be a prime opportunity to get a few folks from this tribe to help in a pseudo operations. Or they could set up a Jezailchis Scout program, and give a little capability to the tribe. The point is, if these folks are serious about joining the fight, then we should be taking full advantage of that. –Matt

Edit: Check out Tim’s post about the subject here.

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Afghan Tribe to Fight Taliban in Return for Aid From U.S.

January 28, 2010

By DEXTER FILKINS

JALALABAD, Afghanistan — The leaders of one of the largest Pashtun tribes in a Taliban stronghold said Wednesday that they had agreed to support the American-backed government, battle insurgents and burn down the home of any Afghan who harbored Taliban guerrillas.

Elders from the Shinwari tribe, which represents about 400,000 people in eastern Afghanistan, also pledged to send at least one military-age male in each family to the Afghan Army or the police in the event of a Taliban attack.

In exchange for their support, American commanders agreed to channel $1 million in development projects directly to the tribal leaders and bypass the local Afghan government, which is widely seen as corrupt.

“The Taliban have been trying to destroy our tribe, and they are taking money from us, and they are taking our sons to fight,” said Malik Niaz, a Shinwari elder. “If they defy us now, we will defeat them.”

The pact appears to be the first in which an entire Pashtun tribe has declared war on Taliban insurgents.

But the agreement, though promising, is fragile at best. Afghan loyalties are historically fluid, and in the past the government has been unable to prevent Taliban retaliation. The agreement may also be hard to replicate, since it arose from a specific local dispute and economic tensions with the Taliban.

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Friday, January 22, 2010

Weapons Stuff: Bible Versus On Trijicon Scopes? Who Cares….

Filed under: Military News,Weapons Stuff — Tags: , ACOG, bible versus, JN 8:12, Military News, Trijicon — Matt @ 7:33 AM

I am ashamed at the reaction the military ‘PC police’ is having towards this. So I guess the dollars that we spent on purchasing these scopes should have the ‘In God We Trust’ part removed as well? Also, get rid of all of those chaplains and the thousands of bibles that are handed out to the military too. The political correctness in our military and society is killing me. This same political correctness is what allowed Major Hasan to get as far as he did in our military, and do his deed at Ft. Hood, and there comes a point where someone in charge needs to make a stand.

From a collector’s point of view, I think this is pretty cool, and now I am glad I have an ACOG with that little JN 8:12 on it. Not because I am a religious guy, but because the value of my scope just doubled. It will probably triple in value, and in twenty or thirty years from now, collectors will be drooling over these things. So with that, I will gladly keep using my ACOG for work, just in spite of this ridiculous reaction to ‘bible versus on scopes’. Ridiculous. That is my take on the whole thing, and I guarantee that I am not alone in that thinking.

The really frustrating part about all of this, is that soldiers will have to turn in scopes so the little inscription could be removed. Thousands of scopes with armorers dedicating valuable time to this idiotic task, when instead they could be working on more important tasks like changing out barrels or tuning up weapons. Ridiculous. –Matt

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CNN

Company offers to stop putting biblical references on military scopes

January 21, 2010

(CNN) — A manufacturer that has been inscribing Bible references on rifle sights used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan announced Thursday that it will stop putting scripture references on products the U.S. military uses.

Gen. David Petraeus, commander of United States Central Command, said Wednesday — apparently before learning of the company’s announcement — that the references were a “big concern” to the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps, which have contracts for the scopes.

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