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Ambush In Afghanistan-U.S Army Special Forces say they were shocked by military
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ambuseshed L(
I watched this video clip twice, and made notes as it played.
Some of my thoughts about this event........
This small group of US soldiers were supposed to be trying to kill a Taliban leader ? But when they are describing the action they refer to their "patrol base " being surrounded ? With 15 Americans and 45 Afghans, this seems to be a case of bad intell and bad planning. How did they get to the location " Helo insertion "? How did they plan to get out again ?
The location is given as 12 clicks southwest of Kandahar ? Why was there no call for a CF armoured force to come and get them ? Surely they are not so proud that they wouldn't accept our help ? This action took place over a 2 day period in June of 2006. They mention "air support " dropping bombs, but no mention of gunships making firing runs to break the Taliban positions that are "surrounding the US force ".
A Afghan reinforcement group was pushed back by the Taliban ? Why no US ground force ?
Some of the other things that seemed really strange to me...........
A US sgt takes off his body armour, so he can get "closer to the ground " while crawling for a hour and a half to get to two wounded men.
The US helicopters used "infra red light " to show the way for the group to get "away " from the area in the dark. Never been done before they said. I wonder how the Taliban missed them, as they had the Americans surrounded. Also there was no mention of ANY Afghan casualties at all.
The final odd thing was the statement that these US Rangers were "surprised " that the Taliban could use mortars and machine guns so well. Don't they read the intelligence summaries at all ? Some of those guys have been fighting on and off since the Russians invaded in the 80's.
In hindsight this seems to come under the heading of " don't underestimate your enemy ". And don't be afraid to call on your allies ( Canada ) to get you out of the crap you are in. 200 Taliban on foot wouldn't have been that hard for a LAV equipped group to disperse, would it ? Of course you have to know that the Americans are in trouble, before you mount that rescue mission, don't you ?
Jim B. Toronto.
Some of my thoughts about this event........
This small group of US soldiers were supposed to be trying to kill a Taliban leader ? But when they are describing the action they refer to their "patrol base " being surrounded ? With 15 Americans and 45 Afghans, this seems to be a case of bad intell and bad planning. How did they get to the location " Helo insertion "? How did they plan to get out again ?
The location is given as 12 clicks southwest of Kandahar ? Why was there no call for a CF armoured force to come and get them ? Surely they are not so proud that they wouldn't accept our help ? This action took place over a 2 day period in June of 2006. They mention "air support " dropping bombs, but no mention of gunships making firing runs to break the Taliban positions that are "surrounding the US force ".
A Afghan reinforcement group was pushed back by the Taliban ? Why no US ground force ?
Some of the other things that seemed really strange to me...........
A US sgt takes off his body armour, so he can get "closer to the ground " while crawling for a hour and a half to get to two wounded men.
The US helicopters used "infra red light " to show the way for the group to get "away " from the area in the dark. Never been done before they said. I wonder how the Taliban missed them, as they had the Americans surrounded. Also there was no mention of ANY Afghan casualties at all.
The final odd thing was the statement that these US Rangers were "surprised " that the Taliban could use mortars and machine guns so well. Don't they read the intelligence summaries at all ? Some of those guys have been fighting on and off since the Russians invaded in the 80's.
In hindsight this seems to come under the heading of " don't underestimate your enemy ". And don't be afraid to call on your allies ( Canada ) to get you out of the crap you are in. 200 Taliban on foot wouldn't have been that hard for a LAV equipped group to disperse, would it ? Of course you have to know that the Americans are in trouble, before you mount that rescue mission, don't you ?
Jim B. Toronto.
TangoTwoBravo
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It seems to me that you are sharpshooting/second-guessing the men from this action based off of watching a TV show. Not all the information would have been in the program for any number of good reasons. Please forgive me for asking a pointed question, but have you faced 200 Taliban?
On a personal note, I watched it and it gave me chills. I would advise people to watch it to gain an impression of combat in Afghanistan.
On a personal note, I watched it and it gave me chills. I would advise people to watch it to gain an impression of combat in Afghanistan.
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Jimb,
I concur with T2B's assessment of your post.
There is much more to the story than what was portraited by the TV show.
For example this statement:
Let me break this down for you; its dark, the local Taliban fighters do not have great eyesight, nor do they posses NVGs. US SF have better eyesight, NVGs, and experience moving at night.
I concur with T2B's assessment of your post.
There is much more to the story than what was portraited by the TV show.
For example this statement:
jimb said:
Let me break this down for you; its dark, the local Taliban fighters do not have great eyesight, nor do they posses NVGs. US SF have better eyesight, NVGs, and experience moving at night.
NL_engineer
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well for one they weren't Rangers, but Green Berets.
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jimb said:
I am not having a dig at you, but......
Took some notes, eh?
Another armchair general?
What exactly are you trying to tell us with your above post??
You appear to me, to make the US forces out to be a bunch of misinformed bumbling idiots. Thats just not on Jim.
Been on Ops Jim? Know what its like to be under HE mortars or Katyusha rockets when they are slamming in? Its the most sickening helpless feeling I have ever had, and over a year later, thunderstorms still get my attention!
Ever had body armour on Jim (especially when its in the middle of summer)? ever try to crawl on the ground with it? Although taking it off endangers one's life, it enables you to be more swift, agile, and going out to recover wounded seems to me to be a good reason, as speed and time count when someone is hurt.
I will however comment about this simply to reflect that I don't think its fare for any of us speculate, critique, analise etc, as none of us were NOT there on the ground, and the only facts come of a UNCLAS TV show with a few minutes of video and commentary, which can twist things for ratings. We all know what the media can do to benifit themselves via sensationalism.
Calling for Canada to come save them... well was that supposed to be a joke? Why would they, when they have tonnes of their own resources at hand. What do you know about LAV TTPs?? Those are best left quiet for OPSEC reasons, and should never be discussed on a public forum.
JimB in TO, you might want also want to add something to your very EMPTY profile, in an attempt to inform us who you are, in that being your TI, experience etc.
Please take the time to think what is fair to post for everyone to read. We all have opinions, but speculation, and criticising US forces and what goes along with how they operated in a AAR sense, puts anyone out of their lane, especially with scenerios they know SFA about, shy of a media release.
Although I have not rotated into the Ghan yet, I did spend my time in the hotseat in Iraq. When I observed the US kicking ass on the insurgents, they did it with professional precision, accuracy, and intense tenacity. To sum up, I would not want to be on the business end of their aggression.
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