.US Marines airdropped into Taliban-held territory

[Adsos Letter]

Source: AP

MARJAH, Afghanistan – Elite Marine recon teams were dropped behind Taliban lines by helicopter Friday as the U.S.-led force stepped up operations to break resistance in the besieged insurgent stronghold of Marjah.

About two dozen Marines were inserted before dawn into an area where skilled Taliban marksmen are known to operate, an officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

Other squads of Marines and Afghan forces began marching south in a bid to link up with Marine outposts there, meticulously searching compounds on the way. The 7-day-old Marjah offensive is the biggest since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and a test of President Barack Obama's strategy for reversing the rise of the Taliban while protecting civilians.

Several residents interviewed said some Taliban fighters in the area were non-Afghan.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100219/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[howard112211]

2. What are "enemy lines" in guerrilla warfare?

:shrug:

[TheLastMohican]

8. Exactly

Or it means that Taliban firmly controls chunks of Afganistan, then the things are even worse than the public is led to believe.

[grantcart]

13. The fighting in Marjah is shaping up to be more conventional than guerrilla

Local leaders have pulled the population out of the fighting as NATO/ANA forces have moved into isolate the Taliban military units which have substantial 'foreign fighters' as the article points out.

[mfcorey1]

3. How can this be a secure operation

And an unnamed source is telling about the plan.....:(

[D23MIURG23]

5. I agree, this is stuff I don't like to hear about in the news.

It doesn't benefit anyone, and it possibly endangers the operation.

[On the Road]

6. I'm Sure They Only Put it in the News

after the fact. When the enemy knows, there's no reason to keep it secret any longer.

[JoePhilly]

7. Or to flush them out ... could be "information", could be "disinformation"

[midnight]

4. Peace to all those in this area today.

[Mudoria]

9. Be safe Marines

[Captain Hilts]

12. +1. nt

[Bigmack]

10. Two axioms from the Corps...

"First to go... last to know."

and..

"Live Bait."

I think the second one applies here.

I know what it feels like to be on a hook in hungry fish country.

[Rapier09]

11. Either it is a stunt or the war is about to get serious

Been some encouraging signs coming out of Pakistan and some not so encouraging coming out of India-bombings and riots.

We will see.

[Imagevision]

14. How high does the number of US. killed troops have to get to be news mentioned?