Taliban firefight may foretell bloody summer for US troops

[Forkboy]

NOW ZAD, Afghanistan - Missiles, machine guns, and strafing runs from fighter jets destroyed much of a Taliban compound, but the insurgents had a final surprise for a pair of US Marines who pushed into the smoldering building just before nightfall.

As the two men walked up an alley, the Taliban opened fire from less than 15 yards, sending bullets and tracer fire crackling inches past them. They fled under covering fire from their comrades, who hurled grenades at the enemy position before sprinting to their armored vehicles.

The assault capped a day of fighting Saturday in the poppy fields, orchards, and walled compounds of southern Afghanistan between newly arrived US Marines and well dug-in Taliban fighters. It was a foretaste of what will probably be a bloody summer as Washington tries to turn around a bogged-down, eight-year-old war with a surge of 21,000 troops.

“This was the first time we pushed this far. I guess they don’t like us coming into their back door,’’ said Staff Sergeant Luke Medlin, who was sweeping the alley for booby traps as Marine Gunner John Daly covered him from behind when the Taliban struck.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2009/06/22/taliban_firefight_may_foretell_bloody_summer_for_us_troops/