Another day, another battle in Afghanistan

[Prometheus]

Another day, another battle in Afghanistan
Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:43pm EDT By Finbarr O'Reilly
Article Link[/url]

HOWZ-E-MADAD, Afghanistan, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The explosion of the shell against a mud wall in a field of grapevines sent the Canadian soldier crouched behind it flying backwards.

Blood spilling from his nose and mouth, the stunned man crawled for shelter through swirling smoke and dust as comrades laid down covering fire and moved towards him.

Under fire from Taliban insurgents, Canadian Master Corporal Frank Flibotte and Major Jean-Sebastien Fortin attended to the wounded soldier, helping him to his feet and supporting him as he staggered into an armoured RG-31 vehicle that had raced to the scene.

Canadian forces from the NATO-led coalition and Afghan National Army troops clashed with Taliban insurgents at Howz-e-Madad in the Zhari district of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province on Tuesday in a battle typical of the conflict gripping the country's southern region bordering Pakistan.

The Canadian soldier, who did not want his name published, was only lightly wounded. An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier was shot in the shoulder during heavy fighting that lasted several hours and was airlifted by helicopter to Kandahar Air Field for emergency treatment.

There was no confirmation of any Taliban killed or wounded, though three suspected fighters were detained for questioning.

The joint operation between ANA and Canadian forces was meant to be a raid on a mud compound near the main highway.

"The Taliban attack from this place every two days or so, hitting civilian trucks and our supply convoys," said Fortin.

FAILED TRAP

"What we wanted to do was disrupt them by setting a trap, but we were compromised and took heavy fire and had to pull back."

The Canadians called in armoured support from its Quick reaction Force, consisting of more than a dozen armoured vehicles, while U.S. Humvees and U.S. Rangers also provided back-up. Artillery sent in smoke cover and U.S. Apache helicopters clattered overhead.

Fortin estimated there were between 10 to 15 Taliban fighters.

"They used mounted machineguns, RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and 82-millimeter recoilless rifles," said Fortin.

It was the twenty-third such "contact" of the past month, he added.

"It's not finished," he said. "I'm just glad our guy was ok." (Finbarr O'Reilly is a Reuters photographer embedded with Canadian troops)
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Just take a minute and look at that picture and think about how many soldiers have close calls like this everyday.....

[JMack]

That is why I love them so dearly.? While in uniform or in battle, there is no such thing as politics.? We have only each other, the support of loved ones and willingness to survive but above all to answer the call.? That is why I love them so dearly.? Through strength let us have a safe return to normalcy, through normalcy let us have peace.

[The Dog]

They should all be home by now.   

[Prometheus]

just taking the ghan as an example.... even if there were far far greater numbers troops would still be in theater. That is if one wants a stable and secure country upon departure. It takes between 1 and 2 years to train up a batilion of 500-600 soldiers + time spent winning the hearts and minds of the population which by poll is @ about 63% with only 17% wanting us out, it amounts to a lot of man hours to totally get teh job done. In reality there will be a military presence there for a decade or 2..... even if its only a thousand. right now we are 6 years in and most realistic assement is looking @ another 10 years to get the ANA and ANP up to a full operational strength where they can take over their own training and have tha ability to matain security within their borders. Combat operations wise another 5 years is not that far off after which it will be a supporting role embeded with ANA and ANP persons.

Right now the issue is getting more troops and equipment in theater that does not have combat resrictions keeping them out of the unstable south. To be fair the US Duth Brits and the canadians are doing 100% of the direct combat in the south.

There was speculation that once a full withdrawl of Brits from Basra occurs they will be totally retasked to Hemland provience, the added numbers would aid in maintaining control of a vital hydroelectric dam and prevent/disrupt movement from that area into K'har provience which would give canada a little more ease of movement and free up more soldiers to concentrate on Zahari District south of K'har. there are also noise coming out of the NATO meetings this week that 9 members are up for bringing in more troops, 4 of which are willing to help augment current deployed forces in the South with no restrictions on combat and would slide in under the existing command structure in each provience. some under the brits some under the US and some under the Canadians/Dutch. these additions would be welcome assests, even more so if they can provide Heavy helo lift capability and/or CAS.

Other options being discussed is in the real of nations unwilling to put meat in the grinder is for them to assist the nations in heavy combat with money injections for supplies and ammo and that jazz.

Time will tell, with a vote this Spring for Canada and the Dutch on combat operations it could win or loose the provience if no other nation can step up to fill the bill.