Mini-surge: 2,400 Marines surround Taliban stronghold

1:20 pm on April 29, 2008 by Infidelesto

Members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit listenening to their commanding officer at a forward operating base in southern Afghanistan. 2,400 marines have been taking part in an assault on the Taleban stronghold of Garmser. (David Guttenfelder/AP)

A serious beatdown is about to occur in Afghanistan:

Times Online

US Marines went into action today, pouring into a lawless town in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, the first time that a sizeable American force has fought in the largely British sector of Afghanistan for several years.

Some 2,400 marines, many of them veterans of the war in Iraq, were involved in the dawn assault on Garmser when helicopters and armoured vehicles surrounded the town, known as a Taleban stronghold and a major staging post for drugs traffickers involved in Helmand’s thriving opium trade.

“We haven’t seen anybody who isn’t carrying a gun,” said Major Tom Clinton, the commander of US forces at Forward Operating Base Dwyer, a small British camp 10 miles west of Garmser. “They are trying to figure out what we are doing. They are shooting at us, letting us know they are there.”

Captain Kelly Frushour, a Marine spokeswoman, said that American forces had sealed off the town and entered some areas but that the operation was still continuing.

There Are 8 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Greg on 29 April 2008:

    Go forces!! Nuke the whole damned town. Destroy every last man between the ages of 13 and 60. Kill-em all!! Get rid of the damned-able Taliban once and for all.

  2. Comment by Greg on 29 April 2008:

    Look especially for that little bastard that sawed the head off of a grown up man accused of being a informant. Saw his head off–with a butter knife.

  3. Comment by Rudy on 29 April 2008:

    Greg,

    Come one now, don’t sugar coat your comments, tell us how you really feel :P

    P.S. I Agree with you 100% :D

  4. Comment by curnunnos on 29 April 2008:

    tell you what i wish…
    that someone would nuke the good old us of a and wipe all the fucking yanks from the surface of the planet you shit eating war mongering hypocrites…
    how do you like them apples, eh!

  5. Comment by jen tha rednek on 30 April 2008:

    So, they are shooting at our Marines, are the Marines shooting back, I hope so…kill’em all, let Allah sort’em out!!! Get Mid-evil boys!

  6. Comment by Rudy on 30 April 2008:

    curnunnos.

    You want the yanks gone? What country are you from, eh? And why are you calling for genocide of 300 million people? Are you a muslim terrorist as well as a jackass?

  7. Comment by zhann on 30 April 2008:

    I am curious, since this article mentioned drug trafficking I figured I would ask. There are 50,000+ troops in Afghanistan right now, is there a group that is dedicated to fight the traffickers? Specifically, the growing fields, but even shipment? I understand that Afghanistan is a huge area to cover, but with all the surveillance being done, why isn’t anyone going after the Taliban’s major source of income … heroin? I am not asking this with any cynicism, or the like, I am truly curious. Is anything being done about the drugs? Or, is the military concentrating on militants?

  8. Comment by Rudy on 30 April 2008:

    zhann,

    That’s a very good question. There is a bit of info here - http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/rpt/90561.htm - that explains the strategy far better than I am capable of. This looks like one of those things that cannot be appropriately handled by military force, but rather by agricultural and economic development.

    And thanks for having my back in the comments section a few weeks ago. I retract and apologize for calling you a jackass. I guess in that case it takes one to know one :)

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