Article

2010-02-10 Afghanistan

Largest Military Offensive In Afghanistan Begins

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Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2010-02-10 06:56|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11129 views ] Top

#1 Good luck chaps n ladies, think about you every day.

Posted by Oscar 2010-02-10 09:00|| 2010-02-10 09:00|| Front Page Top

#2 Y'all are not alone.

Stay sharp, good decisions, get'm good.

Posted by swksvolFF 2010-02-10 11:32|| 2010-02-10 11:32|| Front Page Top

#3 I don't think the offensive has in fact started. This is simply a report on preparations. Or did I miss something?

Posted by Pstanley 2010-02-10 13:19|| 2010-02-10 13:19|| Front Page Top

#4 Best of luck to the troops!

I'm somewhat skeptical though. Is this offensive conducted under McChrystal's general ROE or are there specific (more robust) ROE for this operation?

There will certainly be some civilians, or Taliban pretending to be civilians in the city once the fighting starts, and they will be in harms way.

Posted by Jort Munster5255 2010-02-10 13:30|| 2010-02-10 13:30|| Front Page Top

#5 "There are no marines in Marjah!"

/Kandahar Bob

Posted by Frank G 2010-02-10 19:05|| 2010-02-10 19:05|| Front Page Top

#6 All this publicity makes me this thing is set up for failure. I hope not for the troops sake. Even though I think the war on the Taliban/Pashtuns is doomed to failure.

Posted by phil_b 2010-02-10 20:49|| 2010-02-10 20:49|| Front Page Top

#7 There is another psychological impact of telling them we are coming. First of all, it completely neutralizes any of their intelligence that might have warned them in advance. By assuming that they would have found out anyway and making a show out of the buildup, at least a certain segment of Taliban intelligence collection is mooted.

But more importantly, if we say we are going to kick their asses and then go about doing so, there is a certain amount of loss of credibility among the civilian population that they will find hard to get back. They have been sitting there in that town clinking their bottles taunting our warriors to come out and play (somewhat obscure movie reference). In the meantime, reinforcements have been arriving by the planeload. They are, I believe, going to discover themselves surrounded before the battle begins in earnest.

Posted by crosspatch 2010-02-10 23:32|| 2010-02-10 23:32|| Front Page Top

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