US casualties in Afghanistan

["D OC" <donaloc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Perhaps I missed this getting a mention?

D OC.

Unlucky Americans in Afghanistan

>From Pravda:

Americans dislike their partisan war in Afghanistan. They are suffering
great
losses

Afghanistan for Americans is something like Chechnya for Russia. There is
only
one real difference: Chechnya is Russia?s domestic problem, some kind of a
cross
we have to bear to the Calvary, and Afghanistan for America is a symbol of
the
struggle with international terrorism, a symbol they would be happy to give
up, but cannot. Everything started as a pleasure trip ( massive bombings
followed
by the invasion of the North Alliance, which brought the military campaign
to
its logical end, who seized Kabul). However, the operation wasn?t concluded,
and America entered the next stage, a partisan war. To tell the truth, the
Americans
were evidently not ready for it: indeed, American losses considerably
increased
after the active stage of military operations was over.

Numerous operations like Anaconda or Harpoon brought no considerable results
(just few ammunition depots were discovered, and several dozen fighters were
liquidated). As the operations proved ineffective, they were given up in the
end. From now on, if operations of this kind are to be held, they will be
carried
out by the Afghans themselves under the US?s strict guidance.

The current position of the liberators is rather lamentable: they stay on
military
bases and don?t even venture to leave. However, the Taliban?s bullets and
missiles
reach them even there. Last Saturday, sixteen American soldiers were killed
during a missile attack on an air base near the city of Host. Five missiles
were fired against the troops? position. The missile attack spread panic
among
the soldiers. A special search operation conducted after the attack proved
ineffective.
It was decided to immediately transfer 500 soldiers from Kabul as
reinforcements.

Information closely connected with Saturday?s events was received from
Afghanistan
today. US warplanes bombed targets located in the Pakistani region close to
the Afghan border where the Pashtun tribes live. US warplanes bombed targets
in the regions of Damasar and Lowar Mandi in North Waziristan. Officers from
the Pakistani military HQ visited the sites; they say there were no victims.

However, the US operation caused a hail of protests from the local
population,
which is known as an ardent opponent to the US campaign in Afghanistan. It
is
not clear yet what motivated US aviation to carry out the attack. It is
possible
that the warplanes pursued terrorists hiding on the Pakistani territories.
It
s not ruled out as well that the raid was a kind of revenge for the deaths
of
the American soldiers near Host.

Dmitry Litvinovich
PRAVDA.Ru


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