U.S. troops call Afghan region 'Vietnam without napalm'
-
-
-
-
- Future_America
- added this
-
more from News:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/76330.html
The men of Bravo Company have a bitter description for the irrigated swath of land along the Arghandab River where 10 members of their battalion have been killed and 30 have been wounded since the beginning of August."Like Vietnam without the napalm," said Spc. Nicholas Gojekian, 21, of Katy, Texas.
A prime agricultural area of vineyards and pomegranate orchards, the 18-miles of valley that the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment patrols includes Taliban insurgents, booby traps and buried explosives. The troops call the area the "green zone," but unlike Iraq, where it's a fortified area in the heart of Baghdad, this green zone can be a hellish place.
The soldiers have one of the toughest tasks in Afghanistan: improving security and winning the support of villagers in an area where the Taliban have been gaining power.
The battalion arrived in southern Afghanistan this summer as part of a brigade of more than 3,800 soldiers from Fort Lewis, Wash. The unit took its heaviest losses in August, when it had the highest casualties in what was the deadliest month so far in America's eight-year war here.
So far, the Army mission here has been an uneasy mix of trying to woo elders with offers of generators, roads and other improvements while fighting a nasty war with an often-unseen enemy.
More @ link
-
- groups:
- News, News and Politics, Progressive America, War On Terror
-
- tags:
- War, Afghanistan, War on Terror, Vietnam, 3 more
-
-
yvesisaki
-
Yep; pretty much.
That graphic is... graphic. Yikes. Good thing that girl survived.
- 4 months ago
-
yvesisaki
