Badasses in Kabul

These are the men who stopped the Taliban siege at a Kabul hotel.  Badasses!

Afghan Warlord: We Don't Need More American Troops...We Just Need the Italians to Fight

And don't get him started on the Macedonians.

ONE of Afghanistan's most powerful warlords has urged America not to send more troops, insisting there are enough to beat the Taleban already – if the rest of Nato simply pulled its weight.

Ismail Khan, the self-styled Emir of western Afghanistan, and three-decade veteran of fighting the Taleban and the Russians, was particularly scathing about the Italian forces, in his hometown of Herat.

He said: "Most of the time they sit in their bases. We don't need more Americans. The troops that we have already – the Italians, if they were more active, if they fought, then the situation would get better."

His remarks highlight US concerns over a two-tier alliance, in which American and British troops do all the "heavy lifting", while the other nations pay lip service to the coalition.

US troops already joke that Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) stands for "I Saw Americans Fighting".

In Badghis, in north-west Afghanistan, nine Afghan troops and five policemen were killed and 11 others captured when their convoy was ambushed by the Taleban last year. Battalion commander General Farooq Naimie blamed his Italian mentors for refusing to accompany his men in the most dangerous part of the mission.

He said: "Before we left we agreed the Italians would go with us. Three days later they said they wouldn't come with us but they would provide air support. When the ambush started the Italian base was around 6km away but they didn't come out.

"We radioed the base to ask for help, but didn't see any results. They helicopters were above us but they didn't do anything."

The ambush sparked embarrassing questions in Kabul after it emerged the insurgent commander behind it, Ghulam Dastagir, had been released from prison less than three weeks earlier on the express intervention of president Hamid Karzai.

In September the Italians were accused of paying Taleban commanders tens of thousands of dollars, to keep the area east of Kabul quiet. Rome denied the allegations.

American Soldiers Teaching Afghans English

Well, they're teaching English, or training Afghans to be parrots. You have to applaud the effort.

Obama Throws Karzai Under the Bus

Say "Hi" to Grammy Obama while you're under there Hamid.

Officials in the US State Department, Department of Defence and National Security Council are now openly questioning Mr Karzai's ability to rein in corruption, improve law and order and confront the warlords who control the country's deadly opium trade.

Sources close to the U.S administration last night denied they will pressurise President Karzai to stand down but said they will offer tacit support to candidates standing against him.

Their opposition to a second term for Mr Karzai emerged after Afghanistan's Election Commission announced a delay in the presidential election from April 22, four weeks before his term expires, to August 22.

Taliban Demanding Locals' Daughters to be Their Wives

Yet any day now I expect to see crowds of left-wing nutjobs protesting in their support.

The Taliban are their own worst enemy. Despite the pressure from the Pakistani army along the Afghan border, some Taliban leaders are demanding that tribes hand over young women to be wives for Taliban fighters. This is very unpopular with the tribes, and was one of the major complaints that led to tribes going to war with al Qaeda groups. In addition to burning down schools for girls and killing those who teach girls, the Taliban are also ordering women to stay away from markets, or working outside the home, unless they have a male escort from their family. These are the same attitudes that turned the Sunni Arab tribes against al Qaeda in Iraq, and is doing the same thing among the Pushtun tribes on both sides of the Afghan border.

Afghan Children Reacting to the Wizard of Oz

Heart warming video. I would, however, like to have seen their reaction to the flying monkeys.

An Absolutely Awesome Video: Footage from the War in Afghanistan

Why am I linking to this? It's simple. I think it will help people to understand the sacrifice our young men and women are making for us overseas.

U.S. troops discover a fallen comrade and react.

God Bless these men.

View the video here.

U.S. COMMANDOS RESCUE AMERICAN HOSTAGE IN AFGHANISTAN

Awesome! The finest fighting men the world has ever known.

U.S. Special Forces soldiers conducting a daring nighttime operation freed a kidnapped American working for the Army Corps of Engineers—the first known hostage rescue by American forces in Afghanistan.

The American, who was abducted in mid-August, had been held in a growing insurgent stronghold 30 miles west of Kabul, U.S. military officials told The Associated Press. They said several insurgents were killed in last week's mission to free him.

Taliban militants have kidnapped dozens of international aid workers, journalists and other foreigners in recent years and have demanded large ransoms or the release of imprisoned Taliban fighters for their freedom. Increasingly aggressive crime syndicates have also raked in big money by kidnapping wealthy Afghans and foreigners and demanding ransoms.

Three U.S. military officials told the AP that Special Forces troops were able to locate the kidnapper's hideaway in the Nirkh district of Wardak province outside Kabul, but would not specify how. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

BEST WAR PORN EVER

"In the wild and lawless lands of rural Afghanistan the Taliban are playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with US troops. Under US commander Capt. Workman we march deep into Taliban country. This region is only 60 miles from Kabul, but it feels like the end of the earth. The Taliban have claimed four new victims, and US troops are in pursuit.

FIVE AFGHAN "SCHOLARS" DISAPPEAR FROM UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

It's never good when scholars go missing. Especially this close to an election.

Federal investigators are trying to find out if five Afghanistan scholars missing from the University of Washington vanished on their own or if something else happened to them.

The men, all in their 20’s and 30’s, are in the United States on student visas taking part in an exchange program. The scholars were attending training as part of a three month program in Parrington Hall on the UW campus, but were reported missing after they failed to show up to class on Oct. 6.

The FBI says it does not believe the men are a security risk but immigration officials say they are taking the case seriously.

The men were part of a group of 38 scholars. Each of the mid-career public government and non-profit employees worked toward a Master’s in public policy at Kabul University.

The sudden disappearance of the five scholars is something the university calls unusual.

100 TALIBAN LEARN THE HARD WAY WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MESS WITH SASQUATCH

Right on my pasty white brothers:

About 100 militants were killed in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, half in air strikes that thwarted a major attack on a key town overnight, Afghan and British forces said on Sunday.

The attempt to enter Lashkar Gah from three directions was “virtually unprecedented” in the area in the scale of the attacking force and their degree of coordination, British military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Woody Page said.

Between 50 and 60 militants, part of a group of 150 that had been seen massing outside of the town for several days, were killed in air strikes that stopped them from entering Lashkar Gah, the Afghan and British forces said. Around 40 more were killed in a three-day operation in the nearby Nad Ali district that wound up on Saturday, they said.

UK MILITARY COMMANDER SAYS WAR AGAINST THE TALIBAN CANNOT BE WON

Witness the total collapse of the British Empire. Imagine if the Americans had told the British that the war against Nazi Germany could not be won. Frankly, the Brits and every other European country are worthless as military allies. Absolutely worthless. And that spells the end of Western Civilization.

Britain's most senior military commander in Afghanistan has warned that the war against the Taliban cannot be won. Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith said the British public should not expect a “decisive military victory” but should be prepared for a possible deal with the Taliban.

His assessment followed the leaking of a memo from a French diplomat who claimed that Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British ambassador in Kabul, had told him the current strategy was “doomed to fail”.

Carleton-Smith, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, which has just completed its second tour of Afghanistan, said it was necessary to “lower our expectations”. He said: “We’re not going to win this war. It’s about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that’s not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army.”

JOE BIDEN TELLING MORE TALL TALES: MISLEADS CROWD ABOUT HIS HELICOPTER BEING FORCED DOWN IN AFGHANISTAN

I swear, all Democrats are pathological liars.

Earlier this week we reported on Joe Biden lying about a drunk driver killing his wife. Now, Joe Biden is telling more tall tales. From Newsbusters:

Back on September 10 in a visit to Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden seemed to hint that al Qaeda forced down a helicopter he was traveling in when he was visiting Afghanistan in February of 2008. He made the claim again on September 22 in a campaign stop at the National Guard Association. The truth, however, is not exactly what Biden may be trying to allege. Thus far, only ABC's Jake Tapper is exposing the ruse for what it is, a misleading tale pumped up to make his Afghanistan visit seem more menacing than it really was.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that on September 10 Biden told a Chicago audience a harrowing tale about his helicopter ride.

"The superhighway of terror between Pakistan and Afghanistan where my helicopter was forced down...John McCain wants to know where Bin Ladin and the gates of Hell are? I can tell him where. That's where Al Quaida is. That's where Bin Ladin is. It's not in the country of Iraq."

Wow. Forced down was it? Biden says this as if it were some attack that forced his helicopter down, doesn't he? However, immediately after that September 10 campaign stop, it came out pretty quickly that Biden's helicopter was not forced down by enemy weapons fire. No, it was a snow storm in the mountains that "forced" the aircraft down and then only because the pilot thought the better decision would be to err on the side of safety. He had generals and Senators in his craft, after all. You can imagine how nervous the pilot was in that case.

Now, let's face the truth here. Biden would not be using the words "forced down" without explaining that it was weather that forced him down unless he meant to convey that he was forced down in some extraordinary circumstances, as if he'd been fired upon. If he didn't mean to mislead the audience into imagining that weapons fire "forced" his craft down he would say that "when the weather forced down my helicopter." If he didn't mean to give his helicopter ride more gravity, the "forced down" part was meaningless to the greater point.

TALIBAN USING SKYPE TO AVOID DETECTION

Interesting:

Taliban fighters targeting British troops in Afghanistan are using the latest ‘internet phones’ to evade detection by MI6, security sources said last night.

Skype, a popular piece of consumer software that allows free calls to be made over the web, has been adopted by insurgents to communicate with cells strung out across the country.

Unlike traditional mobile calls, which can be monitored by RAF Nimrod spy planes, Skype calls – the commercial application of a technology called Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) – are heavily encrypted.

The British and American governments are investing considerable resources to crack the codes, and in the UK the Government is introducing legislation to force internet service providers to log all web activity by subscribers, which could then be turned over to the security services on demand.

BRITISH MUSLIMS FIGHTING WITH THE TALIBAN

Don't anyone in Britain act surprised.

British Muslims are part of the Taliban militia fighting against UK security forces in Afghanistan, a top British commander, who served in the restive country, has said. "There are British passport holders who live in the UK who are being found in places like Kandahar," said Brig. Ed Butler, who spent six months commanding British forces in Afghanistan.

UK security forces have found evidence that British Muslims are actively supporting the Taliban and al-Qaeda in attacks on coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, Brig Butler was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Saturday.

According to the report, the commander said British Muslims are helping the Taliban force fighting against the country's troops deployed under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in southern Afghanistan. Earlier this year, it was revealed that RAF Nimrod spyplanes monitoring Taliban radio signals in Afghanistan had heard militants speaking with Yorkshire and Midlands accents, the report said.

ON PATROL IN AFGHANISTAN

On patrol with British troops in Helmand province.

SOLDIER IN AFGHANISTAN: WE GOT MORE THANKS FROM DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADERS THAN FROM OBAMA

A letter from an Air Force member:

Hello everyone,

As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to ' The War Zone ' . I wanted to share with you what happened.

He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram.

As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand, he blew them off and didn't say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service.

So really he was just here to make a showing for the Americans back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you.

I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States . I just don't understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.

If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.

In service,

CPT J
Bagram, Afghanistan

Courtesy of Blackfive.

SOLDIERS HAVING FUN WITH GAY AFGHAN

"I want to take you sexy picture...from behind"

Mature, graphic, etc...

VIDEO REPORT FROM AFGHANISTAN

A reporter embedded with the U.S. Marines on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border provides this report. Good stuff.

OH SNAP! YOU GOT KNOCKED THE FU*K OUT!

JDAM 1000 Pound Bomb Dropped On Taliban Fighters Hiding In A House In Afghanistan.