US faults command over Afghan ambush that killed 8

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

Friday, February 5, 2010; 7:18 AM

KABUL -- The U.S. military blamed "shortcomings in command oversight" and delays in closing a remote outpost in northeastern Afghanistan for an October ambush that left eight Americans dead, according to a report released Friday.

The Oct. 3 gunbattle that broke out when hundreds of insurgents stormed the base with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and guns in mountainous Nuristan province near the Pakistan border was one of the worst ground attacks of the war.

An investigation found the soldiers "heroically repelled a complex attack from an enemy force of 300" after calling in air support. When the fighting was over, about 150 insurgents were dead but so were eight Americans and three Afghan soldiers.

A report released by the U.S. military in Afghanistan recommended administrative actions "to address shortcomings in command oversight" that contributed to the attack.

U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top NATO commander, also has taken appropriate action regarding Army personnel involved and issued guidance to commanders and noncommissioned officers at all levels to try to prevent similar attacks in the future.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/05/AR2010020500800.html

[Mari333]

1. say , I have an idea

lets stop occupying other countries and securing their resources for corporate enterprise, and these things wont happen.

[laststeamtrain]

2. Report: 8 Americans died defending worthless Afghan outpost

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

Report: 8 Americans died defending worthless Afghan outpost
By John Walcott and Jonathan S. Landay, McClatchy Newspapers Fri Feb 5, 3:40 pm ET

WASHINGTON — A U.S. military investigation into a battle last October in eastern Afghanistan that cost eight American soldiers their lives has concluded that the small outpost was worthless, the troops there didn't understand their mission, and intelligence and air support were tied up elsewhere in the province.

According to an unclassified executive summary of the report that was released to McClatchy and other news organizations Friday, "There were inadequate measures taken by the chain of command, resulting in an attractive target for enemy fighters."

A statement accompanying the summary said that the report, called an AR 15-6, suggests sanctions on higher-ranking officers and "also recommended administrative actions for some members of the chain of command to improve command oversight."

The investigation found that the soldiers of Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron of the 61st Cavalry Regiment from Fort Carson, Colo. , "repelled an enemy force of 300 anti-Afghan forces (AAF) fighters, preserving their combat outpost and killing approximately 150 of the enemy fighters. U.S. forces sustained eight killed in action and 22 wounded, all but three of whom returned to duty after the attack. The soldiers distinguished themselves with conspicuous gallantry, courage and bravery under the heavy enemy fire that surrounded them."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100205/wl_mcclatchy/3419639

[Oregone]

3. Bodycounts are like the new sliced bread

[Nexus7]

4. Echoes of Vietnam

From Vietnam Veterans Against the War Statement by John Kerry to the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations
April 23, 1971
We watched while men charged up hills because a general said that hill has to be taken, and after losing one platoon or two platoons they marched away to leave the hill for reoccupation by the North Vietnamese. We watched pride allow the most unimportant battles to be blown into extravaganzas, because we couldn't lose, and we couldn't retreat, and because it didn't matter how many American bodies were lost to prove that point, and so there were Hamburger Hills and Khe Sanhs and Hill 81s and Fire Base 6s, and so many others.

Full link: http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Manifestos/VVAW_Kerry_Senate.html

[HCE SuiGeneris]

5. Fuck.

More dead for no good reason. The whole damned war is bloody worthless.

[zerox]

6. Unfortunate on so many levels.

nm

[gratuitous]

7. "Inadequate measures taken by the chain of command"

So, what, another eight years and you guys will have a strategic vision of what's important and how to protect the men at the outposts?

[Hardrada]

8. This is a metaphor for the entire fucking Afghan War. Or Wars.

[laststeamtrain]

9. Report: 8 Americans died defending worthless Afghan outpost

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[No Elephants]

10. What is "appropriate action" for eight needless deaths?

Why do reporters let the military or the government get away with statements like that, without at least pressing them further, then specifying that there was no further comment?

I cannot imagine the feelings of the parents, wives, etc. Heinous enough for a loved one to die in a war, no matter what the circumstances.