–updated–
The attack began in the early morning hours. Taliban-linked militiamen struck from the high ground using rifles, grenades and rockets against the outpost, a cluster of stone buildings set in a small Hindu Kush valley that has been manned by 140 U.S. and Afghan forces. By the end of a day-long siege, eight Americans and two Afghan security officers were dead, marking the highest toll for U.S. forces in over a year. – Deadly Attack By Taliban Tests New Strategy
The former U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Anthony Zinni, became the latest person to state flatly that Pres. Obama and his administration need to make a move on Afghansitan.
“We have a general out there who is probably the best qualified we could have that’s telling us what we need on the ground to have the security space and the time to get those non-military things done,” Zinni said. “I just don’t understand why we’re questioning that judgment at this point. “I hope this doesn’t go on much longer.”
It’s really hard to fathom what the hold up is. There is more than enough information, with the situation not going to alter in the weeks ahead (except that the Afghan winter is coming). At least, not for the better.
We lost 8 soldiers in one day in Afghanistan, with the Taliban becoming deadlier by the day.
Another story in the Washington Post focuses on the battle of Wanat and the details of his son’s death that has retired Col. David P. Brostrom asking questions about his son’s fall. Wanat has been written about many times before. If you haven’t read Ricks on the subject you should. From today’s Post:
… .. With each word he read, Brostrom became angrier. The soldiers repeatedly described equipment shortages and intelligence failures. An Afghan construction firm that was supposed to help the younger Brostrom’s platoon build defensive bunkers declined to make the trip to Wanat before the battle. Without the contractor’s help, the soldiers quickly ran short of basics such as water. “Every day we filled sandbags and made foxholes, trying to better improve our position,” Sgt. Matthew Gobble wrote from a hospital bed in Germany. “However, due to limited supplies . . . we were only able to do so much.”
ad_iconSgt. 1st Class David Dzwik, the senior enlisted soldier at the base, said that senior Army commanders seemed distracted before the platoon moved to Wanat. The operation occurred as the battalion and brigade headquarters were preparing to turn over the sector to a new unit that had just arrived from the United States. “This was the wrong time to start a new Forward Operating Base,” he wrote.
Senator Jim Webb met with Brostrom, having served in Vietnam and written “Fields of Fire,” appealing directly for an independent investigation. At the request Adm. Mike Mullen, Gen. Petraeus ordered a three-star general to head it. Connections like these don’t always lead to transparent results, but we can hope. The battle of Wanat is now legendary.
Commander in chief Obama owes a lot to these men and women in Afghanistan, starting with a decision on the strategy that lies ahead. It’s time.
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