Surge in casualties predicted in Afghanistan

Nanfeishen

Nanfeishen

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Found this article while trolling the news sites, thought I would share:

Americans should prepare to accept hundreds of U.S. casualties each month in Afghanistan during spring offensives with enemy forces.

The dire forecast was made by retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, an adjunct professor of international affairs at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, in a periodic assessment of political and security issues he has conducted in the war zone since 2003.

“What I want to do is signal that this thing is going to be $5 billion to $10 billion a month and 300 to 500 killed and wounded a month by next summer. That’s what we probably should expect. And that’s light casualties,” said McCaffrey, who is also president of his own consulting firm in Arlington, Va., and has conducted numerous trips to the war zones to assess the political and military challenges at hand.
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McCaffrey, a three-time recipient of the Purple Heart medal who also earned the Distinguished Service Cross twice during combat in Vietnam, told Army Times that “people are shocked when I add the numbers up,” but what he’s discussing, he said, is not significantly higher than what is being suffered by U.S. in Afghanistan now.

His reports are compiled with information gathered in theater and from research conducted beforehand. McCaffrey traveled to the war zone for this report as an academic from West Point at the invitation of theater commander Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Central Command, and Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the operational commander in Afghanistan, he said.
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Found this little line at the bottom of the article, that is quite an eye-opener WRT to the insurgents and their capacity :eek:
the enemy has been attacking in battalion-sized formations.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/army_casualties_010410w/

Certainly some challenge's for the Year ahead.

Quote from a soldier in Afghanistan pulled from another article:

--Afghanistan, its like Vietnam without the napalm
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009990698_usafghanvillage03.html
 
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Napalm

Nanfeishen said:
--Afghanistan, its like Vietnam without the napalm
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THAT will come soon enough.

HOW many WASTED years did the USSR spend here ????

WHAT did it get them ????????

WHAT do the Americans think it is going to get THEM ??????????

PS; -- you DO need to put in the links



MW
 
Oh dear, my sister's kid is in Afghanistan.

Hope the little bugger survives, he'll be coming home later this year after five years in the FFL.:D
 
No point sending in all these troops really. Best to find out where the Taliban are getting their funding/support and nuke that instead. Something is just not right about this war. Can't put my finger on it but something is just off about this whole Afghanistan offensive...
 
JHatman said:
No point sending in all these troops really. Best to find out where the Taliban are getting their funding/support and nuke that instead. Something is just not right about this war. Can't put my finger on it but something is just off about this whole Afghanistan offensive...
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There is a lot that we are not seeing. The fact that the Taliban are now attacking in battalion sized formation is going to play directly into NATO hands. I'm not sure I really believe this, but we will see.

There is also a view that the Al-Quada is being defeated in Afghanistan and this why Yemen and Somalia are now becoming prominant.

The US/UK would be quite happy to happy to cease fighting in Afghanistan if the Taliban stop supporting Al-Quada over there. Whether that will happen, is debatable.
 
Anyone think the US is taking a cut of the opium explosion over there? supplying 90% of the world must mean some serious money :D.
 
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