sounds pretty bad ass

Major military operation under way in Afghanistan


AP – U.S. Marines 1st Lt. Jared Sprunk from Port Charlotte, Fla., and from the 2nd MEB, 2nd Battalion, 3rd …


By LARA JAKES, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jul 1, 7:53 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Thousands of U.S. Marines and hundreds of Afghan troops moved into Taliban-infested villages with armor and helicopters Wednesday evening in the first major operation under President Barack Obama's revamped strategy to stabilize Afghanistan.

The offensive was launched shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday local time in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold in the southern part of the country. The goal is to clear insurgents from the hotly contested Helmand River Valley before the nation's Aug. 20 presidential election.

Dubbed Operation Khanjar, or "Strike of the Sword," the military push was described by officials as the largest and fastest-moving of the war's new phase. British forces last week led similar missions to fight and clear out insurgents in Helmand and neighboring Kandahar provinces.

"Where we go we will stay, and where we stay, we will hold, build and work toward transition of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces," Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson said in a statement.

Southern Afghanistan is a Taliban stronghold but also a region where Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seeking votes from fellow Pashtun tribesmen.

The Pentagon is deploying 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in time for the elections and expects the total number of U.S. forces there to reach 68,000 by year's end. That is double the number of troops in Afghanistan in 2008, but still half of much as are now in Iraq.

While Marine troops were the bulk of the force, recently arrived U.S. Army helicopters were also taking part in the operation in Helmand province.

In March, Obama unveiled his strategy for Afghanistan, seeking to defeat al-Qaida terrorists there and in Pakistan with a bigger force and a new commander. Taliban and other extremists, including those allied with al-Qaida, routinely cross the two nations' border in Afghanistan's remote south.

The governor of Helmand province predicted the operation would be "very effective."

"The security forces will build bases to provide security for the local people so that they can carry out every activity with this favorable background, and take their lives forward in peace," Gov. Gulab Mangal said in a Pentagon press release.

Obama's strategy aims to boost the size of the Afghan army from 80,000 to 134,000 troops by 2011 — and greatly increase training by U.S. troops accompanying them — so the Afghan military can defeat Taliban insurgents and take control of the war. The White House also is pushing forces to set clear goals for a war gone awry, to get the American people behind them, to provide more resources and to make a better case for international support.

There is no timetable for withdrawal, and the White House has not estimated how many billions of dollars its plan will cost.

aka Obama's Iraq


We went from 15,000 in Afghanistan and ~180,000 in Iraq to 70,000 in Afghanistan and 130,000 in Iraq. Obama has really taken major steps in bringing our troops home.

that's pretty much what his campaign promise was

I don't think anyone really expected Afghanistan to take 100,000+ troops and many years to take care of... like Iraq. Otherwise I very much doubt they would have supported that. Even so, whether it was his campaign promise or not doesn't make it right. He promised a lot of things that I don't like.

What worries me about Afghanistan is the lack of economical vocation.

Anyone who thought Afghanistan would be a walk in the park hasn't paid attention to history.

It is a walk in the park to hit targets with drones and cruise missiles. Creating a functioning government... not so much.