IS AFGHANISTAN GOING TO BE OBAMA'S IRAQ?

Afghanistan going to be Obama’s Iraq?

The US could find itself isolated as the conflict goes on

By Kim Sengupta and Raymond Whitaker
http://tinyurl.com/dyx64x

President Barack Obama is facing warnings that the US risks repeating some of its errors in Iraq as the new administration turns its focus to Afghanistan, where Nato forces are engaged in a conflict which has already lasted longer than the Second World War.

Having received a briefing on his first day in office from General David Petraeus, the top US commander in the region, Mr Obama is preparing to meet his military chiefs to decide on the size and shape of the Afghanistan reinforcements he promised during his election campaign.

The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, said just before Christmas that up to 30,000 more troops could be sent by summer, nearly doubling the size of the US force in the country. Britain, the next largest contributor in the 41-nation international force, has fewer than 9,000 troops in Afghanistan, which means American dominance of the campaign against the Taliban is set to increase.

“There are fears that this could become a US war rather than a Nato one,” said Christopher Langton, senior fellow for conflict at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) in London. “With other Nato members already planning to scale back, the US could find itself isolated. Rather than being an international operation, it would become another ‘coalition of the willing’, as in Iraq – though with the crucial difference that the Afghan mission has had a United Nations mandate throughout.”

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Paul Smyth, head of the operational studies programme at London’s Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), pointed out that several Nato countries, including Canada, Germany and France, had significantly increased their troop commitments in percentage terms during 2008. But in the past week the French Defence Minister, Hervé Morin, said considering further reinforcements was “out of the question for now”. And Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, another important contributor of troops, indicated that it would reduce its force by the end of next year.

FALLUJAH UNCUT!--MARINES STORM MAYOR'S HOUSE (BALL-BUSTING VIDEO)

A platoon of United States Marines storm the house of the Mayor of Fallujah, Iraq.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/sj_r_3fUSMU&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Presence Patrol 1st Battalion, 68th Armor, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division (Live action Video)

Go along with this US Army unit as they go house-to-house searching for insurgents in Iraq.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/n36ltwPJ6IE&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY

"PULL THAT TRIGGER UNTIL THEY DON'T GET UP"---AIR STRIKE TOASTS INSURGENTS (LIVE ACTION VIDEO)

Turn your speakers up and ride along with an Apache helo as they wipe out insurgents in IRAQ.
Back at the command center you hear them telling the chopper pilots they will all get ice cream if they leave nobody standing.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/sj1F20JhF1U&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

PLAY THIS LOUD! IRAQ SHOOTOUT. DOG WAS NOT KILLED (WARNING ROUGH LANGUAGE VIDEO)

For best results turn your speakers up so you get to hear the GIs shouting back and forth with each other as they clear some houses in IRAQ. The dog you see caught in all the crossfire was NOT killed.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/STtPbCkC0EE&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

"THE BIG RED ONE"--1st INFANTRY DIVISION IN COMBAT IN IRAQ (GREAT ACTION VIDEO)

They first distinguished themselves in World War II, "The Big Red One," or the 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army.

Now over 60 years later, "The Big Red One" is still at it fighting in some of the toughest battles in Iraq and we have it on video.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/AMS36OQBHY4&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

ENEMY VIDEO: IRAQ WAR: FIVE YEARS HAVE PASSED. THESE INSURGENTS ARE STILL OUT THERE. (INTENSE VIDEO)

This video shows the insurgents in Iraq in various stages of attacks on US troops. The media would have you believe we have "won" the war in IRAQ, but all that has happened is the insurgents have gone underground and are preparing for their next attack on US troops in IRAQ.

This captured enemy video shows how the insurgents are equipped to wage war and anyone who thinks the IRAQ war has been "won" is living in some fantasy land.

According to all reports this blogger is receiving from IRAQ, the US patrols that go out on a daily basis are running into more and more attacks.

The IRAQI insurgents/terrorists are not going to give up their country to an occupying force from the UNITED STATES without a long and deadly fight.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/m7SEcaxyHMA&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

3rd MARINES, 1st BATTALION SHOWN IN ACTION-PACKED COMBAT IN IRAQ (GRAPHIC VIDEO)

This is the 3rd Marines of the 1st Battalion seen in this video in non-stop combat action.
Great video with music to enhance the video.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/OClem7RprLk&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

IRAQ WAR (THE GREATEST VIDEO EVER)

Video covers the complete range of air combat to ground combat in a non-stop action-packed package of footage with fantastic music about the IRAQ WAR.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/OAFg2PJwBHU&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

TOP RATED COMBAT CLIPS OF THE WEEK (LIVE VIDEO ACTION)

A series of combat clips from the war in Iraq. Lots of action packed into this video.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/WY1sFMguVZI&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

CLASSIC AIR ATTACK: HIGH VALUE TARGET TAKEN OUT IN IRAQ (GREAT GUN CAMERA VIDEO)

Video shows a US air attack on a high value target in Iraq. Gun camera locks in on the target and then it is bye bye.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/JjMhU-K04X4&hl=en&fs=1

CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

MARINES TO SHIP 20,000 TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN--REUTERS REPORTS

Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:19am EST
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE50M5VS20090124

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Up to 20,000 U.S. Marines could be deployed in Afghanistan as part of a planned major troop build-up to battle worsening insurgent violence, the top U.S. Marine officer said on Friday.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway said any buildup of Marines in Afghanistan would have to be accompanied by an equivalent cut in the 22,000-strong Marine force in Iraq to maintain the corps' schedule of seven-month deployments.

U.S. military planners have proposed injecting up to 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan over the next 12 to 18 months to combat an intensifying insurgency from Taliban militants and other fighters.

The United States now has 34,000 troops in the country, including 2,200 Marines.

But Conway told reporters that sending too many Marines to Afghanistan could jeopardize the corps' ability to resume training in vital areas, including amphibious landings, after a hiatus of several years.

"We hope that the number is 20,000 or less," he said.

"The time is right for Marines in general terms to leave Iraq. It's very much a nation-building kind of environment that's taking place there," he said.

"A building fight taking place in another locale -- that's really where Marines need to be. That's what we offer the nation."

OSPREY SQUADRON
President Barack Obama and his defense advisers are reviewing options for how quickly to reduce the U.S. force in Iraq, which currently stands at 143,000 troops.

Marines would likely be deployed to southern Afghanistan where NATO commanders say there are not enough troops to combat growing Taliban influence in the countryside.

Conway said the expected Marine deployment to Afghanistan would include at least one squadron of tilt-rotor MV22 Osprey aircraft, the half-airplane half-helicopter made by Textron Inc. and Boeing Co..

"It's made for a place like Afghanistan," he said, adding that the Marines and U.S. special forces were installing a belly gun to the Osprey to make it more effective against insurgents in Afghanistan.

He said the Marines are also working to modify the blast-resistant vehicles designed to protect troops from roadside bombs.

The marine-resistant ambush-protected trucks, or MRAPs, have not performed well off-road and Conway said the Marines would test a new version in the barren Afghan landscape that uses independent suspension instead of a heavy axle.

"The initial tests have been somewhat encouraging," Conway said. "We're looking at how rapidly we can prove the product before doing a massive overhaul of vehicles we've got and get them to Afghanistan."

He added that the Marine Corps has no plans to buy more vehicles.