TOP 5 HELICOPTER ATTACKS ON TALIBAN (LIVE VIDEO)

This amazing video shows the top five helicopter attacks on the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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AMAZING COMBAT FOOTAGE FROM AFGHANISTAN WAR

Video is a compilation of U.S. troops in action against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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VIDEO FROM THE FRONT LINES

Video shows our troops on a dangerous search and secure mission.

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NEW VIDEO OF U.S. ATTACK ON TALIBAN

This video just came in showing U.S. forces attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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TALIBAN ATTACK AIRFIELD AS ERIC HOLDER ARRIVES IN AFGHANISTAN

Taliban attacks airfield as U.S. attorney general is in Kabul

By the CNN Wire Staff
http://tiny.cc/iu16x

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder met with Afghan officials in Kabul on Wednesday and promised the United States is committed to succeeding in Afghanistan and "breaking the Taliban's momentum."

Holder met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Minister of Justice Habibullah Ghalib, and Attorney General Mohammad Ishaq Alako to discuss the ongoing U.S. efforts to foster the rule of law in Afghanistan.
At the same time Holder was in the capital, Taliban insurgents attacked Jalalabad Airfield in eastern Afghanistan, about 75 miles away.

They hit the entrance of the facility with a car bomb, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, said a statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

The airfield's perimeter was not breached and several insurgents died in the attack, NATO said, without providing specific figures. Two joint security force members were injured.

In a text message to CNN, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said six men wearing suicide vests entered the airfield, killing 32 foreigners. CNN could not independently confirm those claims.

AH-64S MAKE UP "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT" AS THEY BLAST THE HELL OUT OF TALIBAN

The "rules of engagement" are for the brass, but when you are putting your own ass on the line you make up your own "rules of engagement" as you go through a battle.

That is what this video is all about.

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KICK ASS FOOTAGE OF MARINE FIREFIGHT IN "OPERATION SPEAR"

Watch and listen as a platoon leader gives his Marines instructions on the "real" rules of engagement and not what you read or hear about in the mainstream media.

The Afghanistan war is not a video game and our guys do what they have to do to stay alive.

Don't miss this video!

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WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH IN AFGHANISTAN? PETRAEUS WARNS OF "TOUGH FIGHT AHEAD"

General David Petraeus told the Senate Confirmation Committee that we can expect "tough times ahead" in Afghanistan.

Why are we even in Afghanistan?

Al Qaeda has left the country and are in Pakistan.

Are we into nation building?

Combat troops DO NOT DO nation building.

Petraeus warns of 'tough fight' in Afghanistan
2 hrs 1 min ago
http://tiny.cc/igylw

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US General David Petraeus -- named as the new commander in Afghanistan -- on Tuesday touted signs "progress" in the Afghan war but warned of a "tough fight" ahead against Taliban insurgents.

The NATO-led force "has achieved progress in several locations" this year, including in the southern Helmand province, Petraeus told senators at a hearing on his nomination as the next commander.

The general's insistence that the campaign was making headway came amid fraying public support for the war and growing impatience in Congress about the nearly nine-year-old mission.

President Barack Obama called on Petraeus to take the helm in Kabul after sacking General Stanley McChrystal as commander last week.

McChrystal was forced to step down over a bombshell magazine article that quoted him and his staff disparaging their civilian counterparts in the administration, including Obama himself, the US envoy to the region and the US ambassador.

Seeking to reassure lawmakers about festering tensions between military and civilian leaders, Petraeus vowed to forge close cooperation with his civilian counterparts in the administration.

"We are all firmly united in seeking to forge unity of effort," Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He recounted how during his time in Iraq, he worked "very closely" with the then-US ambassador in Baghdad and that he would do the same with the American ambassador in Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, as well as NATO and UN envoys.

McChrystal and Eikenberry had a tense relationship and had sharply disagreed last year over plans for a major troop "surge" in Afghanistan, which Obama approved over the ambassador's objections, which were leaked to the media.

Petraeus said there had been "security gains" over the past year in Afghanistan and credited McChrystal for reshaping the campaign.

But he warned that violence would likely rise as Islamist insurgents seek to test NATO's will and push back against US-led offensives.

"My sense is that the tough fighting will continue; indeed, it may get more intense in the next few months," he said.

"As we take away the enemy's safe havens and reduce the enemy's freedom of action, the insurgents will fight back."

The general's comments came as the death toll of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban came to 100 for the month of June alone, according to an AFP tally.

An announcement by the Pentagon on the death of an American soldier on June 24 in the western province of Farah took the toll for the year to date to 320.

The toll for 2009 was 520.

AFP's figures are based on a tally kept by the independent icasualties.org website.

BLACKHAWK---AIR ASSAULT COMPANY

Video of Blackhawk Air Assault Company on a mission to rout out the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Music: "M.I.A" by Foo Friends

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101st AIRBORNE MEDEVAC TEAM RUSHES TO SAVE WOUNDED GIS FROM ROADSIDE BOMBS

This is a video showing members of a 101st Airborne Medevac Team out of Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan as they rush to save the lives of wounded American soldiers who were the victims of a roadside bomb.

Two soldiers die before they can be evacuated.

A must see video.

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THE UGLY OF AFGHANISTAN WAR: WHAT YOU WILL NEVER SEE ON AMERICAN TV

An Army medic talks about his mission with a Medevac Rescue Team to rescue wounded Americans and a young Afghanistan girl who lost her leg from an mortar explosion.

You have to see this video because you will never see anything like this on American TV.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/PZRcq26YaRM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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FASCINATING VIDEO OF MEDEVAC CREW EVACUATING WOUNDED FROM BATTLEFIED

This ABC News video shows a Medevac Rescue Team racing to evacuate two American soldiers wounded in a battle with the Taliban.

The video shows the Medevac helicopter rushing to save the wouded GIs and get the wounded off the battlefield and to a field hospital.

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WOUNDED U.S. SOLDIERS ARE AIR LIFTED OFF THE BATTLEFIELD IN AFGHANISTAN

Video shows Medevac Team flying into a battlefield in Afghanistan to air lift wounded U.S. soldiers from the war zone to a military hospital.

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GIs FROM BAKER CO. ENGAGE TALIBAN FROM OUTPOST MUNOZ

New video shows GIs from Baker Company in a battle with the Taliban at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Munoz in Afghanistan.

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TALIBAN ATTACK U.S. TROOPS IN PECH RIVER VALLEY AFGHANISTAN

Video shows U.S. troops under heavy attack from the Taliban in Pech River Valley, Afghanistan.

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HOW AFGHANISTAN BECAME THE IGNORED WAR

(Editor's opinion): In my opinion the Afghanistan war became the ignored war by both the media and the public because there is no vested interest in the war by Americans. If we had a military draft like we have had for every war since World War II, I feel it would be an entirely different story.

CORKSPHERE editor, BILL CORCORAN

How Afghanistan became the ignored war

By Julian E. Zelizer, Special to CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/06/28/zelizer.afghanistan.ignored.war/index.html?section=cnn_latest

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Julian Zelizer says Afghanistan war has gotten very little public attention in the U.S.

He says it has cost the nation greatly and there's no assurance of victory
War overshadowed by economic crisis and reluctance of both parties to criticize, he says

Absence of a draft also limits U.S. attention to war, Zelizer says

Editor's note:Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security -- From World War II to the War on Terrorism" and of a book on former President Carter, to be published next fall by Times Books.

Princeton, New Jersey (CNN) -- If the Korean War, which began 60 years ago this past weekend, was America's forgotten war, Afghanistan has been America's ignored war.

Since President Obama authorized a surge of troops in Afghanistan in December 2009, there has been a notable absence of public debate or interest about this conflict.


Although the media has tracked conditions on the ground and more recently has examined the rapid deterioration of U.S. military strategy, Afghanistan has not elicited the same kind of civic dialogue that surrounded President George W. Bush's war in Iraq and certainly nothing like President Johnson's war in Vietnam.

Indeed, when the controversy over Gen. Stanley McChrystal's comments in Rolling Stone magazine erupted in the past week, one of the most surprising aspects of the story was that, for a brief moment, Americans were actually talking about Afghanistan once again. Our nation is in the middle of a war that has gone on for over nine years, but many people have not been paying attention.

Afghanistan cannot be ignored. The war, which started in the aftermath of 9/11, costs the federal government about $6.7 billion a month. That's more than the monthly cost of Iraq.

June 2010 marked one of the deadliest months in this war. Since the war began, more than 1,000 American servicemen and women have died.

The government of Afghanistan, our ally, remains mired in corruption and teeters on instability. Gen. David Petraeus' counterinsurgency strategy is apparently not working its magic.

Many experts doubt that the president can abide by the July 2011 timetable that he set to begin withdrawal. The end is not in sight, and it is unclear whether policymakers even know what the end is. According to Newsweek, one expert working with the Pentagon commented, "We could sink in billions more dollars for another 10 to 20 years, and if we're lucky, we'll get Haiti ..."

What accounts for the utter lack of attention to this war?

The first factor has been the fragile state of the economy within the U.S. The severity of economic conditions since the financial crash in the fall of 2008 has naturally led citizens to focus on the health of their pocketbooks and the stability of their mortgage payments rather than on war and peace. The listless recovery that has left high rates of unemployment has means many families don't have the time or energy to pay attention to events overseas.

The second factor has to do with the political incentives that inhibit liberals and conservatives from making too much of an issue of this war. Many liberal Democrats have been either angry or quietly uneasy with Obama's decision to escalate troop levels in Afghanistan.

Yet they have generally remained silent since the surge began, fearing they could undercut Obama as he moved forward with health care, a high priority for Democrats.

They were also in a bind since they had based much of their criticism of President Bush on the claim that he had diverted resources from the war in Afghanistan, where the terrorists who perpetrated 9/11 had been given shelter by the Taliban, and used them for the war in Iraq, which they said was not essential to the war on terrorism.

At the same time, conservatives have not made much noise either. Although there are many conservatives who support President Obama's strategy, there are also political factors at work. Talking too much about Afghanistan cuts against a central argument that they want to make about this administration: that Democrats are weak on defense.

It is hard to make a hawk look like a dove. By focusing on other national security issues, such as President Obama's efforts to strengthen civil liberties in the war on terrorism, conservatives have found easier targets. Afghanistan, where Obama has continued and accelerated a central component of Bush's war-on- terrorism strategy, does not fit neatly into their narrative.

Finally, there is the persistent effect on wartime politics that results from not having a draft. Without a draft, many Americans simply don't feel or fear the costs of war. They don't feel the urgency of paying close attention to what is going on. Rather, our nation depends on the valiant efforts of our professional army to handle these challenges.

President Nixon, who pushed for the end of the draft in 1973, believed from the start of his term that much of the grass-roots anti-war movement was driven by the fears of middle-class families that their children would be sent into war. Nixon made ending the draft a top priority because he believed it would undercut this sentiment. Anti-war activism, in his mind, had to do primarily with having to go to war rather than the war itself.

In many respects, Nixon's prediction turned out to be true. Even with President Bush's war in Iraq, which strained public opinion and required more ground troops than any war in recent history, the nation did not experience the kinds of grass-roots protests that rocked Lyndon Johnson's administration in the 1960s.

The absence of a draft, combined with the unwillingness of Democrats or Republicans to call on citizens to sacrifice for the war effort through other means (such as higher taxes) produced national apathy even though our men and women are right in the middle of a conflict.

As a result of these factors, Afghanistan has remained off the radar.

Perhaps with the McChrystal controversy, the nation will start asking tougher questions about what is going on in this war, what our objectives are and how the strategy is working.

Unfortunately, we will most likely turn our attention back to other issues, such as the feature story in Rolling Stone called "Lady Gaga Tells All." In doing so, we will continue an unhealthy pattern of fighting wars outside of the public mind.

AMEN!

NEVER SEEN BEFORE LOOK AT THE AFGHANISTAN WAR

Video is a never before seen look at the Afghanistan war from a variety of angles.

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AC-130 GUNSHIP PUTS THE ASS WHOOP TO THE TALIBAN

Fantastic aerial footage showing an AC-130 gunship putting the ass whoop to the Taliban on the ground in Afghanistan.

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VIDEO OF RUSSIAN/AFGHANISTAN WAR--1978-1989

Compilation of stills from the Russian/Afghanistan war that lasted from 1978 to 1989 and cost the Russians over 15,000 troops.

The United States has now been in Afghanistan nine years and nothing has been accomplished.

The U.S. just passed the 1,000 milestone in American troops killed in Afghanistan.

Song: "Watchuwanado" by Krayzie Bone

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CNN DOCUMENTARY OF SOVIET FAILED ATTEMPT TO TAKEOVER AFGHANISTAN

The Soviet Union lost more than 15,000 men in the Afghanistan war.

This CNN documentary chronicles how the Soviet Union lost the war with Afghanistan.

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"WE'RE F#%&@ING LOSING THIS THING"

New video from Robert Greenwald's BraveNew Films, producers of "Rethink Afghanistan, talking to GI's who have seen action in the Afghanistan war including recently relieved Gen. Stanley McChrystal and what they have to say about the strategy for winning the war.

It's an eye-opener.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/3AyKmkfwzmk&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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2 MORE U.S. SOLDIERS DIE IN AFGHANISTAN WAR

Two more US troops die in Afghan war
Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:18:59

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=132240&sectionid=351020403

U.S. military has announced the deaths of two of its soldiers in Afghanistan amid a surge in Taliban attacks against foreign forces in the country.

A statement by the US military said on Sunday that six other Americans were wounded in the eastern province of Kunar. It says an Afghan soldier was also killed in the incident.

Meanwhile, a Taliban spokesman has confirmed the attack and said they have inflicted heavy losses on the American and Afghan forces. The fatalities also push the number of foreign troops killed so far this month to 92. June has been the deadliest month for foreign troops since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began in 2001.

The latest deaths bring the number of NATO troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year to 312.

RUSSIA REMEMBERS DEADLY WAR IN AFGHANISTAN (VIDEO)

We learn from history, or should learn from history, or we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

This graphic and sometimes gory video spells out what the Soviets found out when they tried to invade and takeover Afghanistan.

The same thing is happening with the United States that happened to the Russians when they invaded Afghanistan.

We haven't learned a thing from the past and are now doomed to repeat the mistakes the Soviet Union made in Afghanistan.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/O1vc0a2Kcjw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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A LOOK BACK AT THE SOVIET EXPERIENCE IN AFGHANISTAN (MUST SEE VIDEO)

The United States and its forces have been waging war in Afghanistan for nine years and this video shows what happened to the Soviet Union forces after ten years in Afghanistan.

This video is a must see for all those questioning what we are doing in Afghanistan.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/1hho8YLcTMs&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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MARINES IN VIOLENT FIREFIGHT AGAINST TALIBAN (LIVE VIDEO)

This is a new video and shows U.S. Marines in a violent firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Song: "Your Disease" by Salivia

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http://www.youtube.com/v/b3bMSvTebLU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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AFGHANISTAN: WORSE THAN A NIGHTMARE

Read what New York Times columnist Bob Herbert has to say about the Afghanistan war.

It is not a pretty picture.

The war in Afghanistan is going nowhere and it is a waste of money and human treasure.

President Obama has made a HORRIBLE mistake in expanding the war in Afghanistan.

The mainstream news media in the United States no longer covers the Afghanistan war. They call it "Afghanistan fatigue." The mainstream press says NOBODY in the United States, except those with a loved one in Afghanistan, gives a damn about the Afghanistan war.

Read more what Bob Herbert of the New York Times has to say in his column here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/opinion/26herbert.html

BREAKING NEWS: TALIBAN COMMANDER DISGUISED AS WOMAN SHOT DEAD

Military: Taliban commander, disguised as woman, shot dead

By the CNN Wire Staff
http://tiny.cc/qa1xg

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Slain militant was Taliban commander in Logar province
Three civilians injured when grenade detonated
Insurgents, NATO-led service member killed

RELATED TOPICS
Afghanistan War
The Taliban
NATO

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A Taliban commander disguised as a woman was shot dead Friday night in Afghanistan when he fired at troops, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

Authorities identified the man as Ghulam Sakhi, the senior Taliban commander in northern Logar province.

ISAF said intelligence sources tracked Sakhi to a compound near the village of Qal-eh Saber in Pul-e 'Alam district.

After Afghan troops called for women and children to leave a building, Sakhi came out with the group, disguised in women's attire.

ISAF said he pulled out a pistol and a grenade and fired at troops.

Afghan and coalition forces shot him and he dropped the grenade, which detonated and wounded a woman and two children.

Authorities say Sakhi was involved in improvised explosive device attacks, ambushes and indirect fire attacks. He also kidnapped and killed a National Directorate of Security chief in Logar province.

In other Afghan fighting, several insurgents in Zabul province were killed in a "precision airstrike" on Friday night and bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan killed three NATO-led service member on Saturday.

EDITORIAL COMMENT: THE NEWS MEDIA IN THE UNITED STATES STILL FEELS NONE OF THIS IS WORTH REPORTING.

BODIES FOUND BEHEADED: 4 U.S. TROOPS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN

Bodies found beheaded in Afghanistan; 4 troops die
Sat Jun 26, 12:00 am ET

http://tiny.cc/890yn

KABUL, Afghanistan – Four American troops were reported killed and the bodies of 11 Afghan men, some beheaded, were found in rising violence across Afghanistan.

Mohammad Khan, deputy police chief in Uruzgan province, said a villager in the Bagh Char area of Khas Uruzgan district spotted the bodies Friday in a field and called police.

"They were killed because the Taliban said they were spying for the government, working for the government," he said.

The acting Uruzgan governor, Khudia Rahim, said five or six of the 11 victims had been beheaded.

NATO reported two U.S. service members were killed in insurgent attacks Friday in eastern Afghanistan, one American died Friday in a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan, and a fourth U.S. troop died in a roadside bombing Thursday in southern Afghanistan.

Their deaths brought to 84 the number of international service members killed so far in June, which is already the deadliest month of the nearly nine-year-old war. At least 50 were Americans.

Also in the south, a joint force of Afghan and international troops killed a midlevel Taliban commander and other insurgents Thursday who were planting a roadside bomb near the provincial capital of Kandahar province, NATO said. Some of the insurgents were killed by a coalition airstrike, NATO said.

It said the Taliban commander, Faizullah, was responsible for roadside bomb attacks in the Arghandab district of Kandahar and is believed to have killed at least one coalition soldier in March.

The coalition is ramping up security in and around Kandahar, the largest city in the south, in an effort to drive out insurgents and bring the area under the control of the central Afghan government in Kabul.
In Khost province, another joint force captured an alleged operative of the Haqqani network, an al-Qaida-linked arm of the Taliban. Afghan and international forces have been involved in intense engagements with the Haqqani network along the border of Khost and Paktia provinces.

Several insurgent commanders have been killed during operations, NATO said.

PREVIEW OF MUCH TALKED ABOUT DOCUMENTARY, "RESTREPO," ABOUT AFGHANISTAN WAR

The National Geographic documentary, "Restrepo", has already won an award at the Sundance Film Festival and in this post you get to see a preview of the documentary which traces the steps of a U.S. Army platoon in the dangerous and unforgiving Korengal Valley, Afghanistan.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/QuL-A1dImzs&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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HELMET CAM: WE GET BLOWN UP AND THEN AMBUSHED BY TALIBAN

Video taken from a helmet cam shows a U.S. convoy getting hit by the Taliban and then later ambushed by the Taliban.

AMERICANS NEVER GET TO SEE THIS BECAUSE THERE IS A NEWS BLACKOUT ON THE AFGHANISTAN WAR BY THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA IN THE UNITED STATES.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/i8xm_KdslQo&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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GRISLY VIDEO OF AFGHANISTAN WAR THE MEDIA DOESN'T CARE ABOUT

The mainstream media in the United States has shut the door on covering the Afghanistan war, but our young men and women are still engaged in brutal and grisly combat like what is seen in this video.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/V02qHEIrP6M&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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BREAKING NEWS: VIDEO OF IED ATTACK ON U.S. CONVOY IN AFGHANISTAN

New video shows a Taliban attack on a U.S. convoy in Afghanistan.

WARNING: Strong language.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/YJpYpGTwgJw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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VIDEO SHOWS FIGHTING IS FIERCER THAN EVER IN AFGHANISTAN

Good luck to our boys in Afghanistan.

This video shows the the fighting in Afghanistan is fiercer than ever.

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http://www.youtube.com/v/_Sw956oLako&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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TIME MAGAZINE: FOUR DECISIONS FOR GEN. PETRAEUS

Four Decisions for Petraeus

Posted by Joe Klein Friday, June 25, 2010 at 9:41 am
TIME MAGAZINE

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/06/25/four-decisions-for-petraeus/?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0rskTvsY1

The New York Times has a vital piece today about the negotiations apparently taking place between Hamid Karzai and the Pakistanis. If it is true that the Pakistanis can deliver the Haqqani Taliban faction--which the American military considers the most vicious of the three main Taliban groups--then we may be at a turning point in this struggle. It is a tricky turning point, though. At least two other countries need to be consulted, if not included, in these talks: the U.S. and India. If Karzai decides to act precipitously in making peace with the Pashtun Taliban, he could lose the support of much of his country--the north and west, and the Afghan National Army, which is overwhelmingly non-Pashtun.
How to handle this situation is a decision for the full U.S. government, not just the military. Richard Holbrooke, who remains the best diplomatic negotiator in the Administration, needs to be front and center here. And that raises some immediate questions confronting David Petraeus as he assumes his new command:

1. How to deal with Hamid Karzai? No one has been very successful at this, though McChrystal was more so than most--largely because he allowed Karzai to have the final say over major NATO military operations. How will Petraeus see Karzai: as the boss (the final arbiter of military action), a partner or a subordinate? The latter is clearly out--those who've gotten into fights with Karzai, like Holbrooke and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, have lost. But the former isn't getting us anywhere. Petraeus had some dicey moments with President Maliki in Iraq, but he managed to build a successful partnership. Can he do the same in Afghanistan? (One big problem: Maliki was the exact opposite of Karzai, pushing for more aggressive military action--and it was his unilateral decision to attack Basrah that finally made him a credible president in the eyes of Iraqis.)

2. How to deal with the State Department? There is much chatter on the right about bringing back Petraeus' old partner, Ryan Crocker. That's not going to happen. Nor is Petraeus going to have the free hand in Afghanistan that George W. Bush gave him in Iraq; he will not be a proconsul, just an important cog in the chain of command. Furthermore, Obama's vehement insistence that the policy is not changing was, I am told, a momentary show of support for the other players in the Afghan drama. At this point, as I said above, the crucial player should be Holbrooke. He and Petraeus have quietly built a solid relationship over the past year, which reflects the close relationship Petraeus has had with Holbrooke's boss, Hillary Clinton. Like it or not, I suspect these two men will have to hash out a diplomatic strategy--and do it quickly--that both can live with. These are two extremely talented men, with strong views. It is absolutely essential that they operate from the same page.

3. How to Deal with the McChrystal legacy? For the troops, the most controversial aspect of McChrystal's command wasn't his comments, but his rules of engagement--which were enacted in order to protect Afghan civilians, but which most troops considered an unwieldy straitjacket, preventing them not just from closing on the enemy but also, in some cases, from protecting themselves adequately. Petraeus also emphasized protecting the civilian population in Iraq, but he used a less restrictive set of rules of engagement. This will be a big intra-military question he'll have to answer: will he continue McChrystal's strict rules, or will he modify them?

4. How to Deal with His Own Legacy? This is the biggest question, and it is entirely dependent on the answers to the three questions above: can counterinsurgency succeed if Afghanistan? Can it succeed against its own bedrock principles--like the absolute need for a reliable host government? And can it succeed given the violations in strategy that Petraeus and McChrystal have already countenanced in Afghanistan--like the decision waste resources (especially Afghan resources, like their best Army and Police units) to chase bad guys in Helmand Province rather than focusing on protecting the population in Kandahar? It is entirely possible that Petraeus, who was extremely creative when it came to seizing the opportunities presented to him in Iraq, is going to have to revise the strategy and the tools he is using in Afghanistan. The future of the war effort depends on his ability to be flexible here.

Read more:
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/06/25/four-decisions-for-petraeus/?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0rskTvsY1

SHOCKING VIDEO OF PAKISTAN SUICIDE BLAST: WAR WIDENS IN MIDDLE EAST

New video shows the aftermath of a Pakistan suicide bombing as the war in the Middle East widens.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/x5oQnJkruiM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

CLICK ON LINK AND DIAMOND SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

U.S. TROOPS SHOWN CLEARING A ROUTE THROUGH AFGHANISTAN

This new video shows U.S. troops clearing a route through Afghanistan so heavy equipment can be moved in the war zone.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/OWdwIl7QoIQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

CLICK ON LINK AND DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

NON-STOP COMBAT FOOTAGE FROM AFGHANISTAN WAR

This video shows U.S. troops engaged in non-stop combat against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/K6rDmM58uaI&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

CLICK ON LINK AND DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

WARNING GRAPHIC: BRITISH TROOPS KILLING TALIBAN

Video shows British troops killing the Taliban who are no more than 20 feet from them.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/Jqz5Yi4K5uU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

CLICK ON LINK AND DIAMOND SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

AFGHAN BOY DIRECTS U.S. TROOPS WHERE TO SHOOT TALIBAN (LIVE VIDEO)

A young Afghan boy helps U.S. troops pinpoint the Taliban during a fierce firefight in Afghanistan.

WARNING: The Afghan boy uses a lot of American curse words.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/sfm5_5DjPss&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

CLICK ON LINK AND DIAMOND SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

BREAKING NEWS: U.S. TROOPS IN TENSE BATTLE WITH TALIBAN (RAW VIDEO)

This new video shows U.S. troops in an intense battle with the Taliban in Korengal Valley Afghanistan.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/g65IgEn2K4E&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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GREAT VIDEO: LEE GREENWOOD SINGS "I'M PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN": DEDICATED TO OUR TROOPS

This is a video dedicated to all the men and women in the U.S. military with Lee Greenwood singing "I'm Proud to be an American."

Footage is from Afghanistan war.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/8ZZf619DIpo&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

CLICK ON LINK AND DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

RAW COMBAT FOOTAGE MARINES BATTLING TALIBAN

This is new combat footage showing the 1/6 Marines in combat against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/SWGuhNCithw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

CLICK ON LINK AND DIAMOND SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY

FIERCE FIGHTING IN AFGHANISTAN (RAW VIDEO)

Video shows scenes of fierce fighting in Afghanistan and the death of U.S. soldiers.

Song: "Gone But Not Forgotten." by Alice in Chains

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WATCH VIDEO HERE

http://www.youtube.com/v/15Wz8AufTbk&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

CLICK ON LINK AND DIAMOND SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

GORY VIDEO: 60 AFGHAN CIVILIANS KILLED AS WAR INTENSIFIES

This video can be very rough for some people so watch with extreme caution.

Video shows how the war in Afghanistan is intensifying and how many Afghan civilians are being killed by U.S. and NATO forces.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/NxDlS3jJ8x0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

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FIRST VIDEO: PRESIDENT OBAMA ACCEPTS GEN. MCCHRYSTAL'S RESIGNATION

Video shows President Obama accepting Gen. Stanly McChrystal's resignation as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Vice President Biden and General David Petraeus, who was appointed new Afghanistan commander, flank the President.

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WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/xxh1UXsno78&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

CLICK ON LINK AND DIAMOND SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

BEST AFGHANISTAN COMBAT VIDEO EVER: BRUTAL AND BLOODY FIREFIGHT WITH TALIBAN

Remarkable video shows U.S. forces in a brutal and bloody firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan. This is perhaps the best combat video coming out of the Afghanistan war.

TURN UP YOUR SOUND

WATCH VIDEO HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/v/X7W8fhEHQo4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

CLICK ON LINK AND DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

WHILE OBAMA AND MCCHRYSTAL SQUABBLE, 14 SOLDIERS ARE KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN

The newspapers and TV will be filled with what President Obama decides to do with wayward Gen. Stanley McChrystal, but few if any of the media will mention that in the past two days 14 NATO troops have been killed in Afghanistan.

NATO toll in Afghanistan rises to 14 in two days
1 hr 1 min ago
http://news.yahoo.com/topics/afghanistan

KABUL (AFP) – Four NATO soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan, bringing to 14 the number to have died in two days in the war-torn country, the military said.

Two soldiers were killed in bomb attacks, another in a small arms attack and the fourth in another insurgent attack. The deaths all occurred on Tuesday.

London announced that one of the soldiers was British.

The latest deaths brought to 69 the number of NATO troops to have died so far this month and 289 this year, according to an AFP tally based on the independent icasualties.org website.

Ten NATO troops were killed in attacks and a helicopter crash on Monday -- the second time this month that 10 service members were killed in a single day.

Much of southern Afghanistan is blighted by the Taliban insurgency, now in its deadliest phase since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the hardline Islamist regime and installed a Western-backed administration led by Hamid Karzai.

The US military has warned that casualties will inevitably mount as foreign forces build up their campaign to oust the militants from the southern province of Kandahar, a hotbed of bombings, assassinations and lawlessness.

LIST OF GAFFES IN AFGHANISTAN UNDER GEN. MCCHRYSTAL'S COMMAND

McChrystal episode comes amid long string of U.S. setbacks in Afghanistan

Tue Jun 22, 6:34 pm ET
http://tiny.cc/2ou5g

Taken on their own, the insubordinate and bizarre comments made by Gen. Stanley McChrystal and his staff to Rolling Stone are enough to raise serious questions about his strategy in Afghanistan and his respect for civilian authority. But Rolling Stone's story also comes at the end of a breathtaking string of terrible developments and milestones in the Afghan war — and thus will likely just accelerate the sense of chaos and aimlessness overtaking the conflict.

[UPDATE: On Tuesday afternoon President Obama said he had yet to decide whether or not McChrystal would be fired, and noted that he and his team showed "poor judgment" in speaking to Rolling Stone as they did.]

The revelation that McChrystal and his staff — they call themselves "Team America" — hold many civilian White House officials in open disdain couldn't have come at a worse time. Since April, scarcely a day has gone by that hasn't brought some unsettling news about the Afghan war. This latest fiasco is but one in a long series of episodes showing that McChrystal — who'd been entrusted with far-ranging authority over the conduct of the Afghan war — has remained largely unaware of the political challenges he faces, while often glibly dismissing dissenting views and civilian authority.

[Other incredible political gaffes]
Here's a review of the parade of horribles emanating from Afghanistan in the weeks preceding McChrystal's outburst:

May 25, 2010: The Army launches an investigation of 10 soldiers near Kandahar for the murder of three Afghan civilians and illegal drug use. One soldier is eventually charged; five remain under investigation.

May 28, 2010: A roadside bombing kills the 1,000th American in Afghanistan.

May 29, 2010: McChrystal calls Marjah, the subject of a massive NATO offensive last spring to oust the Taliban and prop up civilian institutions, a "bleeding ulcer" at a gathering of Afghan officials and civilian strategists. The Marjah campaign was the first prong of the surge strategy McChrystal advocated, and he has essentially acknowledged that it didn't succeed: "I think that we've done well, but I think that the pace of security has been slower. I'm thinking that, had we put more force in there, we could have locked that place down better."

June 2, 2010: A peace summit called by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and attended by McCrystal is attacked by Taliban mortar and small-arms fire. McChrystal has to be evacuated as Karzai offers peace terms to the Taliban over the noise of Taliban rockets. Karzai would later blame the attack on American forces.

June 7, 2010: After 104 months of combat, the Afghanistan conflict becomes the longest war in U.S. history.

June 10, 2010: McChrystal tells reporters at a meeting of NATO defense ministers that a long-planned operation to pacify the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar this summer — designed to serve as a follow-up blow to the bungled Marjah campaign — will be delayed. "I do think it will happen more slowly than we had originally anticipated," McChrystal said.

June 11, 2010: The New York Times reports that, according to two former senior advisers to the Afghan president, Karzai has lost faith in America's capacity to prevail in Afghanistan and is seeking a separate peace with the Taliban without informing NATO. "The president has lost his confidence in the capability of either the coalition or his own government to protect this country," one of the advisers told the Times. "President Karzai has never announced that NATO will lose, but the way that he does not proudly own the campaign shows that he doesn't trust it is working."

June 13, 2010: The New York Times reports that the U.S. military has "discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan," in a story that U.S. officials cooperated with. The story contained little new information about Afghanistan's deposits, which Karzai himself had claimed to be worth between $1 trillion and $3 trillion in February; it is widely viewed as a transparent attempt by the U.S. to fight back against the growing tide of negative press.

June 16, 2010: WikiLeaks announces that it will soon release leaked military video of a U.S. gunship attack near Garani, Afghanistan, that killed nearly 150 civilians, including women and children, in May 2009.
June 22, 2010: A congressional report finds that the U.S. is paying millions of dollars in protection money to Afghan warlords — and potentially to the Taliban — to provide security for convoys. The U.S. practice of outsourcing supply transports has "fueled a vast protection racket run by a shadowy network of warlords, strongmen, commanders, corrupt Afghan officials," and provided "a significant potential source of funding for the Taliban," the report said.