Marine Makes Insurgents Pay the Price

[JudyInTheHeartland]

by Cpl. James M. Mercure

FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan - In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.

<snip>

During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. He selflessly exposed himself time and again to intense enemy fire during a critical point in the eight-hour battle for Shewan in order to kill any enemy combatants who attempted to engage or maneuver on the Marines in the kill zone. What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn't miss any shots, despite the enemies' rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.

"I was in my own little world," the young corporal said. "I wasn't even aware of a lot of the rounds impacting near my position, because I was concentrating so hard on making sure my rounds were on target."

After calling for close-air support, the small group of Marines pushed forward and broke the enemies' spirit as many of them dropped their weapons and fled the battlefield. At the end of the battle, the Marines had reduced an enemy stronghold, killed more than 50 insurgents and wounded several more.

"I didn't realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies' lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us," the corporal said. "It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured."

http://www.military.com/news/article/marine-corps-news/marine-makes-insurgents-pay-the-price.html

[wtmusic]

1. Shame on those bad guys for defending their country! nt

[alittlelark]

2. He did a great job of killing those defending their 'homeland'

from invaders.

[TygrBright]

3. There is considerable doubt about whether the opposition forces in Afghanistan should be regarded as

..."defending their country from invaders" (i.e., U.S. and Coalition forces.)

Most of them are linked with Taliban and independent warlords who constituted the Afghan government prior to 2001. The government that executed women for inadvertently showing parts of their skin "not allowed," forced little girls out of school, upheld the rights of male patriarchs to marry underage girls, outlawed "Western" music and killed or imprisoned anyone they deemed in violation of Wahabbist theocratic edicts.

There were a good many ordinary Afghanis who were thrilled to pieces to see them go in the wake of the first actions post-September 11th. Had we followed up those actions with a heavy infusion of assistance for rebuilding and establishing a stable, non-Taliban government, promoting economic development to decrease the dependence on the warlords, and creating an infrastructure to support a non-opium-based economy, they likely would have regarded Coalition intervention as the best thing to happen to them since the Russians left. Admittedly, we dropped the ball to pursue fantasy boogiemen in Iraq, and have been adroitly manipulated and maneuvered by the Taliban resurgents since then.

However, there are still a majority of Afghans who very much want to see their nation reconstituted on NON-Taliban based lines, and who see the presence of the Coalition as a last bulwark against being overrun by the same people who tried to regress them back to the stone age in the wake of the Russian departure. They are understandably wary of us, since we've managed to make ourselves look like major f*ckups in the last few years, but they don't see much hope without us.

It would be a mistake to regard the Coalition mission in Afghanistan as entirely illegitimate.

These Marines were just doing their job, superbly well (as one might expect from Marines,) under difficult circumstances.

deliberately,
Bright

[Art_from_Ark]

4. Afghanistan has always been a sort of Wild West

where there are no sheriffs, just outlaws calling the shots. Choosing one group over another is essentially like choosing the Dalton Gang over the James Gang, or vice versa.

[trollybob]

5. Since our mission in Afghanistan, whatever that might be, is so "noble"

maybe we should think about intervening in The Congo, Darfur, Zimbabwe, Myannmar, Georgia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and Nigeria, just to name a few. I'm sure we'd find plenty of natives who would embrace the presence of a hundred thousand U.S. Troops. Or hasn't there been enough of a political or economic incentive for the Bush Administration in killing some of those "bad guys"? I'm sure the Marines are doing the job they were paid to do, but don't give me any of this patriotic crap about how they are defending our freedoms and the American way of life.

[TygrBright]

6. Reading comprehension skills rating: 03/10

1. Nowhere in my post did I claim "nobility" for the Afghan mission. Nor do I regard it as such. I was merely commenting on the nature of the opposition to US/Coalition forces and the general sentiments of Afghans not actively opposing the US/Coalition forces.

2. Nowhere in my post did I express "patriotic crap" about US/Coalition forces "defending our freedoms and the American way of life.

If you wish to make a point regarding your own views of the appropriateness of the US/Coalition mission in Afghanistan, by all means do so. I may even agree with you. But don't manufacture straw men from someone else's post.

helpfully,
Bright

[trollybob]

7. I was commenting not necessarily on your posting,

but the original message which seemed to be nothing more than gung-ho cheerleading for some Marines in a foreign land killing anyone they choose to label as "enemies" or "bad guys", or "insurgents", rather than citizens of that country who just happen to be armed and don't like the idea of an occupying army any more than you would like to see armed invaders camped out across the street from your house, or soldiers hanging out at your local park trying to convince people of the merits of their mission.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

8. Then why did you respond to his post and not the original?

[NYVet]

9. These people you are defending are animals.

Do you not remember the news reports of public executions in soccer stadiums, beheadings of innocents and throwing acid in the faces of little girls who date to go to school?
The dead are supporting these people and frankly, I am glad that they are no longer breathing my air.

[wolfsbane]

10. An Outstanding Day for Those Marines

I don't fault those Marines for a second. Unless you've ever had an RPG shot at you, or been engaged, you wouldn't know, but could rightly guess, that it differs vastly from a friendly hello or perhaps a little diplomacy. Let's then add the fact that a vast majority of those, let's call them selfless patriots, aren't even from the countries that they are "defending."

Then, just to throw it out there, tons of military service members question why we are really involved in these wars, but the vast majority still do their job and try to make their little piece of hell a little better. Take my word for it, not once, on any of the several deployments I've been on did I personally say, "oh boy, I get to go kill a bunch of patriots."

I understand many will disagree with my views on who the real "heroes" are. I tell you what though, if you really want to champion the cause of these oppressed patriots, they could use some help upping their numbers because the US Army and Marines like these don't do this shit for play. I promise, you will be surprised at how warmly they will welcome your heartfelt sympathy with their plight.

Corndogs.