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September 13 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: How Do You Say 'Tet' In Pashtun? A Historical And Tactical Perspective On How To Lose An Imperial War
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
[After the commentary, Jim Stringer, with a tale of "The Last War". Courtesy of the respective artists and KPIG Radio Freedom California... Earth.] »Tet Offensive V.2.0 - To follow up on the attack the other day that left seventy seven US soldiers and personnel wounded and two Afghanis dead in a truck bomb attack outside Kabul Afghanistan, the Taliban has managed to infiltrate the city and have committed a coordinated attacks on the US Embassy, NATO/ISAF HQ, the presidential palace compound along with police stations and other government facilities... with buildings taken by the insurgents near the U.S. embassy as sniper posts. US helicopter gunships are attempting to suppress the insurgents, with the fighting still in progress as of two hours ago. Much more in the commentary.
From STRATFOR Global Intelligence, an early and under-stated report on the fighting:
The War in Afghanistan
Taliban Strike Deep In Kabul
September 13, 2011
A team of as many as 10 Afghan Taliban militants armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades mounted an assault Sept. 13 in a high-security zone in the capital Kabul against the U.S. Embassy among other targets. At least four of the attackers were likely suicide bombers and detonated themselves during the attack. The attack began at 1:30 p.m. local time and has been underway for close to two hours. The militants took over a building in an area near Abdul Haq Chowk Square, a location in close proximity to Afghan government and Western security installations, including NATO headquarters.
While there have been many attacks in Kabul, this incident is one of the rare occasions that militants have demonstrated the capability to get extremely close to the heart of the Western military and intelligence presence in the Afghan capital. The ability to get numerous operatives armed with explosives and heavy guns into this area could not have been possible without the Taliban obtaining aid from Afghan security personnel posted in high-security areas.
The attackers are unlikely to succeed in doing much damage, and they will likely be overpowered by coalition forces — a fact the planners of the attack knew in advance. The light weapons the attackers were armed with simply could not cause significant damage to a hardened facility such as the U.S. Embassy. Therefore, the attack was meant to be more of a psychological operation than a physical one. This attack, likely the work of the Haqqani network, is designed to undermine U.S. efforts to negotiate with the senior leadership of the Afghan Taliban movement. [Free newsletter subscription on site]
Further reference points, massive amounts of information on the Tet offensive and most of America's wars at Defense Technical Information Center.
»The good new today comes from Iran where the president has instructed the courts to settle the situation with the two UC Berkeley hikers who strayed over the Iranian border a couple of years ago and were jailed for spying among other charges. It seems they will be released on $500,000 bail each. The release may be due to Iran's attempt to smooth their relations with the UN General Assembly, where they plan to raise a few issues and don't want this unresolved matter hanging their 'feet in the diplomatic fire'.
»President Obama will be in Ohio today, Republican speaker Boehner's home turf, to pitch the American Jobs Act. When he gets there he'll have a complete list of local jobs that need doing such as the renovation of ninety five condemned bridges, some just taken out of operation, that need repair in Boehner's own congressional district.
»China is apparently going to buy a large piece of Italy's debt, which caused some relief on the global market today.
»There are officially U.S. "Boots On The Ground" in Libya now. They are there ostensibly to assess damage to the embassy and other US facilities. If any of them are killed or injured by the still-resisting al-Gadaffi government forces, expect a lot more US boots on the ground and more US casualties.
In OTHER News
CBS news coverage Tet Offensive 1968 US Embassy/Saigon fighting
Hi! I'm Razer Raygun. Welcome to Razed By Wolves, Just another BloggerBlog consisting of news and other media about local, national, and global events, and the people who, by their actions and words, create those events, making the world around us a more dangerous, nastier place to live.
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