'Usually the US military delays admission of guilt until a story has gone cold and the media is no longer interested. "First say 'no story'," runs an old PR adage, "and then say 'old story'." By the end of the week the US was admitting that the grenade-throwing Taliban story was "thinly sourced".' Full article here.
Transcrpt of Robert Gates Press Conference puling the rug from General Mckiernan -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4424
According to UPI on 15th May local villagers are saying Taliban forces in Farah province's Bala Boluk district fled the area before it was targeted by U.S. airstrikes on May 4. One man, Haji Sayed Barakat said that with the militants gone civilians took the brunt of the U.S. assault, The Washington Times reported this on Friday. Barakat said his wife and two of his children were killed in the attacks on three Bala Boluk villages.
ReplyDeleteChief Petty Officer Brian Naranjo, a U.S. military spokesman, disputed Barakat's allegations. Naranjo said the airstrikes were in response to an attack by Taliban forces.
"The entire operation was in response to the Taliban attack. It was never an offensive engagement. The fight was in reaction," Naranjo said. Officials in Afghanistan estimate 140 people died in the airstrikes, including 96 children according to the Times.
I was there and I will tell you that a small element of 10 Americans were ambushed by 100 militants/@ssholes with guns and RPGs. The close air support called in to assist the outnumbered personnel was essential to their survival. The first fast mover dropped nothing only a low fly by as a show of force. The second dropped flares. The next round they meant business. I am VERY THANKFUL of the actions from the pilots above.
ReplyDeleteYou were there, were you? Of course you were.
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