It may be a stretch to call them streets, but our troops in Afghanistan are sure doing some tough fighting. Fortunately these Marines have a lot of institutional experience gained in Iraq and Afghanistan. When most people think of the Battle of Fallujah they think of these same Marines, but there were Army dogs from the 4th ID there as well. One of them is my good friend David Bellavia, a street fighting man for sure, and he shares his invaluable perspective on what our guys face in the Battle of Marjah. Thankfully in the early phases of Marjah we are seeing that this is not shaping up to be Fallujah III as some analysts had expected. We are still in the opening phases and anything can happen in the chaos of an urban battle, but I think it is safe to wager that the foothold NATO forces have already gained in the city is more than enough to not only occupy the key terrain of egress and supply of the enemy, but slowly squeeze the remaining insurgents out over the next two weeks. When I first heard of the planned attack and all the build up of forces, I must admit that my stomach was tied up in knots. No doubt many veterans of the Fallujah fights are now in Marjah and are well rehearsed with an enemy that disappears as you give chase in a dense city. A veteran of 900 urban scraps is still prone to whoever lays in wait behind a door. The almost sterile and removed attacks from an IED buried in the muck of a canal trench can strike at anytime and never gives you an enemy to retaliate against. The sick reality of urban street fighting is that sometimes the difference of life and death is simply dumb luck.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Blackfive/~3/xYnT76ouK-o/streetfighting-in-afghanistan.html
Posted
Feb 15 2010, 10:47 AM
by
BLACKFIVE