U.S. Soldiers Urged Not to Shoot Taliban at Night so Locals Can Sleep

U.S. Soldiers Urged Not to Shoot Taliban at Night so Locals Can Sleep

The green on blue assassinations; tangos inside the wire with impunity; Marines ordered to unload and stack weapons when civilian authorities are present were reasons enough to pack it in.

This is just screwed up. The civilian authorities want American soldiers killed.

It is now officially time to leave. When this kind of incompetence is in charge, we can't win, we can't tie. We can only lose. Any future loss of American lives is the equivalent of government sanctioned murder of US citizens. The left doesn't care. They hate the military anyway. Its been demonstrated time and time again how the left feels about America's Warrior Class. This will get a lot more American and NATO soldiers and Marines killed or worse.

Reports indicate U.S. soldiers and British Royal Marines have been urged to show "courageous constraint" by not shooting Taliban members spotted planting IEDs. The reason? Shooting them might disturb the locals.

This news comes out on the heels of an investigation into the death of Royal Marine Sergeant Peter Rayner, whom witnesses say watched the Taliban plant IEDs at night but was ordered not to engage them. Families of other soldiers and Royal Marines are telling stories of how their loved ones were not allowed to use mortars or night illumination when they came across Taliban members in an area full of IEDs.  

The reason given was that "the sound of shooting 'might wake up and upset the locals.'"
This is not "courageous restraint" -- this is appeasement.

This is not appeasement; this is the equivalent of surrendering and then joining the other side. Our government, our civilian authority, has just told the enemy it is OK to plant IEDS at night, because we told our soldiers not to shoot you. The Muslim Brotherhood is dictating American military tactics.

We Never Like These Posts

With a mixture of sadness and gratitude, we have to report the loss of a Virginia son in Afghanistan.

His Dad, retired 1Sgt Aaron Ozbat, wrote this in the email notification he sent out this morning:

"Captain Jesse Aaron Ozbat, who is from Prince George County, was killed in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan when enemy forces attacked his unit with an IED. CPT Ozbat was killed in Afghanistan on 20 May 2012. Words can not describe all the emotions our family feels. He was a Man of Honor and Integrity. He was 28 years old. He graduated from Prince George High School in 2002 and from Virginia State University in 2006. He was the kind of Man you would want your daughter to marry."

We share your grief and sorrow, Top. We are lucky we have such men willing to stand the fence line and be the sheepdogs guarding the flock. Your loss is our loss.

Readers and friends,
I know this is short notice, but if you could find time in your day on Saturday to help us line the route between the Memorial Chapel on Fort Lee to Blandford Cemetery where Jesse will be laid to rest, it would show his family that his death did not go unnoticed and that his sacrifice - and theirs - is appreciated.

You will only need to be in place until the procession passes. The route will start at Memorial Chapel on Fort Lee at approximately 11:00 a.m. (Funeral is at 10:00 for anyone who would like to attend)

It will proceed through Fort Lee exiting through the Mahone Gate on Hickory Hill Road. From Hickory Hill Rd, it will turn right onto Route 460 West

From 460 West the route will bear right onto Winfield Road Stay straight on Winfield until the stop sign

Turn right at Crater Road Follow to Blandford Cemetery on the right

You may gather at any of these locations to show your support. If you wish to attend the service, the Memorial Chapel is located at 1901 Sisisky Blvd on Fort Lee. Please be prepared to show ID at the gate.

Congratulations To "The Hurt Locker"

6!!!! SIX!!!!!! Oscars and Best Picture...OOOOOOOOORAHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I watched The Hurt Locker this past Saturday night. Damn what a movie.

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you take the time.

Once Again, Col Peters Nails It

Terrorism's triumphant techniques
By RALPH PETERS

Our terrorist enemies are out-thinking us. It's not only embarrassing, but deadly.

The Taliban's latest innovation was on display again last week, when a suicide bomber, reportedly garbed in an Afghan army uniform, killed seven Americans, including a CIA station chief.

The terrorists are "inside the wire." Everywhere. From eastern Afghanistan to Texas. And we're stalled. For all of our wealth, technology and power, our enemies have the strategic and psychological initiative. The low-tech nature of most reported combat in our recent conflicts obscures the advent of four powerful innovations in warfare.

Unfortunately, three of those revolutionary techniques belong to our enemies. The single breakthrough we've exploited has been Unmanned Aerial Vehicles -- UAVs, commonly known as "drones." They're a terrific stand-off targeting tool. Our enemies, though, have mastered new forms of the tactical fight -- with strategic effects. They still lose every classic firefight, but they are pioneering the means to win without directly confronting our combat troops.

The first terrorist and insurgent innovation of this conflict era was the bulk employment of suicide bombers, dirt-cheap weapons with a high probability of success -- the poor man's precision arsenal.

Their second innovation was another cheap-but-powerful tool, the Improvised Explosive Device, the IED or roadside bomb. We still can't beat it.

Then, over the last year or so, we've seen the ever more frequent use of their most insidious psychological weapon: the suicide assassin disguised as "one of ours."

This is an anti-morale nuke. Our linchpin effort in Afghanistan is the development of Afghan security forces. (The Obama Doctrine: "When they stand up, we'll run like hell.") And building up the Afghan army and police relies on trust between our trainers and advisers and "their" Afghans -- as well as between Afghans themselves.

Last year, we saw incident after incident in which a Taliban cadre within the Afghan security forces gunned down our officers at meetings (the Brits took a really bad hit), turned their weapons on our combat troops or, most devastatingly, blew themselves up when we embraced them as comrades.

Don't let this weapon's low-tech nature fool you. This is the big one. President Obama's desperate "strategy" for Afghanistan relies on building trust -- between Afghans and their government, but above all on the security front. Our enemies have done what we refuse to do. They've analyzed the problem objectively and engineered ruthless solutions.

And we won't even block their Internet sites.

We make up fairy tales about the power of development projects to deter religious fanatics. We impose rules of engagement on our troops that protect our enemies. We ground our air power. We grant terrorists "legal" rights with no basis in existing law.
And our enemies do whatever it takes to win.

I want to see every one of those enemies dead. But I have to acknowledge their commitment, their maddened courage and their genius at waging war for peanuts. Our troops in the field know all too well what a self-imposed mess we're in. But the gulf between our grunts and their generals is immense and growing wider.

It's a (literally) bloody disgrace that our ragtag enemies innovate faster and more effectively than our armed forces and the legion of overpaid contractors behind them.

They ask themselves, "What works?"

We ask ourselves what the lawyers will say.

The crucial difference?

Our enemies believe in victory, even if we don't.

VBIED

In case you have not seen a VBIED as mentioned in the previous video, here's a sample of one that the Army found and detonated. Now, will armoring a Humvee matter? This is what Sgt Hanson went through. Hooah! Sgt. Hanson and to all you brave heroes out there.

And this one was not even one of the largest.....Search YouTube. You'll find bigger.