25 Tons of Bombs Wipe Afghan Town Off Map

[Alamuti Lotus]

Source: Wired

An American-led military unit pulverized an Afghan village in Kandahar’s Arghandab River Valley in October, after it became overrun with Taliban insurgents. It’s hard to understand how turning an entire village into dust fits into America’s counterinsurgency strategy — which supposedly prizes the local people’s loyalty above all else.

But it’s the latest indication that Gen. David Petraeus, the counterinsurgency icon, is prosecuting a frustrating war with surprising levels of violence. Some observers already fear a backlash brewing in the area.

Paula Broadwell, a West Point graduate and Petraeus biographer, described the destruction of Tarok Kolache in a guest post for Tom Ricks’ Foreign Policy blog. Or, at least, she described its aftermath: Nothing remains of Tarok Kolache after Lt. Col. David Flynn, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 1-320th, made a fateful decision in October.

After two failed attempts at clearing the village resulted in U.S and Afghan casualties, Flynn’s response was to take the village out. He ordered a mine-clearing line charge, using rocket-propelled explosives to create a path into the center of Tarok Kolache.

Read more: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/01/25-tons-of-bombs-wipes-afghan-town-off-the-map/

[msongs]

1. now you know why the Obama crowd will never pursue war crimes charges against the Bush crowd nt

[Alamuti Lotus]

2. Yep, too busy committing & covering up their own *nt

[ixion]

3. exactly.

:grr:

[TygrBright]

4. Well, they HAD to destroy the village... to SAVE it! (Dang, where have I heard that before...?) n/t

[Th1onein]

5. This pisses me off.

Change? Such bullshit. WHEN are we going to get a real Democratic president?

[jody]

6. Commander in Chief Bush the yellow chicken-hawk ordered kill in Iraq, then said "Feels good".

Wonder if Commander in Chief Obama "feels good" after ordering more killing in Afghanistan?

[MineralMan]

7. An interesting story, but from 1/19/11. Not breaking news at all.

The story has been posted multiple times on DU over the past couple of days. No problem posting it again, but three day old stories are almost never breaking news.

[Alamuti Lotus]

8. that is correct, I didn't notice the date or a prior posting