Taliban-Shot Video Shows Attack That Killed 9 US Soldiers In July (VIDEO)

ABC News has obtained a video shot by the Taliban that shows their attack on a U.S. outpost in Wanat, Nuristan that killed nine American soldiers on July 13, 2008. It was one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The video shows Taliban fighters before and during the attack, as well as of them speaking to each other:

"Relax, brother," says one.

"Everything is fine in my area," says another.

According to an exclusive interview with Taliban commander Maulvi Manibullah, who claims to have organized the operation, the attack involved 150 Taliban fighters dispersed into 30 groups of five. They confronted a few dozen U.S. and Afghan soldiers.

Read more from ABC here. Watch the video below.

Comments

[wwoody]

I believe the President is looking for an end game, we have been there (Afghanistan) over eight years.And nothing has change, only that our young men and women are dying for nothing.
it time now to bring our troops home.

[janeycat]

they said this a religious was to them....... how sad that they think a God wants them to do this....

We need to get our men home

[worldaflame]

Obama is going to escalate the war in Afghanistan. I believe he said this during the campaign.

[From the Raft]

He said it yes. That may change. I voted for change!

[BraveWarrior]

Have we figured out why morale has fallen so low with our troops yet? Could it be the endless deployments into harms' way. Might it be that they are told that we are fighting for democracy for a bunch of people who hate us. Or could it be the ridiculous counterinsurgency strategy of sending out patrols (bait) , to get the other side to attack-so they can be bombed from the air. The short timers in Vietnam lived with the reality that the longer one spends in a combat zone, the more likely they are to be killed, or even worse come home without various body parts, or mind. As their tours came to the end they became anxious, paranoid and fearful of taking any unnecessary chances. Imagine how anxious you would feel after a couple of tours in Iraq, to know your grateful country is planning to send you to Afghanistan. Might as well, no jobs, medical treatment or opportunities back home. Better to serve as cannon fodder and feed your kids. Hell since Korea, every potential american enemy knows that we will attack from the air. That they must build underground and disperse their units. If only these backward people would get with the program and all stand together somewhere so we can bomb them all this conflict would be over. Until then we have National Guard and reserves who are expendable. Why not use them all up before we find another strategy.

[Dubee]

Glad to see advertisements capitalizing on taliban video of americans being killed.

[abouttime]

It is the American Way... is it not?

[wotcanisay]

I am totally opposed to any wars.

The problem with the wars in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq was the the American citizenry was "protected" from the horrors of the wars because of the censorship that was imposed on the media.

The result of that has been that the horrors of war never came home and the American citizenry never did get a real look at how horrible war really is.

While I have not myself been a soldier any time in my life, the few visuals that have got through are horrific enough to create a huge revulsion in me for war in general.

I wonder when the general American citizenry will start feeling such revulsion as I feel!

[tucsoncindy]

I did not watch this video...War is not a game not a spectator sport. This war was started under
false allegations brought on by ruthless cowards Cheney and Rumsfeld.

I'm convinced President Obama will bring and end to this War. The recent event at Fort Hood
clearly show that our Soldiers are at their breaking point.

I pray for our Soldiers safe return.

[Roy49]

I see what's happening. We are in "their" country fighting a war on "their" land and getting our a$$es kicked! For what? Drugs, money, what? I dont' get it at all. The Russians had a million military people over there and got their a$$es kicked....THE RUSSIANS GOT RAN OUT OF THEIR!! What do you think is going to happen to us? That is their country...let's get out NOW!!

[firedbanker2008]

Oh yea, here is our answer to the Taliban who can climb up rock faces to 10,000 feet and rain down killing on our troops. Our defense department just entered into a contract with Oshkosh Corp. (yes they used to make overalls), on November 10, 2009, a $438,440,000 firm-fixed-price contract for 1,000 of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATVs). That's right, you can drive these things right up the side of a mountain and right through all of those goat paths about a foot wide. And, we are supposed to be getting out of Afghanistan?? Folks, we are getting so screwed with the "mindless" spending. Do we get reimbursed by Afghanistan? I don't think so. One can view these vehicles online.
I am a Vietnam Veteran and I support our warriors, but this just reminds me that military intelligence is still an oxymoron. One-half billion dollars, goodbye.

[Ergon]

Half a Billion would regenerate all our County General or VA Hospitals.
It could help rebuild Amtrack or assist American autoworkers.
Why are we there, again?
Yeah, we're there to protect ourselves here.

[samm120]

I feel sorry for our soldiers..­........ou­r prayers are with them......

[Balzac]

I won't bear witness from this perspective. I have no business looking at the action from this perspective, personally. War is not entertainment, and here it is not presented as entertainment. It might be better if this kind of video were more carefully presented, without commercials and on a national-security policy discussion board. It's very difficult to handle this kind of content with sufficient respect for those killed in this battle.

[tucsoncindy]

Thank you...I agree with you.

[abouttime]

If people saw what war IS on a daily basis We would demand peace!

[niblik]

I have no interest in watching a videa taken by folks who are killing our soldiers.

[SiberianRat]

While I can appreciate the sentiment, the fact that we're never exposed to the nasty reality of war via the media is part of the reason we have these problems. War is horrific, and IMO, everyone should have to see this and more.

[janeycat]

I agree if the US televised every day like was done during the Vietnam war we would already be out of there...
let them fight it out among their self..... we did when we were growing our country..
now we dont want war in our land....
we all try to have democracy now.....

when will everyone learn war is ugly and is destroys nations...

let them learn on their own..........
and stop sending them money, all their leaders are corrupt anyway

[vinny]

this vid is evidence of mcchrystal piss poor strategy...

why would you put our kids in such an exposed position???

this is pure incompetence...

fire mcchrystal...

now...

[ICorpsDoc]

Where was the close air support? Where were the Big Guns?

[theborg]

Boy, that's the Army for ya'; smart from the top to bottom. In Vietnam we always took the high ground to establish our fire-bases. You never, never, ever place your men in a gully that is basically nothing but a shooting gallery so the enemy can sit there and concentrate their fire down on your men. You establish and secure bases on the opposing peaks and send roving patrols down into that death trap to 'protect' the villagers, rotating the troops in and out on a regular basis. If you control the high ground it's easy to clear a nearby area for mortars, snipers, and base one or two Apache Gunships for fire support and maybe a Blackhawk for troop movements & rotations. If placing our troops in non-defensible murder holes like the one in the video is McChrystals(sp?) plan, then the current commanders need to be fired and put on trial for incompetence. Just one Viet vets opinion.

[TeamAnarchy]

I could not agree more. It baffles my mind why you all yourself to basically be surrounded by an elevated position. You don't even have to be in the Army to know this!

[ICorpsDoc]

This was not a base camp built by any US military. This was not a base camp at all.This was a ville that our guys occupied. A small Team of our guys.

And that was done in VN. And I would bet every other war. Sometimes you take what is there. Sometimes you regret your choices. There is no "you always do this" except in the books.

You know like the Marines at Khe Sanh.

Like the Marines fighting their way out of the Chosin

You want the high ground. You do not always get it.

[CigarGod]

Terrain in person often looks a lot different from what it looks like on a map.
I'm not going to second guess these guys.
There is a whole lot that goes into a decision...that we sitting in our recliners are not privy to.

[wwoody]

I agree with you, that goes without question, you always look for the higher ground or take the higher ground. Just watching this video just make me so angry, the person who order this camp position in the low ground is incompetent of his duties. I'm Vietnam vet too.

[ICorpsDoc]

These guys were on a hearts and mind thing. They were not on an agressive combat raid or patrol. They go where the people live.

Never been to AStan myself but my guess is that people there are no different than the ones in VN. They build their villes on flat low ground where there are roads or trails.

As a reconner we operated a lot in the mountains and jungles of VN. You know what we never saw way up in those high mountains or deep in those jungles? Civilians.

It was just us and the VC or the NVA.

No body picks places like that to live.

If you are going where the people are then you are going where the people are. And that is not likely to be high up on the sides of steep mountains.

Arm chair combat decisions made in front of a computer screen are so easy and so clean and bloodless.

Any combat vet should know that things on the ground usually are a lot different looking that watching stuff on the internet.

[wwoody]

I'm very sorry, ......I meant to say " RECENT HISTORY" not " REASON HISTORY" sorry about that.

[wwoody]

Here just a little history, Afghanistan has never been conquer. In reason history the Russian tried after ten years, and they went home running with their tails between their legs, Afghanistan was the Russian
Vietnam. We have been there for eight years, its time for us to pull our troops out as well. After all Afghanistan is not Iraq.

[bogan]

Thats not correct at all mate, Alexander the great took hold of that area completely...To the extent that if you kick around in the Afghan dust your toe will stub on the ruined ancient universities and court houses of his cities. Thats also why the people of the Nuristan valley often have blonde hair and blue eyes.

Further, we will win, because their is no proper funding source sustaining the taliban. Dont forget that when the Russians lost, it was because USA was funding the Muhajadin

[wwoody]

Bogan;
I said Afghanistan has not been conquer, and I stand by what I said. When Alexander the Great invaded, as well as the Mongol, The Turk, Persian empire and the host of others.
Afghanistan wasn't a country then, it was called the land of the Pashtun. The name
Afghanistan was only mention around 1858 by the British, it only became recognized as a
country 1919,and gain its Independence from the British and confirmed as a country 1923. Until the Russia invaded 1978, because the Russian wanted a warm water ports, for it ships. You're correct by saying that we fund the Muhajadin to fight the Russian in Afghanistan, and the Russian left in 1988, and when the Russian left... we left too. That open another set of problem and were over there today, trying to put that Genie back in the bottle, and its not going back peacefully . I can't see a win here for us, if you're basing this on funding, than we should have won in Vietnam and we both know that out come.

[J G H]

I consider the war to be necessary, but I have long had concerns about how it is being waged. There are several issues raised by the video.
First the position is very poor, with numerous ovelooking sites available to the enemy. Second, the rugged terrain restricts the use of attack helicopters and does not appear to be suitable even for artillery support except for high angle fire, which is less accurate than low angle (the military, at least when I was in, did not even deploy its artillery meterological units to refine firing solutions). Laser guided munitions would help but require the laser designator to be exposed to multiple snipers in this position. Frankly, I think we have gotten too cocky about our technological superiority and have forgotten basic tactical principles.
I also am skeptical about body count claims; as we found out in Vietnam, if you put too much emphasis on body count, it leads to pressure on local commanders to provide high estimates, sometimes honest errors, sometimes deliberate inflation. Besides this, we are fighting an enemy which actually welcomes martyrdom, so casualty rates must be high enough to weaken the enemy's capability, since his morale is hard to crack..