Tarok Kolache Wiped Off Map By 25 Tons Of Bombs

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.

Read the whole story: Wired

Comments

[Fuddgate]

09:15 PM on 01/23/2011

"Winning hearts and minds" huh? Heckofajob there Mr. Betrayus. This guy should be court martialed and sent to a rest home at the shady acres, or a military prison. Why did 9/11 happen?? Stuff like this, by people like him. Do the math.

[Bhokara]

04:59 PM on 01/22/2011

“We had to destroy that village in order to save it.”

Air Force Major Chester L. Brown
Bến Tre, South Vietnam
February 7, 1968

[blutopie]

09:25 AM on 01/21/2011

Before and After views of the village..

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

[Michael Gerety]

04:02 AM on 01/21/2011

This is in fact, called the military solution applied coldly and brutally, by definition­. One can argue over the "efficienc­y." If this type of methodolog­y is disturbing then do not apply military solutions to problems that are not "military" in nature. It seems like a trillion dollars and damaging the economy and spirit of America and destroying the already fragile economies of a couple of countries and provoking the deaths of several hundreds of thousands people to get two guys is a bit excessive, to me at least.

[mamacat]

03:49 AM on 01/21/2011

I can see how this would make a weird sort of sense to the low level commanders on the ground, but the people in charge of the whole shebang have got to realize that this is insane.

[Frank Choi]

01:04 AM on 01/21/2011

I can't believe this is going under reported-- a whole village gone?! No way they were all insurgents. How sad.

[MMRDO]

08:02 AM on 01/21/2011

That is collateral. We bombed Berlin, a lot more civilians were killed, but we did not stop.

[sophiemaki]

12:26 PM on 01/21/2011

Frank. everything about the war is "under-reported."
seems as tho only Morning Joe on MSNBC......really discusses war anymore.
it is truly sad.

[Edward Standley]

10:55 PM on 01/20/2011

Well I sure hope those Afghan ingrates appreciate our hard work!

[blutopie]

09:28 AM on 01/21/2011

That's right - 25 tons worth of foreign aid is a lot of money.

America is so misunderstood that it's getting to be a crying shame

[rtb61]

10:38 PM on 01/20/2011

An act of military insanity. With total air superiority and the ability to maintain 24/7 surveillance of any one coming or going, They could quite readily have picked them up in small groups when ever they moved about in the area.
First detect a target group, one sufficiently isolated use air dispersed flash bangs and smoke to confuse and disorientate them. Ensure sufficient air support to prevent reinforcement of the targeted group and then use gas to further disable them and them helicopter in for the pick up.
Prisoners standing trial with proof provided for the crimes they have committed does far more to win people over, rather than destroying a village and killing who ever was there simply for being there which in that part of the world creates enemies for life and even generations after that.

[MMRDO]

08:03 AM on 01/21/2011

Better to hit them while they are concentrated. It ensures mass casualties. We are fighting a war, not playing SWAT.

[rickthepainter]

09:13 PM on 01/20/2011

So the villagers flee because their're over run by Taliban,US Army destroys village to get rid of Taliban,Then we rebuild village,for the villagers,(Hearts and Minds)Then Taliban retakes village,villagers flee,we destroy village again,then we rebuild again,over and over.Then we try something new, maybe or not, but sooner or later,we leave,then our Afgan friends apply for political asylum.Sound familiar? Didn't work in Vietnam,have we learned nothing?

[sophiemaki]

09:25 PM on 01/20/2011

my best friend is a tour guide in Vietman.
she loves it there.

[Aquest]

09:10 PM on 01/20/2011

Every day, its harder and harder to be proud to be an American

[fromfaraway]

08:04 PM on 01/20/2011

Will we ever know how many innocent lives were lost?
Are they aware that tomorrow we will have forgotten about it and that is why it will continue?

[sophiemaki]

07:26 PM on 01/20/2011

Petraeus and the Repubs have Obama eating "right" out of their hands.
they love war.
Obama is too afraid to get out of Afghanistan.. even tho he knows it is a losing place.
i am ashamed of Obama.

[MMRDO]

08:05 AM on 01/21/2011

Obama is the Commander in Chief, he is in charge of the entire military.

[sophiemaki]

12:30 PM on 01/21/2011

Obama will have to live with himself.
he bows to petraeus. and the GOP and wants to be re-elected.
he knows Afghanistan is a treadmill........
he can keep signing the letters .

[mamacat]

07:22 PM on 01/20/2011

In the south of the country, the Pashtun largely support the Taliban. In any given town or city in the south, chances are that the people are opposed to the US presence and that they support those we have declared to be our enemy. Does that mean that we are now going to feel entitled to wipe out any village which opposes our forces?

If we are now going to feel entitled to wipe out any towns which support the Taliban or in which the Taliban set up shop, does that mean that we should expect the Taliban to feel entitled to wipe out any towns which support us or in which we set up shop? If we can't clear out the enemy from a town, we should just wipe it off the face of the Earth? It is better to destroy a town than let the enemy live there? What is the logical end of such a program? It sounds a lot like ethnic cleansing.

This war keeps reminding me of Vietnam; it has become acceptable to kill the indigenous people in order to save them from being opposed to us.

Would such a policy be acceptable within our own country? If bank robbers hole up inside a bank, we should just destroy the bank? I can see how that would minimize casualties among law enforcement officers, or among US troops, in the case of the south of Afghanistan, but it is still repugnant.

[MMRDO]

08:07 AM on 01/21/2011

We did this in Tokyo and Berlin, I would rather a mass concentration of enemy forces be taken out and minimize US casualties, than to see the remaining civilians (who are either sympathetic or hostages, the hostages are doomed anyway you slice it in a situation involving the entire town) whatever small amount there are, get caught in a crossfire anyway.

[Indie72]

07:06 PM on 01/20/2011

Meet the new boss, exactly the same as the old boss.

[sonoffestus]

06:51 PM on 01/20/2011

Hearts, minds and 25 tons of bombs, interesting.