Taliban

In defense of the U.S. military in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on December 18, 2012 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Sangin

Ever since U.S Marines killed three children in an airstrike in Helmand province in October, a debate has raged online: Is the U.S. deliberately killing kids in Afghanistan? It’s a frustrating conversation, fed in part recently by an inflammatory piece published by Robert Dreyfuss for The Nation this month. Taking an article I wrote with assistance from Army Times colleague Joe Gould out of context, Dreyfuss said a U.S. officer acknowledged “the military isn’t just out to bomb ‘military age males,’ anymore, but kids, too.” There’s a major problem, though: the officer quoted, Army Lt. Col. Marion “Ced” Carrington, never…

Motorcycle-borne MARSOC Marines prey on Taliban

By James Sanborn on July 18, 2012 Afghanistan, Gear, MARSOC, Vehicles

This photo makes the Hell’s Angels look about as threatening as a litter of kittens. Those are Marine special operators in Afghanistan, looking like something akin to a well-organized motorcycle gang. The photo is courtesy of former Staff Sgt. Michael Golembesky, who spent two years with Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, serving as a joint terminal attack controller. As Marine Corps Times first reported back in March, MARSOC teams use these small-engine bikes to get around in the Afghan mountains. Before some units deploy, the command sends them through a super-sensitive training program that provides five days of schooling…

Video: Marine Corps Times on the Taliban’s shift in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on June 7, 2012 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

I appeared on TV last night to discuss the war in Afghanistan and my recent embed with Marines there in Helmand province. “Capital Insider” is based in Washington, D.C., on News Channel 8, and covers a variety of subjects affecting the government, including defense. The segment aired here, where I fielded questions from anchor Morris Jones. Among the subjects that came up: The use of surveillance blimps in Sangin and Kajaki districts, the ongoing drawdown of Marine forces in Helmand and the challenges still faced by the Afghan military that U.S. troops are training. [HTML1] Blog entries penned during our embed are grouped…

Marines make sense of Taliban flags in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on May 4, 2012 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Kajaki, Marines, Sangin

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Good morning, friends. Photographer James Lee and I are currently holding it down at this massive forward operating base and waiting on a few interviews. Over the next week or so, we’ll continue to offer up images and thoughts here on Battle Rattle from our time in Kajaki and Sangin districts with Marine infantry units. Up for discussion today: Taliban flags. Several times outside the wire, we observed that Marines pay attention to flags flown over compound buildings. They come in several colors, but the ones that draw the most attention are black or white. In…

Behind the cover: Commandant calls out complacent leaders, tells Marines to quit embarrassing the Corps

By Andrew deGrandpre on April 30, 2012 Behind the Cover, Leadership, The CMC

The Marine Corps’ top general wants an end to the monkey business that, since the start of 2012, has cast a steady, unflattering light on an institution defined in no small part by the pride it exhibits in being a disciplined, moral fighting force. “We are allowing our standards to erode,” Gen. Jim Amos, the service’s 35th commandant, laments in an internal memo distributed to all of his generals, commanding officers and sergeants major. Known as a White Letter, the sharply worded missive comes in response to “a number of recent widely publicized incidents” involving Marines misbehaving abroad. Complacent leadership…

Marines push raids, surveillance as Afghanistan drawdown begins

By Dan Lamothe on April 30, 2012 Afghanistan, Battle Rattle, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Kajaki, Marines

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHAMSHER, Afghanistan — Good morning, friends. I’m back at the computer now after a foot patrol in Sangin’s Green Zone this morning with Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. We pushed through fields, canals and trails for several hours, and it was relatively uneventful. One thing I would like to point out today: Marine Corps Times has posted online another of my long-form features out of Kajaki district. It highlights the increasing prominence of surveillance and raids for Marines in Afghanistan, particularly in light of the planned drawdown of forces there. Conducting raids successfully requires massive amounts…

5 questions to be answered about the Marines peeing video

By Dan Lamothe on January 12, 2012 Afghanistan, Infantry

By now, many of you have no doubt seen the video of apparent Marines peeing on dead Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. It exploded on the Internet yesterday, and is the subject of international news coverage today. My colleague, James K. Sanborn, is ably covering this story for Marine Corps Times. Given the focus of this blog, though, it seemed appropriate for me to weigh in here, too. First, it’s worth noting that this appears to be an isolated incident. The vast majority of U.S. service members do not behave this way in combat, including infantrymen I have embedded with in violent…

2-star general: Taliban leader left Afghanistan 'dressed as a woman'

By Dan Lamothe on December 7, 2010 Afghanistan, Camp Leatherneck, General officers, Infantry

Never let it be said that the Marine Corps likes missing handing out a good slap in the face for their enemies. During a press conference conducted today from Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Richard Mills shared a fun little anecdote about a senior Taliban leader Marine forces have been tracking. Speaking about the plans his forces have this winter, he said the Marines will put on a “full-court press… at a time that has traditionally been a little slower” in terms of combat operations. “We can take advantage of that weakness as his numbers decline and his leadership goes…

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