The Battle for Bajaur - PA seizes control

[dr.umer]

Why the title of this thread says "Taliban taking over Bajur" as it is no where mentioned in this report ?

Also please provide the correct link.

 

[dr.umer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/wo...ss&oref=slogin

The actual link is here http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/world/asia/11pstan.html?partner=rss&emc=rss and it's title is Pakistanis Mired in Brutal Battle to Oust Taliban.

Wake up.

 

[dr.umer]

Title of thread itself is wake up call .

Details of report not title can be a wake up call for militants.

Title of thread is your wet dream, not a wake up call. I rest my case.

 

[batmannow]

Pakistanis Mired in Brutal Battle to Oust Taliban

LOE SAM, Pakistan — When Pakistan’s army retook this strategic stronghold from the Taliban last month, it discovered how deeply Islamic militants had encroached on — and literally dug into — Pakistani territory.

Behind mud-walled family compounds in the Bajaur area, a vital corridor to Afghanistan through Pakistan’s tribal belt, Taliban insurgents created a network of tunnels to store arms and move about undetected.

Some tunnels stretched for more than half a mile and were equipped with ventilation systems so that fighters could withstand a long siege. In some places, it took barrages of 500-pound bombs to break the tunnels apart.

“These were not for ordinary battle,” said Gen. Tariq Khan, the commander of the Pakistan Frontier Corps, who led the army’s campaign against the Taliban in the area.

After three months of sometimes fierce fighting, the Pakistani Army controls a small slice of Bajaur. But what was initially portrayed as a paramilitary action to restore order in the area has become the most sustained military campaign by the Pakistani Army against the Taliban and its backers in Al Qaeda since Pakistan allied itself with the United States in 2001.

President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to make the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan a top priority. The Bajaur campaign serves as a cautionary tale of the formidable challenge that even a full-scale military effort faces in flushing the Taliban and Al Qaeda from rugged northern Pakistan.

Pakistani officials describe the area as the keystone of an arc of militancy that stretches across the semiautonomous tribal region of Pakistan and into Afghanistan.

Under heavy pressure from the United States, Pakistani officials are vowing to dislodge the Taliban fighters and their Qaeda allies who have taken refuge in the tribal areas.

But a two-day visit to Loe Sam and Khar, the capital of Bajaur, arranged for foreign journalists by the Pakistani military, suggested that Pakistan had underestimated a battle-hardened opponent fighting tenaciously to protect its mountainous stronghold.

Taliban militants remain entrenched in many areas. Even along the road to Loe Sam, which the army laboriously cleared, sniper fire from militants continues.

The Pakistanis have also resorted to scorched-earth tactics to push the Taliban out, an approach that risks pushing more of their own citizens into the Taliban’s embrace.

After the Frontier Corps failed to dislodge the Taliban from Loe Sam in early August, the army sent in 2,400 troops in early September to take on a Taliban force that has drawn militants from across the tribal region, as well as a flow of fighters from Afghanistan.

Like all Pakistani soldiers, the troops sent here had been trained and indoctrinated to fight in conventional warfare against India, considered the nation’s permanent enemy, but had barely been trained in counterinsurgency strategy and tactics.

A Heap of Rubble

To save Loe Sam, the army has destroyed it.

The shops and homes of the 7,000 people who lived here are a heap of gray rubble, blown to bits by the army. Scraps of bedding and broken electric fans lie strewn in the dirt.

As Pakistani Army helicopters and artillery fired at militants’ strongholds in the region, about 200,000 people fled to tent camps for the displaced in Pakistan, to relatives’ homes or across the border into Afghanistan.

The aerial bombardment was necessary, Pakistani military officials say, to root out a well-armed Taliban force.

The Pakistani Army and the Frontier Corps, the paramilitary force responsible for security in the tribal areas, say 83 of their soldiers have died and 300 have been wounded since early August. That compares with 61 dead among forces of the American-led coalition in Afghanistan in the first four months of 2008.

At some point, probably over a period of several years, though no official could explain exactly when, the militants dug the series of well-engineered, interconnected tunnels.

The military now believes such tunnels lace much of Bajaur, where the militants still control large swaths of territory, General Khan said in an interview at his headquarters in Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province.


In his wood-paneled office, Col. Nauman Saeed, the officer in charge of day-to-day operations at the headquarters in Khar, said he was mired in a classic guerrilla conflict.

In September, he said, Taliban leaders in Bajaur had replenished their forces with 950 more men from Afghanistan.

“You keep killing them,” Colonel Saeed said, “but you still have them around.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/wo...ss&oref=slogin

Pakistan army was built and trained to fight with India not for counter insurgency gurilla war.

FATA is base camp of talaban from more then thirty years ,it is impossible to defeat them when local tribes are giving them full support,which is decisive factor .

waraich66; sir
sory PAKARMY was built to fight anyone, who ever dares to security of pakistan!
concept of talibans is not a system of betterment of ISLAM, more its a concept of destruction of ISLAM, however if talibans would have been attacking the unhuman occupying forces in AFGHANISTAN, it can be seen a jihad.
but , what they had done!
attacking innocent civilians & pakarmy?
for this they have to pay a price...? i guss its about time that "TALIBAN,s" should divert their attacks towards the occupying forces in afghanistan...& must stop killing of PAKARMY porsonals & innocent pakistani civillians, at least to get moral support!

 

[Kharian_Beast]

A couple points I'd like to make. I've been hearing a lot in the media whether its from an official source or not that the army says that they are trained to fight India and not a guerilla war, hence the slow progress and high casualties. Well an army is supposed to be trained to fight every type of war, guerilla warfare and how to counter it being one of them and probably most important and basic of all. This is a bad excuse and shows lack of leadership on the part of whoever is making those generalizations, whether it is reality or made up doesn't matter, Pakistan can not use the excuse that they are trained to fight a conventional war with India yet twiddle their thumbs when they have a plague creeping in from the north in the form of unconventional warfare, which is probably stemming partly from India, so yes my friend, you might be fighting India and just not know it, so for God sakes don't make excuses! If paramilitary units are not trained to fight in a guerilla setting than they should be given police uniforms and re assigned.

Second, the lack of intelligence within one's own borders is disturbing. I have pointed out many times before of troops going into battle with nothing more than mp5/g3, a few magazines and nothing else. Even water being a commodity makes me ill. When ISAF goes into Taliban territory, they have a 2 hour intelligence briefing before every small operation. They are also equipped with dot sights and scopes that make their jobs easier, as well as ATGM's that are used to take out fortified positions. Going in at night with night vision under cover from helicopters is also widely used tactic.

The Taliban being better armed and coordinated in firefights is disturbing, if this is a common problem it needs to be fixed right away. More troops are needed as well, the entire FC corp should be mobilized, sending in 150 to re take villages is suicide. Pounding away at positions with fighter planes and assuming the area is clear will not work as proven in Afghanistan. What is needed is superior tactics, sharp coordination and modern equipment such as sights for rifles for every soldier, night vision/optics, and a coordinated A2G campaign by at least a full squadron who should also maintain battlefield intelligence and logistics since we have no satellites to monitor an area. No more mp5 when engaged with Taliban in open area, trust me 9mm can not even penetrate mud walls from a distance and I've seen enough pictures of soldiers with mp5 in these engagements. Taliban are no fools either and some wear level 1 and 2 body armor. These guys are waging a complete commando operation and Pakistan is coming at them conventionally with all cards visible on the table. The lack of modern small arms should be rectified immediately, G3 without a sight system is a pain in the a**. Scorched earth policy is counter productive, if they can't hide in the bushes they will hide in tunnels and mountains.

 

[Prodigy17]

A superb opportunity to ask the questions lurking in the back of Pakistani politicians' minds about NATO/ISAF, their plans/operations, drug interdiction and disruption, levels of financial and moral commitment from contributing members, the Afghan gov't/ANA/ANP, India's involvement, PREDATOR and it's efficacy/cost as perceived by McKeirnan, border cooperation with F.C./P.A. forces, convoy security, civil reconstruction programs, and more...

Agreed, a good step for sure to address the concerns of stake holders and also indicates a growing realization amongst the US power circles that unilateralism isn't working and all parties and their interest alongwith concerns need to be adressed. I'd be hoping that Mckiernan comes prepared not only to answer tactical details but also the overarching strategic framework of the plan because the latter may be out of his domain but that is the main concern here.
Now, we may differ with some of our politicians but doesn't mean that they are dumb enough not to see the national interest and their own political interest as well as the sensitivities of local populace. Dont be surprised if they dont see eye to eye with Mckiernan on account of what are our interests and whether the means used to attain are justified. So keeping fingers crossed........

Hope you've some strong politicians ready to swallow some equally strong medicine. The news that they are about to hear isn't pretty but it starts there.

I'd be hoping the same for Barack Obama particularly so after years of mismanagement of the wars with thousands of soldiers killed and wounded or disabled for no military gains, unilateralism on military and diplomatic fronts, delicate alliances, intelligence failures and to top it all sinking economy. I bet he also requires some strength of character to view all these military disasters and the picture is not rosy for US either.

Alright. It seems that the GoP and P.A. have brought in the press corps to SEE what's going on in Bajaur. Good. Among others who may benefit, it will be interesting to see the reaction of those here to what is, for most, a "guerrilla war", but to any trained eye has become a conventional infantry-focused invasion campaign of a "foreign nation".

Well, the benefit of a trained eye may not be possible for all but the understanding of insurgency and counter insurgency is possible through study of the conflicts. In an insurgnecy there comes a stage when the insurgents resort to mid level intensity conventional battles with government forces when they grow confident, organized and emboldened by uninterrupted foreign financial and material support. But when they are not confident or weak they adopt guerilla type hit and run battles which is because of the weakness and not because they can't fight conventional battles.
So if the americans/NATO/ANA had done their bid in last 5-6 years, these people would not have received support and reinforcement from af-tan and Indian consulates there. Land borders are shared responsibility and one can blame the other side only after having done their own side of the job.

So does anybody wish to guess whether Bajaur is the only case of this entrenched resistance awaiting your nation's army on Pakistani soil? If more lies elsewhere, one can only wonder from where the government will find the soldiers?

Half-mile tunnels with ventilation? You've got to be deaf, dumb, and blind to be unaware as a representative of the government.
Hmmm...I guess autonomous really means ABSENT altogether.

You just don't give up... do you ????
Ok, let me ask you this, You say 9/11 was planned from here and that is why you came here... How many al qaeeda and taliban leaders you killed in the invasion ??? If not enough, then why did you shift your focus somewhere else??? had al qaeeda ceased to become a threat after invasion??? where were CIA and the predators then??? Why did you give 5-6 years to these scums to organize and entrench themselves ?? How many forces did you have for fighting this focal point of WOT ??? Aren't you guilty of doing the same after afghan war i-e leaving without completing the job ??? Despite being the sole world super power having all the resources and state of the art weaponary and intelligence, why did you commit these grave blunder not once but twice ??? I'd recommend stop trying to make Pakistan a escape goat of the failure and incompetence of US government run by politicians and the military generals. When you get over with your own planned surge and go for some sprodiac operations, i'm sure you will find lot of it in af-tan itself of which US is the defacto ruler. If you cant extend your writ to every nook and corner of af-tan which by the way is not an autonomous terrritory like Bajaur, you can't blaim government officials of autonomous Bajuar being blind as the same would apply to half the civilized world having its forces in af-tan.

Well add J&K to that list, which is central to your "reapproachment" and water and maybe we can find heaven on earth. I dunno.

Well, i have observed your attitude towards all these issues including the Durand line issue, and it epitomizes US attitude towards Pakistan. Because this war is getting out of your hand in af-tan and because you can't handle Haqqani, the only obsession i see is " lets nail Haqqani, lets move forces to west and forget about your conflicts with everyone, forget about your security concerns and interests and do what we are telling you". So you want us to stirr up new pots while the those which already exist, keep boiling and may hurt us. This doesn't sound the approach of an ally and sounds like you are thinking on the same lines of using us to get the job done and then conveniently deserting us.

One eminent Pakistani political figure, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that al-Qaeda and the Taleban had set up a joint headquarters in 2004 as an “Islamic emirate” in North Waziristan, headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani, an Afghan Taleban commander. (His father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran of the fight against the Soviet Union, was funded by the CIA 30 years ago and was once fêted at the White House by Ronald Reagan.)

This is taken from the London Times article quoted by you. Didn't we discuss that.... "What goes round, comes round" .....

 

[dr.umer]

Taliban documents reveal scale of operations in Pakistan​

11 Nov 2008

The documents, discovered in a tunnel complex in the Bajaur tribal agency, contain precise, coded maps of the nearby territory pointing out weapons caches and rendezvous points in an area where hundreds have died in fighting in the past three months.

Pakistani commanders said the tunnels in a Taliban stronghold also contained guerrilla training manuals, jihadist propaganda, bomb-making instructions and students' notes, suggesting the insurgents used the battleground near the Afghan border to train fighters.

"They were training people here," said Colonel Javed Baluch in an interview with the Times. "This was one of their centres. There were students here taking notes on bomb-making and guerrilla warfare. They were well trained and well organised."

Britain and America have claimed terrorists including al-Qaeda operatives have found a safe haven in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), where they plan and train for attacks around the world.

They also believe that Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's deputy, has been in Bajaur.

In August, Pakistan's army launched an offensive into the agency hoping to break the back of the country's Taliban insurgency after large numbers of attacks on Pakistani security forces.

The area has seen fierce fighting in the past three months as soldiers backed by helicopter gunships and heavy artillery have battled fighters dug into from well-prepared tunnel complexes and strongly defended mountain villages.

More than 400 soldiers have been killed or wounded since August while thousands of civilians have fled the fighting. The army says it has killed more than 1,500 militants in the offensive including Uzbek, Chechen and Turkmen foreign fighters.

 

[S-2]

Well, I hope you all tell that general real good just the way it's gonna be. Be sure to point out all those mistakes we've made while doing so. That'll show him that you're "knowledgable".

Yup. Uh-huh. Sure.

Just like your lil' rant did for me.

It's unlikely that McKeirnan is a fool. Let's hope that your politicians don't prove otherwise and send him dashing to a typewriter to fire off a letter which says- "Mr. President-elect. Cut your ties. ALL TIES with these numbskulls! McKeirnan"

Here's hoping your politicians don't waste this valuable man's time traveling to Islamabad.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Armor:

Because this war is getting out of your hand in af-tan and because you can't handle Haqqani, the only obsession i see is " lets nail Haqqani, lets move forces to west and forget about your conflicts with everyone, forget about your security concerns and interests and do what we are telling you". So you want us to stirr up new pots while the those which already exist, keep boiling and may hurt us. This doesn't sound the approach of an ally and sounds like you are thinking on the same lines of using us to get the job done and then conveniently deserting us

Well said.

Until the US starts acting like an ally and also addressing Pakistan's concerns, instead of solely focusing on strong arming the NSG members into applying double standards and approving nuclear deals and waivers for India, McKiernan's mission is a waste of time, since he will be offering nothing that isn't known by our military, or has not been conveyed to the politicians by our military.

The only benefit I can see from this visit is that it reaffirms the briefing given by the PA to the parliament. However, those politicians who refused to see the facts after the Parliamentary briefing, for their own vested interests and/or unconquerable biases, will likely not care much for this particular 'dog and pony show' either. After all, the more virulent opponents of the FATA operations don't trust the US to begin with.

 

[batmannow]

i think , it can be declared that "bajur" has been 70% completed succses fully!
despite! many distractions created by , USAF THROUGH its predator strikes.

 

[S-2]

"Until the US starts acting like an ally and also addressing Pakistan's concerns, instead of solely focusing on strong arming the NSG members into applying double standards and approving nuclear deals and waivers for India, McKiernan's mission is a waste of time, since he will be offering nothing that isn't known by our military, or has not been conveyed to the politicians by our military."

Huh?

Red herring (logical fallacy), a deliberate attempt to change a subject or divert an argument
Red herring (narrative), a technique used in literature to mislead the audience

Stay on topic, please. You're deliberately obfuscating the issue. Nuke deals? Not in the cards and you know why-among others, we'd all like a chit-chat with your special "house guest" mad scientist A.Q. Khan.

There's no possible linkage here. Anchor a nuclear deal as the foundation of your demands upon America and you'll likely evaporate any residual good-will within our congress and incoming administration. Your plate looks plenty full without unnecessary complications nor the picking of old but barely-healed (if at all) scabs on proliferation.

"McKiernan's mission is a waste of time, since he will be offering nothing that isn't known by our military, or has not been conveyed to the politicians by our military."

Well that reads more than a tad arrogantly but, if so, A.M. maybe you could call the general's office and tell him to cancel the visit? I'm sure he's a very busy man and has other important matters to occupy his attention. Btw, is McKiernan's trip another example of our unilateralism?

Let me suggest this much. Bajaur proves a lot about what your military knows and doesn't know. It would seem, like the Israelis in 2006, you've a lot to learn about a determined enemy fighting on terrain of their choice and having the time to prepare the battlefield accordingly- all on your own soil.

I don't know the specific circumstances yet but it would seem from the few reports which have surfaced that there were numerous "opportunities to excel" for your officers and men. One generally prefers a more one-sided encounter. Further, it's best not to lead with your chin when entering a dark room.

This room was dark. As the articles indicate, the profiled battalion got whacked pretty hard for the objective. I hope the objective was really worth it because I suspect good men were hurt owing to your nat'l leadership's negligence of what's transpired literally under all of your noses.

The battalion or brigade intelligence officer is not at fault here if this unit didn't know what to expect. The ISI has let these men down. This is a nat'l intelligence target of the first order. Your government should have been fully aware of the extent of the construction activities here and those army officers fully briefed on what lay before them. There's an unconscionable aborgation of the intelligence collection function here that your parliament might care to investigate.

Oh well. I'd sure take the time to talk with McKiernan.

 

[Prodigy17]

Well S2, your commentary on this side of the battle is thought provoking and interesting but we would also like you to tell us something about operations on the other side as well for us to know the other side, if possible. May be a new thread.

 

[S-2]

What I'll tell you right now is this. My army has seven very active years now fighting a wide variety of criminals, national/fascists, shia fundamentalists, PKK communists, taliban, drug runners, and corrupt officials of every ilk including a few of our own. We've done so from FARC to Abu Sayyaf to the horn of Africa.

We've had incredible successes and abysmal failures. We've fully anticipated some events and completely missed the picture on others. We've very successfully instituted civil affairs programs in some areas and performed with gross negligence in others. We're in a complete "learning" mode at this point and constantly looking for ways to improve.

Sharing is learning. Until you understand what I know, you can't begin to appreciate what I don't know- and vice versa. At that point, and only then, can true exchanges of useful information begin. We actually do that very well.

You seem afraid to do so as though it challenges your professionalism when the reverse is actually more likely. It was an undeserved slight to Gen. Dan McNeil, McKeirnan's immediate predecessor, to be denied the opportunity to visit three times by Gen. Kiyani. I'm sure that politics demanded this and that Gen. Kiyani personally regrets the need to do so, still there's (IMHO) little room for that when professionals discuss the war.

You want info? I think the following offer the best insights I've seen to the nature of the fight faced by our British cousins and ourselves. The terrain differs dramatically between Helmand and Kunar but the enemy is the same remorseless self. I hope these help as I find the writing some of the most compelling of the war-

The first is of A Coy. 2nd Bn. The Mercian Regt. (Worcesters and Foresters) literally one day before re-deploying out of the war-zone. This happened in Garmsir, of course. Story, video interviews, and interactive report included-

Story- The Hardest Night Of Their Lives- Guardian

Interactive Report- Battle At Garmsir

Video Interview w/ the Coy. Commander- Captain Simon Cupples

Here's some epic reporting that was down between ABC-TV and VANITY FAIR one year ago about the Korengal Valley in RC-East. It's these battles that drove Rehman's men east into Bajaur in November last year when they began dominating the locals and constructing fortifications around Loe Sam-

Go to "********" and search for the "The Other War", a four part series by ABC-TV. The below article follows closely the same-

Into the Valley of Death- VANITY FAIR

This remains, for me, the best article of the war. By Elizabeth Rubin of the NYT, it's the story of B Company from one of the battalions in the 173rd Airborne Brigade- again, from the operations in the Korengal last fall, 2007. Eleven pages and a serious look at the nature of the fight. Again, different from Helmand and different from Loe Sam but the tenacity of the opponent is common throughout-

Battle Company Is Out There- NYT

Here's a detailed discussion of the U.S. Marine/Army joint operations in the recapture of Fallujah. It has applicability given the time available for the insurgents to prepare defenses in a built-up area demanding a mid-intensity infantry heavy combined arms battle. All present in portions of Bajaur-

Operation Al Fajr- CSI

Finally, a paper on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict of 2006. In my estimation the terrain and population densities may come closest here to Bajaur-

We Were Caught Unprepared- The 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War- CSI

This will give you a snapshot to our experiences elsewhere.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Huh?

Red herring (logical fallacy), a deliberate attempt to change a subject or divert an argument
Red herring (narrative), a technique used in literature to mislead the audience

Stay on topic, please. You're deliberately obfuscating the issue. Nuke deals? Not in the cards and you know why-among others, we'd all like a chit-chat with your special "house guest" mad scientist A.Q. Khan.

There's no possible linkage here. Anchor a nuclear deal as the foundation of your demands upon America and you'll likely evaporate any residual good-will within our congress and incoming administration. Your plate looks plenty full without unnecessary complications nor the picking of old but barely-healed (if at all) scabs on proliferation.

You are missing the point. Pointing out US unilateralism in 'going beyond the pale' to assure India gets the necessary waivers for a 'nuclear deal' is not to make an argument for a similar deal (leave it for another discussion), it is point out how one sided the US-Pak relationship has been. The US never even bothered to encourage the GoA to settle the Durand issue, nor has it pressed India for a resolution along Kashmir, yet it had no qualms about pursuing a strategic relationship with the party that was the cause of many of these concerns. It points to a refusal to work with Pakistan from a mutually beneficial perspective.

Well that reads more than a tad arrogantly but, if so, A.M. maybe you could call the general's office and tell him to cancel the visit? I'm sure he's a very busy man and has other important matters to occupy his attention. Btw, is McKiernan's trip another example of our unilateralism?

Let me suggest this much. Bajaur proves a lot about what your military knows and doesn't know. It would seem, like the Israelis in 2006, you've a lot to learn about a determined enemy fighting on terrain of their choice and having the time to prepare the battlefield accordingly- all on your own soil.

I don't know the specific circumstances yet but it would seem from the few reports which have surfaced that there were numerous "opportunities to excel" for your officers and men. One generally prefers a more one-sided encounter. Further, it's best not to lead with your chin when entering a dark room.

This room was dark. As the articles indicate, the profiled battalion got whacked pretty hard for the objective. I hope the objective was really worth it because I suspect good men were hurt owing to your nat'l leadership's negligence of what's transpired literally under all of your noses.

The battalion or brigade intelligence officer is not at fault here if this unit didn't know what to expect. The ISI has let these men down. This is a nat'l intelligence target of the first order. Your government should have been fully aware of the extent of the construction activities here and those army officers fully briefed on what lay before them. There's an unconscionable aborgation of the intelligence collection function here that your parliament might care to investigate.

Oh well. I'd sure take the time to talk with McKiernan.

I was not the one to dismiss the PA presentation to parliament as a 'dog and pony show', so the accusations of 'arrogance' need to be leveled at the mirror first.

Again, you are missing the point. The PA has encountered resistance it was not expecting, and had not prepared for - it already knows that, its already been through the fire. What exactly is McKiernan going to tell parliament on top of that? Intelligence failure? Even some of the officers interviewed in those articles were admitting that. So again, what new information is being shared here?

Your comments about the PA struggling to control a battlefield it did not anticipate are useful, but they apply better in the context of Pakistani resistance to having greater US trainers involved, and furthering the exchanges between the US and Pakistani militaries.

If on the other hand Mckiernan is visiting to assure legislators that the US will visibly work to address Pakistani concerns in Afghanistan (if not India at this point), and provide ideas on how coordination can be improved, his visit might be of some use. Perhaps he can also share intel on how insurgents are attacking from FATA into Afghanistan - but then he will also have to answer how approximately a thousand insurgents moved into FATA from Afghanistan when the Bajaur ops began, and why the US did nothing to prevent that.

 

[S-2]

This is a link to the ABC series that covers 2nd Plt from the same B Co. in the 173rd. In fact, Sebastian Junger is accompanying these men-

Afghanistan: The Other War Pt. 1- ABC TV

Afghanistan: The Other War Pt. 2- ABC TV

Pt. 3

Pt. 4

A real good look at the war just on the other side of the border.