The particular rattle of NATO's HK G -3 and the world famous M16 hadn't even faded in the Marjah battle as Great Satan trained her sights on Taliban town. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs classifies Mullah Omar's old hood - Kandahar: "...as critical in Afghanistan as Baghdad was in Iraq in the surge, writ large.”
"And so this is a much more transparent operation. We did not swoop in under the cover of darkness. We told the people of Marja and the enemy himself when we were coming and where we would be going. We did not prep the battlefield with carpet-bombing or missile strikes. We simply walked in on time.
The Battle of Kandahar has already began:
"Special Forces and C.I.A. task forces have captured seventy mid-level Taliban commanders in Kandahar Province in raids over the last two months, and they have killed dozens of other mid-level commanders, those of us travelling with Mullen were told.
"This has degraded the Taliban’s provincial leadership, according to U.S. assessments, and created some confusion and mistrust in monitored Taliban communications. However, the replacement commanders are typically younger than their predecessors, and if they are less skilled, they may also be more vicious and bitter.
"In any event, it is a basic precept of revised U.S. strategy in Afghanistan that international forces cannot “capture and kill” their way to victory.
"The basic idea is that if international forces can chase the Taliban out of their heartland and gradually replace the current racketeering-infected provincial government with one that is recognized by Afghans as more inclusive and less corrupt, then momentum in the broader war may swing against the Taliban
Art - "Force should, to the maximum extent possible, be applied in a precise and principled way."
Who is using G-3's in A-ghan?
ReplyDeleteThe Germans (up in Kondoz) are using G-36's.
I don't think any of the current ISAF folks are using G-3's either.
Iran and Pakiland both make their own copies of the G-3, but I haven't seen or heard of any showing up in or around Marjah. Not that that proves anything...
Another full-size (308 NATO) battle rifle for ISAF would probably be highly appreciated in theater though...
WHITE
FEATHERS,
R
Unverified gossip from Lima Company, 3rd Bat, 6th Teufel Hunden:
ReplyDeleteCaptured Taliban HQ, complete with weaponry, dead and wounded Taliban, graduation diplomas from an insurgent training camp in Baluchistan, Taliban ID cards, signs of possible Chechin involvement and HK G3's.
Now that is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteAny word on the markings? Persian and Paki G-3's each have distinctive markings that would reveal the source. The Persian version (stop rhyming!) is marked as the G-3A6, the Pak version is marked as the G-3A4.
My assumption would be Paki origin, but either is possible.
My understanding is that the G-3's are considered surplus or second-line to both countries and are slowly being replaced by the usual Chinese Type 56 (Iran) or Type 81 rifles (Pakiland).
Photo verification if possible would be cool (especially close-ups of any markings), but is unnecessary for open source. OPSEC is well understood.
Check yer mail...
ARMS
BIZARRE,
R
I'm old school, I figure it's better to kill the bad guys, capture the ones that don't have the sense to die and then treat those captured in accordance with the accepted rules of warfare. Anyone not in uniform, etc, gets a drumhead court martial and then a short rope and a long drop.
ReplyDeleteFailing enough lumber or time to make a gallows, death by musketry. These clowns have rights and we are failing to give them those rights. They have a right to an immediate trial. A right to a last cigarette and then a right to a a quick death by hanging or firing squad.
We haven't followed those rules since WW2 and look at the shape the world is in.