Silver Spring family throws hero’s welcome for young Marine

Silver Spring family throws hero’s welcome for young Marine

22-year-old returns home for a visit after seven-month tour in Afghanistan
by Jeremy Arias, Staff Writer

Jeremy Arias/The Gazette Lance Cpl. Grant Romano Gates (left) and his mother, Donna Romano (right), celebrated Gates' return from a seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan last week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday in Silver Spring.

For one Silver Spring family, the holidays came early this year as Lance Cpl. Grant Romano Gates returned home from a seven-month tour of duty in southern Afghanistan with the U.S. Marine Corps.

“He’s my sloppy kid, it’s so obvious that he’s here; his things are all over the place,” said a smiling Donna Romano, Gates’ mother, as she watched her son make himself a plate of food in her living room Sunday afternoon. “But I don’t care.”

Gates, 22, left home almost a year ago to begin training at Camp Pendleton Marine Base near San Diego. Within months of arriving in California, Gates’ unit — 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment — was deployed to Afghanistan, Gates said. A machine-gunner in the infantry regiment, Gates spent most of his time in the Sangin Valley of the Helmand Province, a long sliver of land on Afghanistan’s southern border with Pakistan, where clashes between the Taliban and U.S. or NATO forces still are common.

“People ask me, ‘Why would you ever want to do this?’” he said Sunday, reflecting on his time overseas. “It’s what I wanted to do when I first joined, what I’ve always wanted to do. We did a lot of good out there; we took a lot of casualties, but I know overall that we did a good job out there.”
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NATO trucks in limbo after Pakistan retaliation

NATO trucks in limbo after Pakistan retaliation
By Riaz Khan and Sebastian Abbot - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Nov 27, 2011 8:49:56 EST
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Hundreds of trucks carrying supplies to U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan backed up at Pakistani border crossings Sunday, leaving them vulnerable to militant attack a day after Islamabad closed the frontier in retaliation for coalition airstrikes that allegedly killed 24 Pakistani troops.

As Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani attended the funerals of the victims, including a major, the U.S. sought to minimize the fallout from the crisis, which plunged Washington’s already troubled relationship with Islamabad to an all-time low.
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Afghan officials: Fire from Pakistan led to attack
The account challenges Islamabad's claims that the attacks were unprovoked
updated 11/27/2011 1:15:45 PM ET
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ISLAMABAD — Afghan troops and coalition forces came under fire from the direction of two Pakistan army border posts, prompting them to call in NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, Afghan officials said Sunday. The account challenges Islamabad's claims that the attacks, which have plunged U.S.-Pakistan ties to new lows, were unprovoked.

It also pointed to a possible explanation for the incident Saturday on the Pakistan side of the border. NATO officials have complained that insurgents fire from across the poorly defined frontier, often from positions close to Pakistani soldiers, who have been accused of tolerating or supporting them.
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Suicide bomber kills 13 Americans in Afghanistan

UPDATE

NATO: Afghan Bombing Kills 5 Troops, 8 Contractors
October 29, 2011
Associated Press|by Amir Shah

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into an armored NATO bus Saturday, killing 17 people, including 12 Americans and a Canadian in the deadliest attack on the U.S.-led coalition in Kabul since the war began. It was a major setback for the alliance as it begins to draw down combat troops.
The explosion sparked a fireball and littered the street with shrapnel and twisted metal hulks. Heavy black smoke poured from burning wreckage at the site along the four-lane highway frequently used by foreign military trainers in the southwestern section of the city.
Underscoring the difficulties ahead, the brazen assault occurred on the same day that top NATO and Afghan officials were meeting elsewhere in Kabul to discuss the second phase of shifting security responsibilities to Afghan forces in all or part of 17 of the country's 34 provinces.
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Suicide bomber kills 13 Americans in Afghanistan
By AMIR SHAH - Associated Press | AP – Sat, Oct 29, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a van into an armored NATO bus Saturday, killing 13 American troops and four Afghans in the deadliest attack on coalition forces in Kabul since the war began — a major setback for the U.S.-led coalition as it begins to draw down combat troops.

The explosion sparked a fireball and littered the street with shrapnel and twisted metal hulks. Heavy black smoke poured from burning wreckage at the site along the four-lane highway frequently used by foreign military trainers in the southwestern section of the city.

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77 personnel injured after Taliban hit Afghan coalition base

NATO: 77 personnel injured after Taliban hit Afghan coalition base
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 11, 2011 12:08 p.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Most of the injured troops are Americans, a U.S. defense official says
At least two Afghan civilians are killed in the attack
Gen. John R. Allen: The attack says more about what the Taliban cannot do
"Their only ability to influence the battlefield" is often to go for a high-profile attack, he says

(CNN) -- At least two Afghan civilians are dead and as many as 77 NATO personnel were injured after Taliban militants struck a coalition base in Afghanistan, officials said.

The injured troops were "mostly" Americans, a U.S. defense official said Sunday.

The incident occurred Saturday, the eve of the 10th anniversary of al Qaeda's attack on the United States on 9/11.

The truck bombing took place in the central-east province of Wardak, and those killed were Afghan laborers, said Shahidullah Shahid, the Wardak governor's spokesman.

"This attack was a high-profile attack. It was a pretty significant suicide vehicle bomb," Gen. John R. Allen, commander of coalition and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, told CNN's Suzanne Malveaux Sunday.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault. NATO's International Security Assistance Force confirmed the attack was carried out by a Taliban suicide bomber.

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ALSO

3 Okla. soldiers killed in Afghanistan attack
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Sep 11, 2011 11:54:30 EDT
OKLAHOMA CITY — Three Oklahoma National Guard soldiers have been killed in an attack with small arms in Afghanistan.

The Defense Department on Sunday released the names of the soldiers after their family members had been notified of the Friday deaths.

Killed were 26-year-old Sgt. Bret D. Isenhower of Lamar, 26-year-old Spc Christopher D. Horton of Collinsville and 20-year-old PFC Tony J Potter of Okmulge. Two other soldiers were wounded in the attack in Patkia Province.
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4 Richardson soldiers killed by IED in Laghman

4 Richardson soldiers killed by IED in Laghman
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jun 5, 2011 8:48:36 EDT
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Four Alaska-based soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in Laghman province, Afghanistan, the Army said Saturday.

The soldiers, from the 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, were on a mounted patrol, the Army said.

Their names were withheld while their families were notified.

NATO reported earlier Saturday that four coalition troops were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan. The alliance did not provide further details.
4 Richardson soldiers killed by IED in Laghman

9 troops killed in Afghanistan helo crash

9 troops killed in Afghanistan helo crash

By Deb Riechmann - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 22, 2010 6:03:30 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — A NATO helicopter crashed Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, killing nine international troops in a region where forces are ramping up pressure on Taliban insurgents. It was the deadliest chopper crash for the coalition in four years.

A “large number” of Americans were among those who died, according to a senior military official in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity because not all relatives had been notified. He said it remained unclear whether troops of other nationalities were among the fatalities.

The cause was not immediately clear. The Taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter, but NATO said there were no reports of hostile fire.

It happened in Zabul province — rugged terrain where helicopters are heavily used to transport military troops spread over mountainous areas with few roads.
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9 troops killed in Afghanistan helo crash

2 coalition service members missing in Afghanistan

2 coalition service members missing in Afghanistan
(AP) – 1 hour ago

KABUL — Two NATO soldiers are missing in western Afghanistan from a routine resupply mission, the alliance said Friday.

The two were reported missing on Wednesday, NATO forces headquarters in Afghanistan said in a statement. It did not specify their nationality or which province they had been in, or provide any details of the resupply mission.

"We continue exhaustive search and rescue operations to locate our missing service members," spokeswoman Navy Capt. Jane Campbell said in the statement. "We are doing everything we can to find them."
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2 coalition service members missing in Afghanistan

7 die, 91 hurt in blast near NATO HQ in Kabul

7 die, 91 hurt in blast near NATO HQ in Kabul

By Rahim Faiez and Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Aug 15, 2009 10:29:12 EDT

KABUL — A suicide car bomb exploded Saturday outside the main gate of NATO’s headquarters five days before Afghanistan’s presidential election, killing seven and wounding 91 in the biggest attack in the Afghan capital in six months.

The bomber evaded several rings of Afghan police and detonated his explosives on the doorstep of the international military headquarters, an assault possibly aimed at sending the message that the Taliban can attack anywhere as Afghans gear up for their second-ever direct presidential election. Militants have warned Afghans not to vote and have threatened to attack voting sites.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/ap_afghanistan_bombing_nato_081509/

Karzai: U.S. and NATO aren’t succeeding

Karzai: U.S., NATO aren’t succeeding

By Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s president sharply critiqued the seven-year Afghan war Wednesday, complaining that U.S. and NATO troops haven’t made life better. The criticism came a day after he accused foreign forces of undermining him with a “parallel government” in the countryside.
The back-to-back barbs aimed at the international community’s handling of the fight with the Taliban and the rebuilding of Afghanistan underlined President Hamid Karzai’s increasing frustration with a conflict that has gotten bloodier each year.
“We haven’t accepted the international community so our lives would get worse. We accepted them so our lives would get better,” Karzai said Wednesday. “We can accept some destruction — even some civilian casualties — if we have hope for a future of security and peace ... but this (style of) fighting can’t be the only way forever.”
During a meeting Tuesday with a U.N. Security Council delegation, Karzai called for the international community to set a timeline for ending the war, although he didn’t mention a specific date. He asked how — given the number of countries involved and the amount of money spent in Afghanistan — “a little force like the Taliban can continue to exist, continue to flourish.”
The president expanded on that idea Wednesday during a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, saying he was not asking for a withdrawal date, but rather a “date for your success.”
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Nato tightens rules of engagement in Afghanistan

Nato tightens rules of engagement to limit further civilian casualties in Aghanistan
· Video footage shows bodies of children
· Report says victims have nearly tripled in past year
Richard Norton-Taylor and Julian Borger The Guardian, Tuesday September 9 2008

Nato has issued new military rules of engagement in Afghanistan in an attempt to limit civilian deaths, after the air strike last month which reportedly killed 90 people, including 60 children, it emerged yesterday.

The orders were issued by General David McKiernan, the Nato commander in Afghanistan, who also asked the US central command to reopen an inquiry into the air strike in the western district of Shindand, as video footage surfaced showing the bodies of child victims.

US drone air strikes on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border are meanwhile reported to have hit a house and madrasa linked to a Taliban commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani. Taliban officials claimed Haqqani was not there at the time of the attack and that 20 people had been killed in the attacks.

The rules of engagement for Nato troops will focus on house searches, saying they should be led by Afghan forces, and that permission from homeowners should first be sought. A limit on the size and weight of bombs used in air strikes was imposed last year, but there is continuing anxiety in Nato about the counterproductive impact of civilian casualties on the majority Pashtun population.

The new directives seek to "sharpen tactical directives, to give more clarity to commanders on the ground", one official said. It was an attempt "to re-educate commanders, to re-emphasise how careful everyone should be" in carrying out air strikes and air support for ground troops.

"Killing civilians is not the best way to attract hearts and minds," one European official noted sarcastically yesterday. But western officials also say that troops on the ground have to rely on air support because they often find themselves outnumbered.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/09/nato.afghanistan

Deaths and wounding of French Troops may have been friendly fire

Thu Aug 21, 11:10 AM ET
08/21/08 AFP: NATO denies friendly fire killed French troops in Afghanistan

NATO on Thursday denied that Alliance warplanes mistakenly killed any of the 10 French troops who died in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - NATO on Thursday denied that Alliance warplanes mistakenly killed any of the 10 French troops who died in a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan.


"As far as NATO and ISAF (NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are concerned, the allegations in Le Monde are completely unfounded," Alliance spokeswoman Carmen Romero said.

"We deny the report... we have no information whatsoever that would indicate that the French soldiers were killed by NATO planes," Romero added.

Ten French soldiers were killed and 21 wounded in a sustained attack Monday by the insurgents east of Kabul.

Le Monde newspaper reported Wednesday that according to French troops wounded in the fighting, NATO air strikes missed their targets and hit French troops, as did shots fired by Afghan troops backing them up.
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Afghanistan toll reaches 500 U.S. troops

UPDATE 8-9-08
ICasualties.org site has the total a lot higher. 569 US, Coalition 341. Wonder how the AP is so far behind?
http://icasualties.org/oef/



Afghanistan toll reaches 500 U.S. troops

By Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Aug 8, 2008 7:22:39 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — The deadliest three months for American forces in Afghanistan have pushed the U.S. death toll to at least 500, forcing a war long overshadowed by Iraq back into the headlines.

Larger, more sophisticated militant attacks have also caused a sharp rise in Afghan civilian deaths — at least 472 in the first seven months of the year, most in suicide bombings, according to an Associated Press count.

In all, at least 600 Afghan civilians were killed from January through July, a 30 percent increase from the same period last year, according to AP figures compiled from coalition and Afghan officials. That includes at least 128 killed by U.S. or NATO forces.

There are about 33,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the highest since the war began, meaning more troops than ever are patrolling this country’s mountainous terrain and exposed to ambushes and roadside bombs.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/ap_500dead_afghanistan_080808/

Forces may have to rent helicopters for Iraq and Afghanistan

Forces may have to rent helicopters

By Kim Sengupta
Thursday, 31 July 2008


British forces are so short of helicopters in Afghanistan and Iraq that they are considering renting them from other countries, or even from the controversial US security contractor Blackwater.


As a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's Helmand province claimed the life of another UK paratrooper, The Independent has learnt that the Ministry of Defence will hold a crisis meeting at 5pm today to discuss leasing helicopters from former Warsaw Pact countries as well as commercial companies.

Chaired by the Defence Secretary Des Browne, the summit will be attended by senior military and government personnel who will be expected to solve the acute helicopter shortage.

Nato, but not Britain directly, is believed to be negotiating with Blackwater, which has come under fierce criticism from the Iraqi government and the US Congress after 17 civilians were shot dead in Baghdad last year. Another option being explored by the MoD is leasing Cougar helicopters from oil companies involved in offshore production.
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Rep. Ellison: Public, media ignore Afghanistan

This is something I've been screaming about on my other blog. We need to pay attention to this and yes, make a big deal out of it to the media so they pay attention too.

Development News from Afghanistan
Rep. Ellison: Public, media ignore Afghanistan
Posted in Uncategorized by afghandevnews on April 5th, 2008
March 26, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The war in Afghanistan is not a top issue in the U.S. presidential race because of a lack of interest among the American public and the media, a U.S. congressman said during a visit to the Afghan capital Wednesday.

Keith Ellison, a Democrat from the U.S. state of Minnesota, said he believes America’s three leading presidential candidates are paying attention to the conflict in Afghanistan but the issue is not garnering wider interest.

“Either because of the public interest or the press, it’s not a hot debate item, but I think it should be,” Ellison said. “It’s clear the focus in the presidential debate is on Iraq policy, but I wish the press would ask more questions about Afghanistan, what could or should be done to make sure Afghanistan’s future is secure.”

Ellison said he thinks that after the U.S. election in November any of the three top candidates — Republican John McCain or Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama — will pay more attention to Afghanistan than the Bush administration has.

Ellison is one of six U.S. congressional members who wrapped up a two-day visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday. The group met with President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill, the top NATO general in charge of the international military mission here.

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25 Fuel trucks in Afghanistan blown up

US Fuel Trucks Hit at Afghan Border
2 hours ago

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Twenty-five trucks carrying fuel to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan have been destroyed in a possible bomb attack on the Pakistani border. Officials say that dozen of people have been injured.

Mohammed Sadiq Khan, a local government official, said that the explosions and blaze occurred on the Pakistani side of the Torkham customs post late Sunday. At least 50 people were injured, eight of them seriously.

Fida Mohammed, the commander of a paramilitary force that helps provide security at the crossing, said authorities suspect the blasts were caused by bombs, but were still investigating. He said 25 trucks carrying fuel to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan were destroyed.

Fuel tankers headed for U.S. and NATO bases in Afghanistan have been repeatedly targeted by militants close to the Pakistani border.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hzwT02p_F-tUr0TXK1_DXysYeMYAD8VJC8400

Two killed, 50 injured as bombs hit oil tankers
* 40 oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces destroyed near Torkham BorderLANDI KOTAL: Two people were killed and 50 others injured when six bomb blasts ripped through two parking lots, and destroyed 40 oil tankers in Khyber Agency on Sunday, Dawn News reported.According to the channel, the tankers were carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, and were parked in the Bacha Mina area near the Torkham Border crossing.The political administration told the channel that most of the injured had been shifted to Landi Kotal hospitals and those with critical burns had been rushed to Peshawar. The administration declared emergency in local hospitals after the blasts.According to the channel, the administration beefed up security at the border crossing after the explosions and deployed heavy contingents of Khasadar force, frontier corps and levies force.
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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%
5C03%5C24%5Cstory_24-3-2008_pg7_5