Taliban prove Karzai right with futile attack

AP:

A group of 75 Taliban militants tried to overrun a U.S.-led coalition base in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, a rare frontal attack that left more than 20 militants dead, the coalition said in a statement.

The insurgents attacked Firebase Anaconda from three sides, using gunfire, grenades and 107 mm rockets, the coalition said. A joint Afghan-U.S. force repelled the attack with mortars, machine guns and air support.

"Almost two dozen insurgents were confirmed killed in the attack," the statement said. Two girls and two Afghan soldiers were wounded during the fight in Uruzgan province, it said.

A firebase like Anaconda is usually a remote outpost staffed by as few as several dozen soldiers.

"The inability of the insurgent forces to inflict any severe damage on Firebase Anaconda, while being simultaneously decimated in the process, should be a clear indication of the ineffectiveness of their fighters," said Army Capt. Vanessa R. Bowman, a coalition spokeswoman.

A direct attack on a U.S. or NATO base by insurgents on foot is relatively rare. More often insurgents fire rockets at bases and flee. Military officials say that Taliban fighters know they can't match Western militaries in a heads-up battle, which leads the insurgents to more often rely on roadside and suicide bombs.

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The Taliban also cannot match up with our forces in an ambush either. They are basically a poorly trained light infantry force that has no chance when facing better trained US and Afghan forces in well prepared defenses and with the ability to call on supporting fire like artillery and air power. This is one of the reasons the Taliban have turned to the kidnap tactic to try to get some traction in the fight and recover some of their captured troop back.

In his joint press conference with President Bush, President Karzai said that the Taliban were a defeated force. The Taliban tried to embarrass him with this attack and wound up embarrassing themselves yet again. They can't even claim civilian casualties in this fight since they were the attacking force. If we could get them to do this more often the war would be over much quicker.