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Christian Living

bootsontheground 09/11/09

The Best Way to Celebrate 9/11

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Well before dawn on September 11 this year, dozens of highly-trained special operators gathered in the darkness to commemorate the attacks that took place eight years ago.  After taking a moment of remembrance, they boarded unmarked helicopters and prepared for a little payback.

The news has been reporting a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan that is threatening the war effort almost as much as waning public support at home.  The special DEA task force I'm traveling with here in Kandahar is called a Foreign Advisory Support Team, or FAST for short.  They're like a swat team for the Drug Enforcement Administration, collecting intelligence and enabling the U.S. military to act on it. 

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With the first morning twilight, the helicopters lift off and race across the arid landscape south, deeper into Kandahar province.  The objective is a Taliban kingpin who is known to be heavily involved in drug trafficking - a major source of funding for the Taliban.  The helicopters swoop in and deposit the task force, which quickly surrounds the compound as support helicopters bristling with weapons circle overhead.  The men move slowly, methodically, cognizant that the owner of this compound is a known IED facilitator.  A similar compound hit days earlier was booby-trapped with explosives, one of which horribly wounded one of the special operators.  Everyone is careful about where they put their feet.

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Within moments, we enter the compound and find a few old men and several groups of women and children.  The men are flex-cuffed and separated from each other for interrogation while the women and children are gently herded into a secure part of the compound and given food and water. 

A search of the compound turns up several kilos of opium, some heroin and a large bag of homemade explosives.  there is also a large bag of marbles.  While these could be mistaken for a benign children's pastime, they are being found more and more in improvised explosives because they cannot be found by metal detectors - a grim reminder that the Taliban learn and adapt their tactics to try and defeat our countermeasures.

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By the end of the mission, it turns out that the man we were seeking has fled and the men we detained are not among the wanted.  They are released to care for the women while the special operators set explosives on the opium and homemade explosives, then pull back to the landing zone.  Moments later thunder splits the air as the explosives detonate, a direct hit to the Taliban's ability to kill Americans in Afghanistan.

One operator is heard to say, "that's my tribute to 9/11."


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