A June 1 attack on a U.S. outpost near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border was much worse than originally disclosed by the military as insurgents pounded the base with a truck bomb, killing two Americans and seriously wounding about three dozen troops, officials acknowledged Saturday.
The blast flattened the dining hall and post exchange at Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost province, a frequent target of insurgents in the past. Five Afghan civilians were killed and more than 100 other U.S. troops were treated for minor injuries. U.S. officials estimated that the truck was carrying 1,500 pounds of explosives.
I did note in my post that I'd heard there was a huge explosion, even though the report I had in hand did not mention that aspect at all.
The base still held and we killed 14 attackers, so my basic point remains true that our bases are really hard targets to defeat:
Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, a U.S. military spokesman in Kabul, said that at all coalition bases, from the headquarters in Kabul to the smallest combat outpost, “protection is taken very seriously.”
The Taliban tried to use a really large bomb and still we held.
Yet I find it hard to believe that the bomb was not prepared in Pakistan--or that the bomb material didn't come in from Pakistan to be quickly prepared before being discovered by us.
The enemy is desperate to inflict large casualties in one attack. Penetrate the defense of one of our bases or outposts and get inside for a while and they might get 20 or 30 KIA which the enemy may believe will wreck our home morale.
Indeed, the enemy may have hoped that the bomb--by being aimed at the PX and dining facility--would inflict heavy casualties without having to follow up with a ground assault into the base. Hopefully we learned from this attack to deny the enemy the ability to get a truck bomb near enough to drop walls in high density buildings. That's making it too easy for the enemy to inflict casualties on us.
I hope that this possible enemy belief that one good hit will crack our ability to win isn't true. Even a successful Taliban attack--after denying the enemy such a propaganda win for 11 years in two wars--doesn't mean we are losing.
Our troops are holding the line. Can we hold at home? Will our president hold in the face of such a body count? Or will he run faster?
