The fact that Lt. Nicolson speaks the language is invaluable. That was one of the greatest barriers that affected relations between the locals and the troops. Translators often would not or could not provide correct or complete translations. The language barrier alone caused frustration and continuous mistrust between troops and local Afghans. You can clearly see the advantage of improved relations with the local population that Nicolson had, simply because he had the ability to speak with them directly. Unfortunately there never was a quick solution to the communication issue.
The grave yard of empires? Lmao ah yes cause losing 52k of your fighters and only taking out 4k of theirs whilst you set up ieds and hide behind pregnant women and children for protection whilst your country gets occupied for 20+ years and then having your enemies decide they no longer feel like staying in your run down country so they leave after having nearly no resistance for more then a year is so sick bro!
Fascinating, and happy to see others do help when needed, any where on earth, am from afghanistan and went through lot of stuff such as seen taliban fighting against attack helos and much more this videos makes me feel safe nd secure with people like these marines thanks
Served in Belize (formerly British Honduras) with US Peace Corps. 2 divisions of British military were serving there. Really tough, professional fellows. I quite liked them as long as I wasn't around them when they were drinking. One other thing, the thickest, most wonderful accents of which this Yank could only understand half of what was being said. Especially the Scottish soldiers. Cheers, lads!
Revisiting this video today, you can see easily how everything went wrong in Afghanistan but somehow wasn’t obvious to the military or even the filmmakers at the time.
@Enrique Morales Hey dipshit, the taliban did not/ do not have uniforms. They quite literally looked indistinguishable from the locals, this is exactly why soldiers had to take extra precaution when a local was acting suspect or not following instructions. On top of that, the talibans main goal is to convince locals to be on their side, usually by violent threat. This meant the locals would often flip-flop between helping the Marines and helping the Taliban, as a survival mechanism. As you can tell from this complete cluster fuck, taking time to treat everyone like a victim and not a potential threat is a recipe for disaster. Arresting a civilian is always smarter than risking a life, I'm sorry to break it to you that war is not a nice place. And as for "abusing the local population", we saw how the locals felt a few months ago. They were literally climbing onto military planes begging for our soldiers to take them away from the Taliban. Only one side was out to harm civilians in that war, and they were not wearing uniforms.
Common and true quote…”Afghanistan, where empires go to die”. That’s a fact. It can’t and will never be defeated. Never in thousands of years has anyone come close.
it took the american lead coalition 2 months to fully occupy afghanistan lmao, idk what you're on en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Afghanistan
One of the core principles of counterinsurgency besides from killing the enemy is to deny the enemy: the ground, the people, and the freedom of movement. The way the war in Afghanistan has been conducted is deficient in denying the enemy the ground; when the ISAF should in fact have the advantage. The Taliban have extensively used IEDs to deny the area, which the ISAF then has to sweep and clear. The missing piece of the puzzle here is to truly own the ground, and that is not by patrolling circuitous routes by day in sweltering heat and returning to a predictable firebase, but by using the ISAF's greatest advantages - night vision and thermals - to conduct night time operations to interdict minelayers before they can perform their deadly works. It puzzles me as an observer that the coalition would deny themselves their greatest strengths, to play into the hands of their enemy. In the aftermath of the Gulf wars and then the chaos of the Balkans, 24 hour operations proved to be one of NATO's greatest advantages, and it is being squandered here. You don't end an insurgency by fighting harder - the US forces did just that, and merely radicalised the population and bred an influx of jihadis when their overwhelming firepower resulted in civilian casualties. You fight smarter instead. Are mine-resistant vehicles and inkspot firebases supplied by helicopter a real, long term solution? Or just a reactive ploy? Are daytime patrols into treelines mined up to the gills with ammonal going to bait the enemy into a losing firefight, or be an invitation to an amputation? I feel that the soldiers on the ground truly are doing a sterling job at what they're being ordered to do; and that's a problem, because the problems with the conduct of the war lie with the leadership. From what I have gathered, the colonels and generals seem, as always, to be fighting the last war. Trained from their war college days for high intensity operations, against Soviets crossing the Fulda gap in a stampede of steel, their deficiencies are showing, and it is costing the coalition time, and lives. Now that the ISAF is drawing down and it increasingly falls to a questionable ANA/ANP, we may yet leave Afghanistan little better than it was under the Taliban: bombed up and depleted, poverty stricken and radicalised; global insecurity funded by a resurgent black market opium trade. Meanwhile our soldiers come home short a few limbs or in body bags, as the generals sit at their desks pondering how many thousand pound bombs they'll drop today; while looking forward to cashing out into a 6 figure job in the military industrial complex. For them, the war is over. For the Afghans, their struggle continues, and the world is no safer.
@@WolfAroundTown There was also the small problem of putting the pederasts and warlords in the Northern Alliance back in power. Getting NATO troops to guard opium poppy fields so by the end of the decade, Afghanistan had overtaken even the Golden Triangle in opium production. Pushing vast amounts of money and guns into Pakistan in a fool's errand to get them to fight the Taliban, even though it was basically a joint invention of the American CIA and Pakistani ISI. Even cruel masters will hesitate to put down a loyal dog. What we see today with the Taliban moving into emptied out Coalition bases, seizing tons of explosives, tens of thousands of small arms and ammunition, is less a result of incompetence, and more what is increasingly an obvious deliberate policy. As far back as the early 2000s, the Coalition could have rebuilt towns, roads, and brought in agronomists to modernise the Afghan farming system like the Soviets tried but could not complete due to lack of resources. Back then the Taliban was basically wiped out so security was no longer an issue. Instead they just let things rot. Meanwhile farmers were starting to starve so they started to grow their old standby cash crop, opium, because the Taliban were no longer there to kill farmers for growing a _haram_ crop. By the early 2010s Afghanistan basically transformed itself into the premier opium producer in the world. Those Northern Alliance warlords were living the high life selling dope and raping young boys through the practice of bacha bazi. Yet Coalition commanders, while acknowledging reports from NCOs and lower ranked commanders that trying to prop up the Northern Alliance was a mistake, continued to basically pave the way for a return of the Taliban. Eventually the Coalition basically dismembered itself and only the US was left as a big occupier. And this year they left in shame, so the Taliban have just basically walked back into power. Only now, of course, the Taliban themselves are no longer above selling opium on the black market. The Taliban banned opium for 1 year. 1. And then the decision was made by the United States, basically unilaterally, to invade Afghanistan and topple the Taliban. Today the Taliban sells opium too. In the words of George HW Bush Jr, "Mission Accomplished."
@@sarmela3681 what if the goal was not strategic victory, but a deliberate strategy of occupation and promotion of opium cultivation to enrich weapons contractors? In that sense, those goals were achieved very successfully. With commanders going back as far as David Petraeus actually stating in public, on the record, that they had no strategic goal and no exit strategy, I think we should believe them when they said we would be there for the long haul. The brother of Hamid Karzai was a literal drug smuggler for the northern alliance. He now controls most of the mineral extraction of which Afghanistan has trillions in reserve, as well as most of the flow of opium into Central Asia. Naturally, the other stakeholders of those mineral mining contracts are western mining multinationals. I think the real goal of the Afghan occupation will make itself obvious once the Taliban makes moves to try to a) reduce opium supply or ban it again on pain of death. Or b) try to nationalise their mineral reserves.
In this US Afghanistan fight I lost my house and after more than 12 years, I am not able to reconstruct even a two room house, while i lost 26 rooms, tube well and a shop
Psalm 127:1 "If the Lord is not helping the builders, then the building of a house is to no purpose: if the Lord does not keep the town, the watchman keeps his watch for nothing" ... this is true!
see that Khan guy, thats what they need to be doing! becoming fluent and integrating with the locals...otherwise how can you win their hearts and minds if you cant even speak to them?....the difference in reception for him compared to the other marines is massive, and you can tell his heads in the right place, where as some of the other marines seem to have too much of a "just here to shoot things" approach
+shane smalls Yes you kind of get the impression that one guy like him is worth about... Well i do not know how many grunts? 500? A hundred guys like him, who speak the language, and are deployed in the same area for a long time would learn the names, the families. Everything. Dropping people in to "tourist" for a tour or three is not the answer.
lol lol the girl at 7:00 - 10:00 "I want to gain the boy's respect... oh a gunfight? Yeah, I've been in some and they're absolutely awful so I just duck and hide and let the boys take care of it. And when I lose someone close I don't put on a brave face, I'm an emotional wreck." You'll never earn their respect doing those. The reason you MUST put on a brave face is because FEAR is CONTAGIOUS and if you're losing your shit everytime someone's hurt and you duck and hide during gunfights instead of returning fire YOU SHOULDN'T BE THERE.
@@reddiver7293 RNs that are in battle zones have to go through Combat and weapons school. Combat Nurses. If we're getting shot at and you have a weapon and not putting shots down range your a liability.
A good point is made here. While Taliban (or whatever terrorist de jour) might use the pretense of this or that Islamic ambiguity it's really about who gets to shake down the locals....the locals know that as soon as the Marines leave they'll be dealing with Taliban again..
@@RoseRose-nt4juthey were the same people who formed Taliban which fought against USSR Do your research don't reply on media propaganda Usa created Taliban by aiding pakistan Initially Talibanis were trained in madarsas of pakistan funded by usa
As she should, I love that she takes care of the boys gets them supplies and water and they take care of her when its time to fight like true men do. Good guys always fight to protect women and children even if she did volunteer to be there its nice to hear the men take charge and protect her from the bad guys as best they can. That's what i would want if i was fighting with them!
@@leeevans6213well you cannot touch a Muslim woman if you are not her husband. So they were hiding everyone on their women. So they brought women in to search them
I hope Sikandar Khan is alive. the relationship he had developed with the locals is mesmerizing. Professionalism should be taught as the foremost rule while serving in army. Often such a behavior cannot be expected in the war situations, as many lost their mind, treating every local inhumanely. Hats off to that guy!
I was 82nd airborne and worked beside these guys great fighters I just couldn’t understand half of them n I’m sure they said the same about me with my Boston accent all good just breaking balls . They great warriors n deserve respect
I feel bad for these young soldiers who thought they were fighting for their countries but infact they were loosing their lives just in a money making game for the rich companies and contractors. They must be devastated after watching Taliban took control and their sacrifice was for nothing
*And after 20 years Taliban are back and Royal Marines along with 52 Nation's army are gone. Taliban are taking control back the control of what they had 20 years ago.*
It’s amazing watching these videos now you can see how most of the people the west dealt with were villagers by day Taliban by night they hardly could hide it at times they must have been thinking wow westerners are crazy
what sacrifice they have killed All the local people They killed my three brothers in one day in 2010 when I was 10 year old My Young brother was 15 year two more was 7 and 9 How you called this action sacrifice
"Hit the deck and let the boys take care of it" It's shit like that that pisses me off so fucking much about having women in the front line, of course it's going to be hard for her to earn the respect of the boys when she's pulling shit like that.
Two seconds later she claims to be doing exactly the same things as the lads. Send her back to the ship to do kitchen duties. She's a liability and could cost lives...
You can't fault her for being a *woman*, and that is exactly what you did with that post. Point is that women do not belong on the front-line, they have no business being there. In truth they don't belong in the Police or fire-brigades either. They are allowed because of political agenda and ideology, not because of any sound thinking. It's like female police officers, they can't arrest you, the only way they can is if you, as a man, *allow* them to do so, they have no power over you, you could throw her through a brick wall ffs! Right? OK, so the only thing that makes it possible for her to arrest you is A: you allow her B: social construct that says you should submit. That's it. Have you not noticed that every single time women are to do a *mans* job she is forced to become a man, that is to say, become (or try) a man in attitude and thinking, now this means she is NOT allowed to be what she is, that is to say:a *woman* She is NOT allowed to be a woman, and that is a bloody crime , buddy, not not allow her to be what she is in nature instead try to change that with social-engineering (same thing is done to men but that's for another discussion) They don't belong, they don't add anything either, they become a liability. Besides, why would you want to put a creation that brings life into this existence, in a position in which it is to take a life?! That makes no sense what so ever, why brutalize her? Why try to turn her into a "man"? Why destroy her caring? Her femininity etc all that makes her a *women*? And as I said, they don't add anything simply because they are forced to become "men", thinking like men, acting like men etc. But they can't be men because they aren't men, so you end up with some abomination instead. People will say, well women add stuff such as softness and they are strong as men and all that bla bla bla nonsense, NO they do NOT, same thing holds true for women in positions of power, they add nothing female like they actually become *worse*, want an example? OK, look at Thatcher , as destructive and brutal as any man, she added nothing, she added nothing female like what. so. ever. We have different roles, men and women have different roles in life. We aren't equal (what rubbish) that which is different cannot be equal in the first place. We are meant to complement each-other. BUT, women do NOT belong at the front-line, as nurses? Yes, it goes in line with their nature, with what THEY are, nurturing and caring, why not accept that and celebrate that and encourage it? But in the front-line as soldiers? NOPE. They have no business being there.
The problem however is... How do you engage 50% of the Afghan population, when you are not allowed too interact with them? By now, the conflict is basically lost so its kind of a moot point. There were never enough manpower, resources or effort put into Afghanistan. Why would there be? How many Afghans were 9/11 hijackers?
They NEED women there to deal with the Afghan women; searching them for bombs, for example. So they take volunteers from other branches, like engineers as this one is. Yeah, so if shooting starts an engineer is going to leave the fighting to the trained professional infantry, which is simply the smart thing to do. She's still risking her life protecting the others at the checkpoint, because if she ever encounters a suicide bomber, she's the one who is sure to die while the other sentries, back providing cover, are likely to survive. Success comes from the best use of all available assets and accepting valour wherever you find it.
I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about the war in Afghanistan. In every single one the ANA/Afghan Police come across as lazy and ignorant . Their attitudes more like teenage boys then trained men . I admire the patience of the Royal Marines forced to babysit .
I've seen at least one documentary where they actually seemed like a worthy ally fighting hard side by side, unfortunately I can't remember which one it was but at least these specific guys were brave and fought hard. They fight in a different way than the western troops, and many didn't want to use body armor because they believe their faith is already set and it's gods will if they get hit or not. And after Taliban took over there were at least one group of soldiers retreating back to the mountains to continue the fight (no clue if they are still around but I would guess so). I'm curious to see how Taliban will deal with ISIS and if they can keep the country together so it doesn't get's destroyed in yet another devastating civil war. I have a difficult time seeing them build a functioning state while at the same time oppressing a good portion of the population (especially women whom account for half of the nation and I doubt a majority of them approve of being pushed down hard in society). It's one thing to fight a guerilla war, but can these fighters some who have lived in the mountains for decades build a successful state? Recently I saw a Taliban government official (I think he was a judge) who couldn't even point out Afghanistan on a globe, which to me doesn't sound promising; and yes of course this guy still was carrying his trusty assault rifle with him all the time - for what reason a judge would need to carry military weaponry I have no clue.
The Afghan Army and National Police lost close to 70,000 men in the war against the Taliban versus less than 4,000 western coalition fatalities. So I think it is unfair to call them lazy or unwilling to fight.
Killed hundreds of thousands of taliban while losing a few thousand soldiers in 20 years of conflict, and the taliban wouldn't dare approach any city while western forces were occupying the country.
Top, that video is a great memory for after you retire. How many years in service do you have now? Im a retired Philippine Army with an age of 45.. Take care Bro,, Becareful everytime you have mission..
Well I learn so etching new everyday; these videos are uploaded in the servers in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan so people over there can watch this. It's up to the Afghan government whether the video can become international or not. Still though, it is pretty stupid. Oh well, I guess all our service members will be able to see what the infantry go through. They have it real tough.
The interpreter is not understood how to translate he missing the mean words, and asking something else totally different from what the patrol commander is asking.
Wait a minute!! If that woman "hits the deck" and let the guys handle it when shooting starts, why does she claims that she is doing "exactly the same things" that the guys?? If all she does, is a frisking the afghan women, and take cover when the shooting starts. maybe she don't need a weapon. I mean male interpreter's dont'n carry assault rifle, why should she?? If you volunteered to the frontline, earn you'r respect!!
hevosenpaska114 Oot varmaan SA-intissä huomannu miten tytöt tulee inttiin leikkiin sotilasta, vemppaa päällä puolet koko palvelusajasta ja aukki läpi ja kessun natsat päälle ja haahuilee kassulla koska skapparit on pakotettuja cut some slack to girls ja tekemään joka saapumiserästä naisistakin kessuja, vaikka jos mies ois kyseessä niin ei ois ees päässy aukkia läpi saati sit kessuks... 2/10 on oikeesti käynyt intin kunnolla ja respectit siitä mut ne loput 8 on vaan muiden riesana ja luulee et jos partiota on käyny niin pärjäähän sit tietty armeijassakin koska nehän on ihan samanlaisia instituutioita! Jos naisille ois samat säännöt ja vaatimukset kuin miehillä niin 800 naisesta jotka vuodessa käy intin vaan 20-40 tulis aliupseereita ja tosta 800 70% menee aukkiin... eli joku5-7% aukkiin menneistä flikoista pääsis sen läpi ja sit kaikki vitun toimittajat ja tasa-arvovaltuutetut pistäis sen syrjinnän piikkiin, eihän se vika oo ikinä naisten motivaatiossa tai yrityksessä vaan laiskoissa miehissä jotka on kateellisia kun naisista tulee enemmän aliupseereita keskimäärin kuin miehistä. Lääkintämiehenä I/07 voin sanoo et yks alikki.mimmi makso sairaalakuluina yli 25.000e valtiolle kun käytettiin röntgeneissä etsimässä vikaa jaloista, käsistä, hännästä... milloin mistäkin. 6kk aikana en nähny sitä ikinä ilman kainalosauvoja, aina hakemassa vemppaa kun vanha loppus, paksuin potilaskansio koko varuskunnasta, raamattu oli OIKEESTI mainoslehtinen siihen verrattuna. Tytön faija oli komentajakapteeni kyseisessä varuskunnassa ja tytöstä tuli kersantti. luonnollisesti. Ja sit oli viel ne 10 muuta naisalikkia jotka yhteensä makso jo sairaalakuluina lähempi 70.000e palvelusaikana kun käytiin tyksissä joka toinen päivä, mut tää ensin mainittu oli kaikkein pahin. Respectit ryhmänjohtajalleni Henna Virkkuselle, siinä oli mimmi joka ansaitsi kunnioituksen ryhmältään ja raijas aina painavimpia rojuja ite, juoksi meijän kaa elysee lenkkiä joka toinen päivä (8km) ym, ja tärkeimpänä: Ei ulissut jos oli raskasta niinku nä muut 'naisjohtajat'... hän jäi valitettavasti vaan alikessuksi vaikka ois ansainnu ne kessun natsat enemmän kuin kukaan muista naisista. huhhuh, tulipa vuodatettua mut toi on vaan niin saatanan väärin ja epäreilua+huonoa moraalille, armeijalle ja on aina vituttanu mua eniten armeijassa ja vielä vuosia sen jälkeen kun lukee jtn lehtijuttuja missä mimmit kertoo syrjinnästä palvelusajaltaan: tytöttelyä ym. Meitä kutsuttiin 3kk neideiksi ja tytöiksi ja me ei valitettu, ei tullu kenellekään ees mieleen koska armeijassa pitää vaan niellä kaikki. näitä tyttöjä häiritsi se kun heitä sanottiin tytöiksi! Ja se on tietty suurin epäkohta koko suomen puolustusvoimissa! Naisten simputus on tytöttelyä... vittu toi oo lähelkään sitä simputusta mitä mies kokee intissä.
Jos sota tulee niin yhtään käskyä en ota joltain wanna be bodypump lehmältä. Koko ikäni olen harrastanut asetekniikka, sotahistoriaa, ammuntaa, metsästystä, maastossa olemista. Kun oikeasti alkaa paukkumaan, niin ne lehmät itkee ekana ja huutaa apua.
+hevosenpaska114 Women in combat want equal rewards but special treatment. I did 22 years as an 11B. I met a few women who could do the job but an overwhelming majority could not. 100% wanted special treatment though.
Damn man I wish I didn’t get into stupid shit when I was younger or I’d be able to fight w these guys, I always watch these videos and all I wanna do is go kick a recruiters door down and say “sign me up” Much respect to these warriors💪🏼
I realized something about the armies of the UK that they might have a hard time with. I mean you've got people from every city, every town with a different accent. I wonder how hard it is to understand eachother "Comondor, Wev gut uh fooken betallien ov solgairz mooven doarn fwom duh valleh" "Rogah dat Saujent. Senden reeinfausments too yeh"
looking back, if we had a high high surge of troops and did "clear and hold", we've would have been out by 2010, now the hell they will endure will go unmatched in their history ...
It’s so funny while watching in 2021. They couldn’t do anything and Taliban made them hell out of their place😂. What was point to spend people hard earned tax money.
I give her props for understanding and making it public that her as a women full well knows she has to try to be like one of the guys to see acceptance, cause really with this FETs that's all it is stopping it from being a full fled thing is #1 women in the field and potential period cycle, true facts the Army even noted it. As well as #2 can you be one of the boys?
If your children ask from you in the future. Why you went to Afghanistan and killed Afghan people? You will answer like Soviet union soldiers This was a political mistake of our political leader.
I love that she takes care of the boys gets them supplies and water and they take care of her when its time to fight like true men do. Good guys always fight to protect women and children even if she did volunteer to be there its nice to hear the men take charge and protect her from the bad guys as best they can. That's what i would want if i was fighting with them! 9:00
@@OldHickoryReincarnate correction it is Allahu Akbar. The same chant that came from the warriors that defeated the US, England, the former corrupt afghan government, and other NATO allied forces.
Along with defeating the enemy, one of the fundamental tenets of counterinsurgency is denying the enemy access to the territory, the populace, and the freedom of movement. When the ISAF should actually have the upper hand, the way the war in Afghanistan has been fought falls short in denying the enemy the advantage of the terrain.
Couldn´t they hid some Marines outside during the night? With infrarot maybe they can avoid more replaced IED´s. The Taliban can feel very safe at night I guess, while the Marines walking out at 50C°.
I feel sad for the common afghan people who constantly facing turma by the western forces and the poor detaines were used as human shield by British soldiers that is why Taliban did not shoot at them
Es war so ekelhaft diese Reportage anzusehen. Das schlimmste war die Tatsache, dass für diese Mörder, die in ein fremdes Land eindringen wo keiner sie dort haben möchte, ein afghanisches Menschenleben nichts wert ist. Außerdem haben mir die jungen Männer leid getan die von denen einfach verschleppt wurden und mit dem Tod bedroht wurden. Ich hoffe, dass das gleiche mit deren Kindern und Familien passieren wird.
It was so accurate to watch this report. The worst was the fact that for these murderers, dying in a foreign land invade where no one wants them there Afghan human life is worth nothing. Besides, I feel sorry for the young men done dying by those simply dragged away were and were threatened with death. I hope the same with their children and families happen
Demokrasinin en büyük destekçisi olanların gerçek yüzleri görüldü. Demokrasi adına sanayi devrimi yapamamış tüm ülkeler işgal edildi, yer altı ve yer üstü zenginlikleri talan edildi. İnsanlar işkenceler gördü, kadınlara kizlara tecevuzler edildi. Sonuç bu halklar içinden çıkan vatanseverler bu işgalci katilleri ülkelerinden kovdu. Öyle bir kovuldular ki bir daha gelmemek üzere tüm silah ve teçhizatları, araçları yakıp yıkarak kaçtılar. Yaşasın özgür ülkeler kahrolsun emperyalistler.
