Taliban Warning: The Marines Have Landed!

Great news for the efforts against the Taliban in Afghanistan - the first contingent of U.S. Marines diverted to the Afghanistan operation landed today and are set to take up positions in Kandahar and Helmand province. And the good news doesn't stop there...look at what they brought with them:

along with the first of 30 additional US aircraft; including some Harrier attack jets, Cobra attack helicopters and transport helicopters.

The total new Marine forces being sent to Afghanistan totals 3,200 and this is going to strike some fear into the Taliban. These Marines are coming in and going right to the hot spots and I don't think anyone is going to be happier about it than the Canadians who have been doing double duty in Helmand province.

This also comes at a time when NATO countries have been chickenshit about adding to the forces in Afghanistan...now recently, Germany and France have stepped up to the plate a slight bit and there are rumors that Australia may send a few more troops, but let's face it. When the world is in trouble, when the call goes out...it is America that answers the call. Seemingly, it is always the U.S. that has to stand up. But hey, we don't mind. We're the ones that will be able to sleep at night knowing we did all we could to rid the world of the jihadist blight.

Here's the full story.

Advance party of US Marines lands in southern Afghanistan

The first group of soldiers from a 3,200 strong US-Marine contingent has arrived in southern Kandahar province to help quell the ballooning insurgency. The Marines will be divided between tasks and locales, with some being devoted to advising the beleaguered Afghan police force alongside Canadian advisers in Kandahar, while other units will be deployed to Helmand’s Garmser district to help prevent Taliban incursions from neighboring Baluchistan province in Pakistan.
Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit based out of North Carolina touched down in Kandahar today, along with the first of 30 additional US aircraft; including some Harrier attack jets, Cobra attack helicopters and transport helicopters. The troops and material support will boost the already 26,000 US troops currently deployed to Afghanistan and the nearly 40,000 troops supplied by NATO countries.
The move comes after a long series of squabbling between NATO countries over who will supply additional troops and material to a mission that is slowly spiraling downward.
NATO host countries Germany and Spain have refused to send any significant amount of troops into southern Afghanistan which they deem too dangerous for their personnel to operate in. Southern Afghanistan has borne the brunt of the insurgency, with undermanned British, Dutch, Australian and Canadian forces seeing the most combat.
The decision to deploy US Marines will make the second time the US unit operated in southern Afghanistan. They were the first US military unit to deploy to Kandahar in large numbers in 2001 when the US invaded Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks on September, 11.