In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, new Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah
Mehsud, center, holds a laptop computer, flanked by his comrades in Sararogha
of Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border.
Mehsud vowed to strike back at Pakistan and the U.S. for the increasing number
of drone attacks in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. AP
In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, new Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah
Mehsud, left, sits with his comrade Waliur Rehman during his meeting with
media in Sararogha of Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the
Afghanistan borde. Mehsud vowed to strike back at Pakistan and the U.S. for
the increasing number of drone attacks in the tribal areas along the border
with Afghanistan. AP
In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, new Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah
Mehsud, right, holds a rocket launcher with his comrades in Sararogha of
Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border. Mehsud
vowed to strike back at Pakistan and the U.S. for the increasing number of
drone attacks in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. AP
In this photo taken Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, Pakistani Talibans meet each others
while reporters have an interview with their leader and new Pakistani Taliban
chief Hakimullah Mehsud, unseen, in Sararogha of Pakistani tribal area of
South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border. Mehsud vowed to strike back
at Pakistan and the U.S. for the increasing number of drone attacks in the
tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. AP
In this photo made in Afghanistan and provided by David Brostrom, 1st Lt.
Jonathan Brostrom is seen. He was killed in Wanat, Afghanistan, on July 13,
2008. As President Barack Obama grapples with the way ahead in Afghanistan,
a decision to launch a new investigation into a deadly firefight is a painful
reminder of the challenges the U.S. faces in a country known as the graveyard
of empires. AP
During a firefight with Taliban militants U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Christie,
of Washington, Ind. with 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines
sprints down an irrigation canal to a location to launch his rocket in Nawa
district, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. Taliban
militants attacked the Marines on patrol using assault rifles, medium machine
guns, and snipers. AP
During a firefight with Taliban militants, U.S. Marine combat photographer
Lance Cpl. John McCall, of Boca Raton, Fla. , takes a knee, left, as Navy
corpsman HN Shawn Robert Chancellor, from Waco, Texas, runs past under fire,
in Nawa district, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4,
2009. Taliban militants opened up on the Marine patrol using assault rifles,
medium machine guns, and snipers. AP
During a firefight with Taliban militants, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Mark Voss,
of Laurel, Mont. , with 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines,
takes cover in an irrigation canal and holds his M240B machine gun as he
scans for the source of the incoming fire, in Nawa district, Helmand province,
southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. Taliban militants opened up on
the Marine patrol using assault rifles, medium machine guns, and snipers.
AP
During a firefight with Taliban militants, U.S. Marine Cpl. Bobby Orr, of
Fairbanks, Alaska, with 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines
returns fire, in Nawa district, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday,
Oct. 4, 2009. Taliban militants opened up on the Marine patrol using assault
rifles, medium machine guns, and snipers. AP
During a firefight with Taliban militants, debris and spent shell casing
fly as U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Roy Aeschlimann, of Tucker, Georgia, with 3rd
Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines returns fire, in Nawa district,
Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. Taliban militants
opened up on the Marine patrol using assault rifles, medium machine guns,
and snipers. AP
During a firefight with Taliban militants, U.S. Marine Cpl. Matthew Doherty,
of Bastrop, Texas, center left, runs for a new position with a group of fellow
Marines with 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines, and an
Afghan soldier, and an interpreter, left, in Nawa district, Helmand province,
southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. AP
During a firefight with Taliban militants, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan
Christie, left, of Washington, Ind. and his rocket launcher teammate Lance
Cpl. Vincent Morales, of Baytown, Texas, run together, in Nawa district,
Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. Taliban militants
attacked the Marine patrol using assault rifles, medium machine guns, and
snipers. AP
During a firefight with Taliban militants, U.S. Marine combat photographer
Lance Cpl. John McCall, with 1st Battalion 5th Marines returns fire, in Nawa
district, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. Taliban
militants opened up on the Marine patrol using assault rifles, medium machine
guns, and snipers. AP
During a firefight with Taliban militants U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Christie,
of Washington, Ind. with 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines
returns fire, in Nawa district, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday,
Oct. 4, 2009. Taliban militants opened up on the Marine patrol. AP
During a firefight with Taliban militants, a spent shell casing flies through
the air as U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Christie, of Washington, Ind. with
3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines returns fire, in Nawa
district, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. Taliban
militants opened fire on the Marine patrol. AP
During a lull in a firefight with taliban militants, Afghan Army local commander
Mohammed Hussein, left, stands with Marine squad leader Sgt. Matthew Duquette,
of Warrenville, Ill. , who shouts out orders to Marines from 3rd Platoon,
Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines, in Nawa district, Helmand province,
southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. AP
During a lull in a firefight with Taliban militants, U.S. Marine Cpl. Matthew
Doherty, of Bastrop, Texas, with 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion
5th Marines, walks on a joint patrol with the Afghan Army, in Nawa district,
Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. AP
During a lull in a firefight with Taliban militants, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl.
Jordan Christie, of Washington, Ind. with 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st
Battalion 5th Marines takes cover at the edge of a muddy irrigation canal,
in Nawa district, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Oct. 4,
2009. Taliban militants engaged the Marine patrol Sunday. AP
U.S. Marine squad leader Sgt. Matthew Duquette, left, of Warrenville, Ill.
, with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines walks with Afghan National
Army Lt. Hussein, during in a joint patrol in Nawa district, Helmand province,
southern Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. AP |