Talk:Battle of Musa Qala

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Contents

[edit] initial comments

can someone fix the damn infobox, its really messed up and i dont edit much so i dont know how to do it, thanks!

Raabbasi (talk) 09:35, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] ISAF Commander

Ok, we have the Afghan National Army commander. But who's the ISAF commander? If any ISAF forces are participating, they are most certainly not under the command of an Afghan. If we don't know specifics, just put "Canadian Military Leadership" or whatever nation's forces are participating in there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.179.73.188 (talk) 23:57, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

There are five regional commands in Afghanistan, the one for the south is currently under the command of Major General J Page (UK) See:- ISAF Regional Commands. Richard Harvey (talk) 08:51, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Surely there is a lower ranked commander responsible for ISAF forces taking part in this assault? Who was the ISAF field commander in this attack? If we know, it should be put down under leaders, if we don't know we should just put "Unknown ISAF Field Commander" or something down. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.179.73.188 (talk) 01:46, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Figures

Where are we getting the Taliban fighting strength from? Marskell (talk) 12:23, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Right here...http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2224731,00.html. "In what military commanders described as a defining battle for the stability of Helmand province, around 4,500 Nato soldiers and Afghan National Army troops launched a series of attacks against a 2,000-strong Taliban force entrenched in the town of Musa Qala." --SCJE (talk) 20:12, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
Yes, we're fine. Marskell (talk) 20:18, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
Taliban sources quote 2,500 fighters on their end but the most reliable western sources say 2,000 taliban. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Raabbasi (talk • contribs) 22:08, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Casualties

There is confusion over the number of military casualties. With changes between British, NATO, and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force). Lets not confuse things, the military groups are split into three main groups, either Taliban, Afghan Army or ISAF The ISAF group covers all the Military units that are not Afghan. The ISAF is under the control of NATO (See:- [1]) For the latest breakdown of countries participating see this ISAF pdf file:- NATO ISAF Placements. Currently the ISAF only lists one soldier killed by a mine with another injured in the same explosion. Another story indicates A soldier killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, with two others injured. This may be a prior report relating to the same incident and as yet it is unclear if they are. See:- NATO/ISAF press release. Richard Harvey (talk) 08:51, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Confirmation:- The second report of another British soldier killed and two injured in an explosion, was prior to the battle on the 4th November and refers to Territorial Army soldier Trooper Jack Sadler of the Honourable Artillery Company. BBC News Online 5 December Richard Harvey (talk) 12:01, 12 December 2007 (UTC)
Note that would be 4 December (or 5 December, according to the Scotsman)—just two or three days before the battle, in the area. I think it silly not to include it as a casualty here. Marskell (talk) 21:36, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Info box

In the info box in the upper right hand corner, the "Outcome" section of the battle is listed as "Coalition victory" yet insofar as it is labeled an ongoing event the battle is not yet finished. I assume it is merely an accidental prematurity. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.30.13.44 (talk) 14:30, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

BBC reported that the Afghans had taken the town with the assistance of NATO forces.

Also, only one British soldier has died, the second soldier was from another NATO country, not Britain. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.107.163.120 (talk) 23:30, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Drug Dealers?

The growing of poppy was banned under Taliban rule and reemerged after their fall and it is grown by non taliban.Darth Anzeruthi (talk) 21:47, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

That statement needs to be cited (WP:CITE) to be accepted for the article. Parsival74 (talk) 23:01, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
Indeed, it also needs to be put in context. The Taliban have subsequently emerged as major allies of the drug gangs. It is a large % of their current income. The Taliban ban should be seen for what it was, an OPEC like "opium shock" intended to improve the long term profitability of their own narcotics business. And yes, this opinion needs to be backed up with factual information too before inclusion in an article. TMLutas (talk) 17:30, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Timeline

I personally find the bolded dates ugly. If we returned to ordinary prose, would it hurt in any way? Marskell (talk) 12:54, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

In principle I agree, though at the present stage more details will start to unfold, now the actual combat has died down a little. So perhaps it will be better to have each day's event kept separate, to prevent to much rewriting of text in to allow the prose to flow as individual events are fitted in. I have just re-formated the section to use subheaders. Hopefully that is better on the eye, and will also prove more use when suitable images become available. Is that okay with you? Richard Harvey (talk) 15:40, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Order of Battle

I think that an OrBat would greatly enhance this article.

Hal06 (talk) 16:00, 25 December 2007 (UTC)