'We don't need electricity. We have Islam.'

Just in case y'all have forgotten why we're fightin'…

Operation Eagle Summit

It was one of the most daring, dangerous and spectacular operations of the war in Afghanistan. Some 5,000 troops—3,000 of them British—fought for six days through the heart of Taliban-controlled territory on a mission of utmost humanitarian importance.

By the end of the operation, 250 Taliban fighters had been killed yet only one British soldier was injured. Such was the success of the project to restore a hydroelectric dam, [that will provide power to 1.8 million Afghans], that the commander of British forces in Afghanistan has called it the 'end of the beginning' of the campaign against the Taliban.

Seven 30-ton sections of the turbine were sent by 200 vehicles in a 6 mile convoy. They traveled at an average speed of 1 mph and produced a 20 mile long dust cloud.

[Along the way] Afghan troops used VHF radios to harangue the Taliban across no-man's land. When one of the Afghans asked why the Taliban wouldn't let the turbine through, the insurgent replied: 'We don't need electricity. We have Islam.'

Somebody tell those fools their Wayback Machine is stuck.

posted by Harrison at 3:07 PM