THE PATRIOT-NEWS CONTINUED FROM A1 G NATION & WORLD SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2010 G A9

PURPLE ANALYSIS U.S. commander Gen. David Petraeus highlights the success
of special-ops missions to show that the Afghan war can be won.
Continued from Page A1

front with him. The gunner

and the squad medic were in
the back.
He said his squad leader
kept yelling for him to drive,
and the medic kept asking if
The other body count
everyone was OK. BY KIMBERLY DOZIER troops that the president
Because his adrenaline The Associated Press promised will begin in July.
was so high, he didn’t re- This does not mean that
alize he was injured until KABUL, Afghanistan ● Petraeus is shifting em-
he new top com-

T
he looked down and saw Submitted photo phasis from traditional
blood. Defense Secretary Robert mander in Afghan- counterinsurgency strategy
A piece of shrapnel hit Gates presents a Purple istan is talking up a — clearing territory, hold-
him in the jaw and the el- Heart to 2008 Cedar Cliff weapon that has ing it, building on it and
bow. He said the scab on his graduate Shawn Mason. been kept in the shadows then turning it over to the
jaw is starting to turn into a for years — special-opera- Afghan government.
scar, and his elbow is almost Stewart in Georgia. tions missions to kill or Demonstrating progress
healed. He still has shrapnel His father, Robert Mason capture key insurgents — is difficult in a war fought
in his elbow and jaw. of New Cumberland, said to try to convince skeptics in hundreds of small, scat-
Although he said he was he’s just glad his son is alive. the war can be won. tered engagements, where
angry and nervous, he kept “I pray for him every day,” More than previous com- front lines do not move and
his composure. he said. “I worry about him manders, Gen. David Pe- where cities do not fall.
When he told his family all the time.” traeus has released the re- That’s where the spec-
what happened, they were Mason said he’s proud to sults of special-operations ops raids come in. The
shocked and nervous about serve his country. missions — 235 militant mystique of elite, highly
the seriousness of his inju- The Purple Heart has a leaders were killed or cap- trained commandos swoop-
ries, he said. special meaning for the sol- tured in the last 90 days, ing down on an unsuspect-
His grandmother, Susan dier. 1,066 more rank-and-file in- ing Taliban leader in the
Shakespeare of Hummel- “What the Purple Heart surgents killed and 1,673 de- dead of night plays well
stown, said she spoke to him means to me is that I was tained — to demonstrate BRENNAN LINSLEY, The Associated Press back home, especially at a
soon after the attack. willing to put my life on the that the Taliban and their A member of the Tactical Command Post of the 101st time when much of the
“He called me. He said, line for others, and I feel it allies are also suffering Airborne Division looks for a Taliban position in Zhari. news from Afghanistan fo-
‘Nana, I’m OK. I’m OK.’ And shows great courage,” he losses as NATO casualties cuses on rising American
he kept repeating that. He said. rise. Berets — offers a way to U.S. service members have deaths and frustration with
told me what happened,” Mason said he’s learned Petraeus told reporters demonstrate that the U.S. been killed in the past the Afghan government.
she said. several tips on how to spot traveling Friday with the and its NATO partners are week. Heavy use of special-op-
Then his sergeant got on an attacker that he hopes chairman of the Joint Chiefs taking the fight to the Tali- Special-operations troops erations forces is not with-
the phone and assured her will come in handy. of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, ban. have been in Afghanistan out risk. Afghans from Pres-
that he was all right, she “Unfortunately, with all that in the past 24 hours, Petraeus has shared key since the conflict began in ident Hamid Karzai to
added. the training in the world, special-operations forces heretofore classified data 2001, working with the anti- village elders complain that
He’s served in Iraq since some things are impossible carried out eight missions, with reporters at a level of Taliban Northern Alliance night raids offend Afghan
July. Before that, he was in to prevent,” he said. capturing three targeted in- detail that surprised many to drive the Taliban from culture and turn the popu-
Korea for a year, then Fort dividuals. Four more were U.S. officials here and in power after the Sept. 11, lation against the interna-
believed killed or detained, Washington. 2001, terrorist attacks and tional coalition.
Petraeus said. Special-operations mis- later to pursue al-Qaida U.S. officials insist that an
Accentuating the positive sions are at their highest leaders. Uzbek militant leader was
Hamburg man to receive is part of Petraeus’ media tempo, with nearly 4,000 Last fall, Gen. Stanley killed in a helicopter strike
style, developed when he carried out between May McChrystal, the former on his convoy Thursday in
posthumous Medal of Honor commanded U.S. forces in
Iraq and was widely credit-
and August, according to
officials here.
commander in Afghanistan,
stepped up the tempo,
the northern province of
Takhar. Karzai and the local
ed with helping turn the U.S. officials are sensitive broadening the missions to governor dispute this, say-
WASHINGTON G President Barack Obama is awarding a tide in that war. to the suggestion that Pe- include killing or capturing ing the convoy contained a
posthumous Medal of Honor to an Air Force chief master Since taking command, traeus is using the spec-ops midlevel commanders in candidate for parliament
sergeant who braved enemy fire to help three wounded Petraeus has used a series successes for public effect, the Taliban and their allies and his campaign workers.
comrades before suffering fatal wounds during combat in of high-profile media inter- perhaps because it harks in the Haqqani network. A U.S. defense official
Laos in 1968. views to try to reverse the back to the largely discred- What’s new is that Pe- here says armed special-ops
The White House said Obama will present the medal wave of pessimism about ited body counts of the traeus and his aides are actions are the exception.
Sept. 21 to the three sons of Richard Etchberger of Ham- the war, especially within Vietnam War. talking about it. The official said one spe-
burg. Congress and the American But back in Washington, By highlighting their suc- cial-operations task force
According to the White House, Etchberger showed public. the release of information cesses, Petraeus could earn recorded no shots fired in
“conspicuous gallantry” on March 11, 1968, when he delib- Playing up missions by was warmly welcomed in bankable political capital 973 out of 1,225 missions in
erately exposed himself to enemy fire to help his com- special-operations forces — some quarters, offsetting that he will need if he rec- the 12 months ending in Au-
rades into rescue slings to be airlifted to safety. Navy SEALs, Delta Force, the daily drumbeat of rising ommends that Obama slow gust. The targets simply
Army Rangers and Green U.S. casualties. At least 28 the drawdown of U.S. gave up without a fight.
— The Associated Press

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