Might this same objective been accomplished, without loss of precious life, by opening a dialog with the Taliban, learning from them and discussing ways that we can better understand them and their wants and needs? Nah! Force is what they understand!

That's great news!!! Hope it continues.

This is where we should have been putting 100% of our military might instead of that expensive detour called Iraq. This is where Al Quida is at.

Although Mr. Grey didn't speculate in this article how long this "victory" will last, I'm sure he and many other realistic Afghan experts are not optimistic about achieving any kind of lasting peace with the Taliban. Maybe it's simply because these people have nothing better to do? If you have a large group of people with no land, no money, no education or job, whose only reason for getting up in the morning is to fight infidels, that's not a good mix for a quiet and productive neighborhood!

Should be front page news, more proof on the media's contempt on current foreign policy, hatred of the US and the President. Mr. JJ, yes, you go on over there and have some dialog. And then stay there with your peeps.

How can this be, John Edwards said the war on terror is just a bumper sticker. By the way, Dana Priest of the Washington Post plagiarized Mr. Grey's work to earn her Pulitzer Prize. Way to go Dana.

I agree, when you live in a state of medieval squalor, illiterate and poor, the allure of joining your life to a grand religious cause is very seductive. Death? They don't care, their lives are barely livable anyway. Without the Jihad what have they got? Thirty or so years of subsistence farming and an early grave.

But, in the long run, the Taliban will be defeated by it's own savagery and ignorance, they just don't make themselves popular with the populations they rule. The way the entire country turned on them when America invaded demonstrates this.

The Taleban still control huge swathes of Helmand province. They dominate major districts such as Greshk, Sangin, and Garmseer, aside from islands of government control in the district centres.Losing Musa Qala is not likely to be a death blow to the insurgents. The renewed fighting, with the attendant displacement of families and damage to property, may in fact further inflame local passions against the Afghan government and its foreign allies.

Sorry, but I am pretty skeptical about this whole account. If we had killed "hundreds" as this article states, I would expect more reports from credible sources. This sounds too much like the reporting that we received during Vietnam, where the press was eager to play up the body counnt. Again, put this whole thing to rest by putting another 75,000 boots on the ground. More proof is needed to concure that this was a "major" victory. Remember, the Viet Cong lived in caves too.

I hope the honeytrap strategy continues.

Good report. After reading this post I expected ABC would cover the story in the evening news. No such luck yet, but I do hope they will. Although coverage on both wars has largely disappeared since the situation in each so precariously improved, ABC still finds the space to cover major bombings in both Afghanistan and Iraq. The defeat at the hands of the 82nd of the only major Taliban safe haven would seem to merit coverage. So let's see it.

There is but one solution to the Taliban problem and that is to wipe them off the face of the earth, to the last man. Not easy to do, but very necessary.

This sounds like good news for the Afghanis that live in the area, and I hope that the situation on the ground will continue to improve for them, but I have to wonder about how last week the story seemed to be that the Taliban was entrenched in Musa Qala and were going to fight to the death, then two Taliban/AQ bigwigs were captured, then the Afghani army took Musa Qala with few casualties on either side, and the papers reported that the earlier reports of the capture of Taliban/AQ leaders were a case of mistaken identity.

While hundreds of Taliban are believed to have been killed, two British soldiers and one American soldier lost their lives. All the deaths, however, resulted from vehicles striking mines
All hundreds and 3 of them?

I like the part about the Afghan Army.
They were in this fight right along with Nato and the US. This feels like one more step toward a good future for Afghanistan.

Count the bodies yourself, or divide the reports by 3. I'm not on the ground, obviously, but this has the earmarks of an empty sack. Doesn't make me happy, but bodies generally leave, well, bodies.

To: JJ
You're the one who doesn't understand. What they want is to kill anyone who doesn't adhere to their brand of religion, which includes Muslims who might want to educate their daughters, have a beer now and then, read a book that might not be islamic, or just just appreciate some ancient art. What they need are more weapons with which to carry out their desire. Understand better, now?

Attacking lightly armed Taleban rebels mixed in with civilians in an urban setting with B1 and B52 bombers backed by A10 tank busters, F16s, Apache helicopters and Specter gunships seems cruel and inhumane to me. Were there any reports of civilian casualities?

Lack of bodies can be explained by the airstrikes. The bodies are blown to bits or entombed in a collapsed house, etc.

I doubt we dig through the rubble just to make sure we have the right numbers for the news reporters.

I do agree with the "divide by three" approach.

Thank you for your excellent reporting. Funny how no one else is reporting this job well done by our fine men and women and our friends the Brits. If it went bad, surely it would lead every newspaper and news show around.

wayne geddes:
"If we had killed "hundreds" as this article states, I would expect more reports from credible sources."

You are expecting actual reports on American victories? You been living in a cave too?