When it's friendly fire that kills from American guns, bombs or rockets it's said to have been "accidental", "mistaken", or "collateral". I think everyone accepts that. But when our American servicemen and servicewomen are on the receiving end, it is never accidental. It is always deliberate and personal.A Tuesday shooting, described by Italian officials as intentional, took place about 11.30am at a military base in the Bala Murghab district of Badghis province. A member of the Afghan National Army (ANA) killed a U.S. service member and wounded two Italian soldiers when he opened fire on foreign troops. The Italian defense ministry said the shooting occurred during a routine supply operation and,
It was not an error ... He shot voluntarily.Afghan General Jalander Shah Bahnam said the Afghan soldier fired on NATO troops who sought to prevent him from approaching a helicopter landing zone, the Associated Press reported.
This was the latest in a string of such incidents, which have underlined the difficulty US and NATO forces face in turning over the country's security to Afghan troops with questionable loyalty and competence.
Last month, an Afghan policeman killed five British soldiers at a military compound in southern Helmand province. The Taliban said he was one of their fighters who had infiltrated the force and the incident prompted Britain to improve its vetting procedure for Afghan police.
Four U.S. troops were killed and three wounded by Afghan soldiers in two other incidents earlier this year, one in the northeast and one just south of Kabul.
Last month, an Afghan policeman attacked a military compound in southern Helmand province, killing five British soldiers.
Well, Vig, did you tune into Rachel Maddow? She had the NBC correspondent with the leaked Pentagon report? It pretty well confirms all the posts you've been putting up... and completely disposes any chance of US military doing any kind of good under the corrupt conditions and lazy habits of the Afghani militia / police forces. !!! It's simply the cherry on the sundae here. (Bad comparison?) It's late... fatigue. LOL
ReplyDeleteThis was the latest in a string of such incidents, which have underlined the difficulty US and NATO forces face in turning over the country's security to Afghan troops with questionable loyalty and competence. This is the same shit just a different place. Iraq ring any bells?
ReplyDeleteAnd to the 'powers that be' they are just collateral damage. Always have been, always will be.
Sucks don't it.
Yeah Dusty! As time goes on, reluctant soldiers become fraggers. If the pentagon thinks Afghans are going to fight along side of us just as long as we pay them more than the Taliban pays them.... Is that a strategy? Or is that a hope?
ReplyDeleteYes, Gwendolyn.
ReplyDeleteI heard Richard Engel on the Rachel Maddow show last night. Engle apparently got hold of a 25-page report prepared for a briefing for CENTCOM commander, Gen. Petraeus and copied to Gen. McChrystal. Not intended for general distribution, it addresses the readiness of the Afghan security forces, primarily, the Afghan National Army. Engel quoted passages to Rachel:
The ANA (which is the Afghan National Army) above company level is not at war. Now, company level means the small units, so the soldiers on the ground, they're fighting. Above, say 150 soldiers, anything, colonel, general, anyone at that level, doesn't believe he's at war. They talk about corruption. This is a quote: 'Nepotism, corruption, and absenteeism among ANA leaders makes success impossible. Change must come quickly.' Another line: 'If Afghan political leaders do not place competent people in charge, no amount of coalition support will suffice in the long term.'
that the numbers of Afghan troops and police that on the ground are inaccurate, that some battalions will over-report by 40-50 percent, inflate their numbers.
'Many ANA leaders work short days, are often absent, and place personal gain above national survival.'
The long & the short of it? Barack Obama is sending us longgggggg. Standing the ANA up so the USA can stand down is going to take decades. That's the truth of it.
This so-called "war on terror" has become a disaster for our military, and a big fat feeding trough for the greedy military/industrial complex, including Xe and all those other privatized contractors. Our military is overstretched and poorly provided for. We taxpayers are being severely shortchanged and our country's name is being deservedly backened across the globe. What message does this send to the Chinese?
ReplyDeleteIt is time to end this nonsense and pull OUT of Afghanistan and Iraq. Al Qaeda cannot be defeated with drones and tanks and planes and bombs.
"We will stand down, as they stand up" Ya, right.
ReplyDeleteVig, Gwen beat me to my comment, so I'll just echo what she said.
ReplyDeleteIt should come as no surprise that our government and military will hide information damaging to their plans. They spent a week telling us Pat Tillman died fighting the enemy.
ReplyDeleteI'm still in favor of Obama's action with the timeline. Each time one of these stories comes to light my timeline and patience get shorter.
It's like those assholes in the Ba'ath Party in Iraq all over again in the early 80s.
ReplyDelete-SJ
This report did it for me, we are committed for the period Obama stated, at least, but its time bug out completely.
ReplyDeleteI have honest and real warm fuzzes for all humanity. I wish we could all get along, solve problems, and explore the universe but I'd tell Karzai that he needs to get his and his warlord's heads out their asses cause once we leave if we have the slightest idea nasty people are back reducing property values in Afghanistan making thing dangerous for America we will nuke his country to molten glass.
That just leave Pakistan and their nukes to figure out how to handle.
It will be great to watch Manchester United, i have bought tickets from
ReplyDeletehttp://ticketfront.com/event/Manchester_United-tickets looking forward to it.