Tman sends us a link from the LA Times article “A U.S. soldier and the Afghan soldier who killed him“. It’s basically about US Special Forces soldier, Andrew Britton-Mihalo and the Afghan special forces sergeant named Zakirullah who killed the American in a green-on-blue murder, which was immediately punished by Britton-Mihalo’s brother troopers who gunned down the Afghan on the spot.
The LA Times seems intent on blaming Britton-Mihalo instead of the reasons that obvious to the rest of us;
In outposts like the makeshift base in Kandahar province where Zakirullah and Britton-Mihalo were deployed, the punishingly primitive, close-quarters conditions can foster strong bonds — or allow small irritants to fester.
“They work together, they patrol together, they are together all day of every day,” said Col. Bismullah Waziri, executive officer of the Afghan commando brigade. “We are all aware that there are cultural issues. Sure, they are different from us. And we are different from them.”
Naamdaar said that although he remembered his nephew as a generally easygoing boy, his temper occasionally flared if he felt he was being treated with disrespect.
“In an argument,” he said, “he could sometimes go a little crazy.”
And, like the Afghan government, the LA Time refuses to acknowledge that this is part of a conspiracy by the taliban and an actual tactic to divide the US forces from their Afghan allies;
After the shooting, the Taliban claimed that the attack had been carried out at the group’s behest, specifically mentioning Zakirullah by name. Although the group could easily have learned his identity after the fact, investigators are looking at whether he could have had some link to the insurgents.
But they admit that these murders are becoming more common;
At least 21 NATO troops have died in these assaults this year, accounting for a stunning 14% of troop deaths, with the latest shooting coming Friday in northeastern Afghanistan, the victim an American. The total number of such attacks is unknown; they generally go unreported publicly by the military if they result in injuries only.
So, it looks, by reading the LA Times article that somehow Britton-Mihalo insulted Zakirullah which caused Zakirullah’s cheese to slide off his cracker. Since being respectful of their allies’ various cultures is part of Special Forces training, that scenario seems unlikely. It’s more likely to be an actual conspiracy against NATO forces to which no one is apparently willing admit – especially, since no one is being truthful about the actual number of the attacks.
But, you know, that’s just me being logical again.
Unfuckingbelivebable! And people read this shit (LA Times) watch movies like Apocalypse Now, Deer Hunter and Platoon (and believe that is how it was) and viola… guilty! When dealing with civilians, it is a two edged sword to have served in the US Armed forces… and the edge is twice as sharp if you were in SF.
The media portrayal [as well as ISAF’s releases] that downplay the green-on-blue incidents in AFG is disturbing, but not terribly surprising.
What’s more disturbing is the fact the a couple of recent incidents have been perpetrated not by illiterate conventional ANA/ANP, but ANASF.
But where in the article did the LA Times “seem intent on blaming Britton-Mihalo”?
CI #2, I guess you missed this part;
Naamdaar said that although he remembered his nephew as a generally easygoing boy, his temper occasionally flared if he felt he was being treated with disrespect.
You can’t force our standards on backwards, retarded sheepfucking,asshole, turdsucking, dipshits. The problem is, our “leaders” and those deciding how we should try to train these retards and the retards in Iraq, don’t understand those cultures.
It’s like 1500 BC with cell phones. Kill em’ all and let Alla sort them out.
@Jonn, no I didn’t miss that quote. I suppose I just didn’t extrapolate from it what you did.
I KNOW no one is surprised! The La La Land Times from the People’s Republik of Kalifornia is hardly a credible news source. I’m still waiting for the earthquake that will turn my land in Yuma into “ocean front property”!?
I expect this kind of shit from the media, but it is the deliberate head-in-the-sand attitude of military leaders and the government that made my last few years in the Army such a frustrating, head-banging, hair-pulling nightmare. I don’t miss being a part of the “intelligence” community at all.