"Afghans protest burning of Korans at US base" February 22, 2012|By Kevin Sieff
BAGRAM, Afghanistan — As thousands of angry Afghans flung rocks at NATO’s largest military base in Afghanistan yesterday, American officials sought to quell a widening furor over what they said was the accidental incineration by US military personnel of copies of the Islamic holy book.
Not the first time some disrespect has come upon the Koran.
The protests erupted early yesterday, after Afghans working at Bagram air base told local residents that a number of copies of the Koran had been burned. When they carried out the charred pages, waving the evidence in the air, the crowd grew larger and more defiant.
Among those chanting “long live Islam’’ and “death to America’’ were some of the 5,000 Afghans who have worked inside the base for years. General John R. Allen, the top US commander in Afghanistan, was quick to express contrition for the incident, which officials worried could incite violence across the country....
The United States faces an enormous challenge in withdrawing its troops over the next two years while attempting to protect hard-won gains and facilitate a delicate peace process between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents. With so little margin for error, yesterday’s incident could threaten the relationship on which US military and diplomatic strategies depend....
The incident also could complicate relations between NATO forces and the Afghans who perform a variety of nonmilitary functions on bases. The hundreds of Bagram employees who were among the protesters will now have to decide whether to leave their jobs or continue working while disguising their antipathy....
Or not, seeing as shootings from allies is.... sigh. Why do I feel like I've been typing the same thing for five years?
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"Protests over Koran burning expand across Afghanistan; At least 7 killed as lawmakers demand trials" by Kevin Sieff | Washington Post, February 23, 2012
KABUL - A second day of violent, anti-American protests spread across Afghanistan yesterday, as demonstrators seethed over the burning of Korans at a NATO air base and Afghan politicians demanded harsh punishment for the offenders.
At least seven Afghans were killed and dozens were injured, according to the Interior Ministry, when protesters gathered in several cities across the country, throwing stones, burning tires, and lighting effigies of President Obama. One crowd of men attempted to storm a fortified compound in Kabul where hundreds of American contractors live.
The U.S. needs to apologize and leave now as a first step. Other issues can be addressed later.
Security forces tried to quell the scattered protests - in some cases by firing on demonstrators - but the unrest showed no sign of dissipating.
Our guys.
NATO and Afghan officials visited the Parwan Detention Facility, adjacent to Bagram Airfield, where the incident occurred, to “examine the circumstances surrounding the disposal of religious materials there,’’ according to a press release from NATO-led forces.
“The purpose of the investigation is to discover the truth surrounding the events which resulted in this incident,’’ said General John Allen, the top US commander in Afghanistan. “We are determined to ascertain the facts and take all actions necessary to ensure this never happens again.’’
That is never the purpose of a government investigation; government investigations are meant to cover up truth.
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Western officials said publicly Tuesday that the books were taken to the incinerator by accident. “I assure you . . . I promise you . . . this was NOT intentional in any way,’’ Allen said in a statement. But a senior US military official, who asked to remain anonymous, said Tuesday that the Korans were removed from the prison library because they had radical or anti-Western messages scrawled in them. Jacobson did not confirm that assertion, but his comments to reporters yesterday came closer to blaming poorly advised military officials.
Afghans, including the investigators appointed by the government, are split over whether the burning was, in fact, unintentional or whether it reflected baser motives.
“We hope it was an accident, and we think it was,’’ said Siddiq Siddiqi, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. “But at the end of the day, the investigation might find that it was a crazy person - that he was mad and that he did this on purpose.’’
For his part, Karzai seemed keen on using the incident to advance his case that Afghans should take over the Parwan facility, the largest US-run military prison in the country.
“The sooner you do the transfer of the prison, the less you will have problems and unfortunate incidents,’’ Karzai said at a meeting yesterday with US Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, according to a statement from Karzai’s office.
Last month, Karzai demanded that responsibility for the detention center be handed over to Afghanistan by the end of January. He has since extended that deadline until March 9.
See: Torture Center Transfer
But US officials continue to say Afghan institutions are woefully unprepared to detain or try suspected terrorists.
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"In letter to Karzai, Obama apologizes for Koran burning; More violence feared as protests rage for 3d day" by Alissa J. Rubin and Graham Bowley | New York Times, February 24, 2012
KABUL - President Obama apologized yesterday for the burning of Korans at the largest US base in Afghanistan earlier this week as furious protests raged for a third day and a man wearing an Afghan army uniform turned his weapon on coalition soldiers, killing two of them.
“I wish to express my deep regret for the reported incident,’’ Obama said in a letter to President Hamid Karzai. “I extend to you and the Afghan people my sincere apologies.’’
The letter was handed to Karzai by the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan C. Crocker, yesterday afternoon in Kabul.
The acting spokesman for the US Embassy in Kabul, Mark Thornburg, confirmed that the letter had been hand-delivered by Crocker to Karzai.
“The error was inadvertent,’’ Obama said. “I assure you that we will take the appropriate steps to avoid any recurrence, to include holding accountable those responsible.’’
The letter, an apparent attempt to quell the ferocity of the protests, followed a third day of angry demonstrations across Afghanistan in which another six Afghans were killed and at least 55 wounded, according to Afghan officials.
As the protests raged, the international coalition said two NATO service members were killed in eastern Afghanistan when a man wearing the uniform of the Afghan National Army turned his gun on NATO soldiers.
The NATO commanding general in Afghanistan, John R. Allen, had already offered his apology for the burning of the Korans, ordered an investigation, and issued an order for every coalition soldier in Afghanistan to complete training in “the proper handling of religious materials.’’
By yesterday morning, demonstrations had begun to widen, officials and witnesses said, though some crowds were small and relatively peaceful.
But one, in Laghman Province, drew as many as 1,000 protesters and turned violent as demonstrators marched to a NATO-run base for provincial reconstruction.
In Baghlan Province, there was a confrontation between police and protesters and one protester was killed, officials said.
In a late-night statement sent to the media Wednesday, Karzai urged demonstrators not to resort to violence.
Karzai scheduled a hastily arranged meeting with members of both houses of Parliament yesterday morning at the presidential palace and some 300 lawmakers arrived to participate, said a presidential spokesman, Aimal Faizi.
The fury does not appear likely to abate soon. Some members of Parliament called on Afghans to take up arms against the US military, and Western officials said they feared that conservative mullahs might incite more violence at the weekly Friday Prayer, when a large number of people worship at mosques.
“Americans are invaders, and jihad against Americans is an obligation,’’ said Abdul Sattar Khawasi, a member of Parliament from the Ghorband district in Parwan Province, where at least four demonstrators were killed in confrontations with police Wednesday.
Standing with about 20 other members of Parliament, Khawasi called on mullahs and religious leaders “to urge the people from the pulpit to wage jihad against Americans.’’
The Taliban also called on people to take up arms against the foreign troops here and the Afghan security forces.
In a message that was sent to the media and posted on Taliban websites, the insurgent group gave specific instructions including to “attack the occupiers’ military bases, their military convoys, and other occupying soldiers.’’
The goal, according to the Taliban statement, was to attack US installations and property but not Afghans’ “public property.’’
The message also urged attacks on those “who still close their eyes to this unforgivable act of the infidels’’ and those who defend US property, an allusion to the Afghan security forces.
The White House said Obama had also used the letter to Karzai to discuss other issues concerning the United States’ long-term relationship with Afghanistan. The two leaders had spoken by telephone Monday, a day before the Koran burning incident, when they discussed among other things Karzai’s recent visit to Pakistan and the prospects for peace talks with the Taliban.
“Following up on their Feb. 20 phone call, the president sent a letter to President Karzai to continue their discussion on a range of issues related to our long-term partnership,’’ said Tommy Vietor, the spokesman for the National Security Council, in a statement. “In the letter . . . the president also expressed our regret and apologies over the incident in which religious materials were unintentionally mishandled at Bagram Air Base.’’
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"Koran protests leave 7 dead in Afghanistan; Crowds ignore Karzai appeals; resist revenge, US general says" by Patrick Quinn | Associated Press, February 25, 2012
KABUL - The top US commander in Afghanistan called on his troops to resist any urge to avenge the death of two American soldiers killed in riots over the burning of Korans at a US base, even as seven protesters were killed by Afghan security forces amid renewed demonstrations yesterday.
Bales?
The anti-American demonstrations by thousands of Afghans who took to the streets after midday prayers were further evidence that President Obama’s apology has failed to quiet the outrage over what the United States says was the inadvertent destruction of the holy books.
The killing of the two US soldiers and the civil unrest have further strained Afghanistan’s relations with the United States. President Hamid Karzai is trying to negotiate a long-term partnership agreement with the United States to govern the activities of US forces in his country after 2014, when most foreign combat troops will have left or taken on support roles.
The violence against coalition troops also comes at a time when many countries contributing to the force are seeking to accelerate their withdrawal from what has become an unpopular and costly war that has dragged on for more than 10 years.
At least 20 people, including the two US soldiers, have been killed in four days of violence.
Protesters have ignored appeals by Karzai, parliamentarians, and some clerics for an end to the violence until an investigation into the incident at Bagram Air Field is concluded.
Afghan officials said seven people were killed around the country yesterday by Afghan security forces trying to disperse crowds or responding to gunfire from protesters.
One of the dead was part of a crowd trying to storm a Hungarian military base in northern Baghlan Province. Six others died in western Herat Province, including three people who died when a truck full of ammunition exploded after protesters set it ablaze, the governor’s office said.
Anti-American protesters also gathered in several locations around Kabul, including in the city’s east, where a demonstrator, his clothes covered in blood, was carried from the scene as about 200 police tried to push the crowd back.
Police sprayed automatic rifle fire over the heads of protesters chanting “Death to America!’’ in an effort to prevent them from reaching the defense ministry, close to the American Embassy.
US General John Allen, who commands all US and coalition troops, traveled late Thursday to the American base in the east where an Afghan soldier opened fire on US troops, killing two Americans.
“There will be moments like this when you’re searching for the meaning of this loss. There will be moments like this when your emotions are governed by anger and a desire to strike back,’’ Allen said in comments NATO released yesterday.
“Now is not the time for revenge. Now is not the time for vengeance. Now is the time to look deep inside your souls, remember your mission, remember your discipline, remember who you are.’’
Allen, who was accompanied by Afghan National Army General Sher Mohammed Karimi, told soldiers that “now is how we show the Afghan people that as bad as that act was in Bagram, it was unintentional and American and ISAF soldiers do not stand for this.’’ He was referring to the International Security Assistance Force, the formal name of the US-led international military coalition fighting in Afghanistan.
The two US troops were killed during a protest Thursday outside the US base in the Khogyani district of Nangarhar Province.
Two protesters were killed by Afghan police there before the Afghan soldier fired on US troops, then fled into the crowd.
Karimi told the US troops that their sacrifice is not wasted.
“It is a rewarding mission and this enemy fighting against us is not an enemy of Afghanistan, it is an enemy of the whole of humanity,’’ Karimi said.
It was the latest in a rising spate of incidents where Afghan soldiers or police, or militants wearing their uniforms, have shot and killed US and NATO service members.
The unrest started Tuesday, when Afghan workers at the sprawling Bagram air base noticed that Korans and other Islamic texts were in the trash that coalition troops dumped into a pit where garbage is burned.
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"2 US officers are killed in Afghan Interior Ministry" by Alissa J. Rubin and Graham Bowley | New York Times, February 26, 2012
KABUL - Two US officers were shot dead inside the Interior Ministry building here yesterday, and NATO responded by immediately pulling all military advisers out of Afghan ministries in Kabul, in a deepening of the crisis over the US military’s burning of Korans at a NATO army base.
The order by the NATO commander, General John R. Allen, came on the fifth day of virulent anti-American demonstrations across the country, and it was a clear sign of concern that the fury had reached deeply into even the Afghan security forces and ministries working most closely with the coalition.
Although there was no official statement that the gunman was an Afghan, in an e-mail sent to Western officials here from NATO headquarters the episode was described as “green on blue,’’ which is the military term used here when Afghan security forces turn their weapons on their Western military allies.
The killings, which happened within one of the most tightly secured areas of the ministry, add to the drumbeat of concern about a deepening animosity between civilians and militaries on both sides that had led to US and coalition forces being killed in increasing numbers even before the Koran burning ignited nationwide rioting. And, the pullout from the Afghan ministries suddenly called into question the coalitions’ entire strategy of joint operations with Afghan forces across the country, although Allen said NATO was still committed to fighting the war in Afghanistan....
The killings yesterday are only the latest chapter in the deteriorating relations between the Afghans and NATO, including an Afghan soldier’s recent killing of French troops that prompted the French to move up their withdrawal date, and outrage over a video that showed four US Marines urinating on bodies said to be those of Taliban fighters.
Related: French Phonies in Afghanistan
The Koran burning, however, has taken the animosity to a new level, eroding further the already attenuated trust between the Afghans and Americans....
The intensifying enmity toward the US presence in Afghanistan a decade into the war is casting into doubt a central plank of the Obama administration’s strategy to end the United States’ involvement in the war: a close working relationship between Afghan forces and advisers and trainers who are working to help the Afghans become ready to defend and police the country on their own. But it is also likely to have an immediate bearing on several critical negotiations with Afghan officials.
A US official in Washington said the unrest and shootings of US personnel by their Afghan counterparts would have a “huge’’ impact on a slew of discussions planned for the coming weeks among officials from the White House, the State Department, the Pentagon, and other agencies. On the agenda of the various interagency meetings is the future of the main US prison in Afghanistan, the detention facility in Parwan, which President Hamid Karzai wants handed to Afghan control in less than a month; how to proceed with stalled negotiations over the Strategic Partnership Document that is intended to map out relations between Washington and Kabul after 2014; and the how large a pullout President Obama will announce at a NATO summit planned for May in Chicago.
The official cautioned that no one was “panicking,’’ but that the initial reaction to the growing hostility from Afghans was to convince more officials that the pace of the US drawdown needed to be hastened, and that the sooner the mission was transitioned to one of training and counterterrorism, the better.
“You look at this as clearly and objectively as you can, what you see is that we’re in a weaker position than we were maybe two or three or four weeks ago,’’ said the official, who asked not to be identified because he was discussing internal deliberations. “I’m not sure anyone knows the clear way forward. It’s gotten more and more complicated. It’s fraught.’’
The shootings came on another violent day, as thousands of Afghans incensed by the US military’s burning of Korans once again took to the streets in running clashes with the police that claimed the lives of another five Afghan protesters, officials said, while many more were wounded.
Chanting anti-American slogans calling for an end to NATO’s presence, the protesters also vented broader fury, storming offices of the Afghan government and the United Nations, leading to violent standoffs.
Officials said that four protesters were shot by the Afghan police after a crowd numbering in the thousands attacked the UN headquarters in Kunduz Province in the north, wrecking public buildings and stores. Those shootings left 51 others wounded, hospital officials said.
I'm starting to get pissed off at this slanted and distorted coverage.
Obviously, these are protests that don't meet with the approval of the mouthpiece media. For all their fury, a lot of them are ending up dead!
The Taliban was quick to claim responsibility for the shooting, saying one of its members had infiltrated the ministry. But the Taliban regularly claims responsibility for deaths of NATO forces. A Taliban spokesman also claimed the shooter was carrying a suicide vest, but that detail did not agree with any other reports.
Since when did the mouthpiece media doubt Taliban claims?
Of course, "the group frequently claims responsibility for killings to which it is not connected," and "usually exaggerate the scale of their attacks."
I stand corrected.
The Afghan deaths yesterday added to the toll of 24 Afghans reported killed since Tuesday, when reports first emerged about the Korans.
NATO is still investigating what led to the decision to burn Korans and other religious texts, and the findings of that investigation will prove highly sensitive.
Early reports said that the books had inflammatory messages written in them from detained Taliban suspects. Most of the Qurans Koran that were rescued from the flames are still at Bagram Air Base in a locked container. They are viewed as evidence. A few of the Korans were taken out of the base by Afghan employees.
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"Soldiers hurt as Afghan protests rage; Demonstrators lob grenades at base; US vows resilience" by Deb Riechmann | Associated Press, February 27, 2012
KABUL - Demonstrators hurled grenades at a US base in northern Afghanistan, and a gun battle left two Afghans dead and seven NATO troops injured yesterday in the escalating crisis over the burning of Muslim holy books at an American airfield.
More than 30 people have been killed, including four US troops, in six days of unrest. Still, the top US diplomat in Afghanistan said the violence would not change Washington’s course in the country....
The attack on the base came a day after two US military advisers - a lieutenant colonel and a major - were found dead after being shot in the head in their office at the Interior Ministry in the heart of the capital. The building is one of the city’s most heavily guarded, and the slayings raised doubts about safety as coalition troops continue to withdraw.
The incident prompted NATO, Britain, and France to recall hundreds of international advisers from all Afghan ministries in the capital. The advisers are key to helping improve governance and preparing the country’s security forces to take on more responsibility.
A manhunt was underway for the main suspect in the shooting - an Afghan man who worked as a driver for an office on the same floor as the advisers who were killed, said an Interior Ministry spokesman, Sediq Sediqi. He did not provide further details about the suspect or a possible motive.
The Taliban said the shooter was one of their sympathizers and that an accomplice had helped him enter the compound to kill the Americans in retaliation for the Koran burnings.
Yeah, but they, well, you know.
Afghanistan’s defense and interior ministers were to visit Washington this week, but they called off the trip to consult with other Afghan officials and religious leaders on how to stop the violence, said the Pentagon’s press secretary, George Little. The Afghans had planned to meet with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey.
The protesters in Kunduz Province in the north threw hand grenades to express their anger at the way some Korans and other Islamic texts were disposed of in a burn pit last week at Bagram Air Field, north of Kabul.
President Obama and other US officials have apologized for the burnings, which they said were a mistake.
Yesterday, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, Republican presidential candidates, criticized Obama’s apology. Romney said that for many Americans, the apology “sticks in their throat.’’
“We’ve made an enormous contribution to help the people there achieve freedom,’’ he said. “And for us to be apologizing at a time like this is something which is very difficult for the American people to countenance.’’
Santorum portrayed Obama’s statement as further proof that the president is trying to appease “forces of evil’’ bent on America’s destruction.
The apologies have not quelled the anger of Afghans, who say the incident illustrates foreigners’ disrespect for their culture and religion....
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Also see: US apologies sound empty
"Bomber kills 9 near Afghan base; UN evacuates staff; attack tied to Koran burning" by Amir Shah | Associated Press, February 28, 2012
KABUL — A suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into the gates of a NATO base and airport in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, triggering a blast that killed nine Afghans, officials said. The Taliban claimed the attack was revenge for US troops’ burning copies of the Koran.
The bombing in the city of Jalalabad follows six days of deadly protests in the country over the disposal of Korans and other Islamic texts in a burn pit last week at a US military base north of Kabul.
American officials have called the disposal of the books a mistake and have issued a series of apologies. President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has urged calm, calling on his countrymen not to allow insurgents to capitalize on the indignation to spark violence.
Yesterday, the United Nations also scaled back its operations, moving its international staff from an office in the northern city of Kunduz that was attacked during protests Saturday, the organization said in a statement....
Despite the pullback, the commander of NATO and US forces in Afghanistan said that the partnership with the Afghan government was as strong as ever....
I quote from above:
“You look at this as clearly and objectively as you can, what you see is that we’re in a weaker position than we were maybe two or three or four weeks ago.’’
Yeah, the LYING REALLY IS PISSING ME OFF!
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"3 inquiries looking at burning of Korans; One could lead to court martial" by Alissa J. Rubin and Graham Bowley | New York Times, March 01, 2012
KABUL- Three major investigations were underway yesterday into the Koran burning at Bagram Air Base by the US military last week, the event that plunged Afghanistan into days of deadly protests claiming as many as 30 Afghan lives, and coinciding with the shooting deaths of four US soldiers.
In a tense atmosphere in Afghanistan, the investigations signal the seriousness of the incident for both the Afghans and the Americans and an understanding of the need to offer a full explanation and a reckoning for the perpetrators.
But stronger than ever.
One investigation is American, one is Afghan, and one is a joint Afghan-US inquiry.
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"Officials say Koran burning could have been avoided; Mishaps, lapses in judgment are to blame, they say" by Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times / March 3, 2012
KABUL - US and Afghan officials investigating the Koran-burning episode that has brought relations between the countries to a new low say that the destruction could have been headed off at several points along a chain of mishaps, poor judgments, and ignored procedures, according to interviews over the past week.
But as strong as ever.
Even as Americans have raced to ease Afghan outrage over the burning, releasing information yesterday that US service members could face disciplinary action, accounts from more than a dozen Americans and Afghans involved in investigating the incineration laid out a complex string of events that will do little to assuage an Afghan public that in some quarters has called for deaths to avenge the sacrilege.
The crisis over the burning, carried out by US soldiers near the detention center in Parwan on Feb. 20, brought a short-term halt to cooperation between the Americans and Afghans and has complicated almost every aspect of planning and negotiation for a military withdrawal....
The responses highlighted continuing and deep differences between US and Afghan concepts of justice: US officials insist that no deliberate insult was intended and that the military justice system and apologies should suffice, while the Afghan religious leaders demand that public identification and punishment of the offenders is the only path to soothe the outrage of Afghans over what they see as an unforgivable desecration of God’s words....
A US military official familiar with the joint investigation somberly described the burning as a “tragedy’’ but rejected any suggestion that it was intentional.
“There was no maliciousness, there was no deliberateness, there was not an intentional disrespect of Islam,’’ he said.
At the very least, the accounts of the Americans and the Afghans involved in the investigation offer a parable of the dire consequences of carelessness about Afghan values.
The account begins about a week before the burning, when officers at the detention center in Parwan became worried that detainees were secretly communicating through notes scribbled in library books, possibly to plot an attack.
Two Afghan-American interpreters were assigned to sift through the library’s books and set aside those that had writing that might constitute a security risk, said Maulavi Dad and other members of the Ulema Council team who visited the detention center and were briefed by the military.
It is in asking why the books were not simply stored that one of several faulty decisions becomes apparent, according to another military official familiar with the investigation.
“You have separated a huge number of books - it will come out 1,652,’’ the official said, “and those that are in charge say, ‘We don’t have the storage capacity; this is sensitive material.’ ’’
Sometime on Feb. 20, the books were transported by a work detail of several soldiers to the truck that would ultimately take them to the incinerator. That posed another missed opportunity. Some Afghan Army soldiers saw the books, recognized them as religious books, and became worried, Maulavi Dad said. Worried that Korans might be among the books, the Afghan soldiers reported to their commanding officer.
A US officer knowledgeable about the joint investigation said the problem was that by the time the Afghan officer relayed the concerns to his US counterpart, the vehicle was already on the way to the incinerator.
Both Afghan and US officials believed that the three soldiers driving the holy books to their destination had little or no understanding of what they were carrying. “For those three soldiers, this was nothing more than a work detail,’’ one military official said.
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Related: Afghan attackers kill 2 US soldiers
Pissed off because they were pissed on:
"Troops shown urinating on dead" January 13, 2012|By Graham Bowley and Matthew Rosenberg
KABUL, Afghanistan - A video showing four US Marines urinating on the bodies of three dead Taliban fighters provoked anger and condemnation yesterday in Afghanistan and around the world. US officials said they feared the images could incite anti-US sentiment at a particularly delicate moment in the war effort.
Did the DEAD PART OFFEND ANYONE?
The Obama administration is struggling to keep President Hamid Karzai on its side as it carefully tries to open talks with the Taliban. Yet the video showing such a desecration - a possible war crime - is likely to weaken the US position with both. The Taliban and Karzai were each quick to hold up the images as evidence of US brutality, a message with broad appeal in Afghanistan, where word of the video was slowly spreading yesterday.
Senior military officials in Kabul and at the Pentagon who were scrutinizing the video confirmed it was authentic....
The Taliban initially indicated the images would not undermine the push toward talks, regarding the video as just more evidence of what they view as US brutality and disrespect for Afghans.
“This is not the first time we see such brutality,’’ a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters.
But later yesterday, in an official statement, the Taliban dropped its references to the talks and stressed the brutality message. “We strongly condemn the inhuman act of wild American soldiers, as ever, and consider this act in contradiction with all human and ethical norms,’’ the statement said.
Karzai struck a similar tone - he, too, described the video as “inhuman’’ - saying in a statement that he was deeply disturbed by the images. He asked the Americans to severely punish anyone found guilty of a crime.
US officials reacted remorsefully throughout the day yesterday in their effort to stem the fallout from the video. The actions depicted in the video “appear to have been conducted by a small group of US individuals, who apparently are no longer serving in Afghanistan,’’ the coalition said in a statement. “The behavior dishonors the sacrifices and core values of every service member representing the fifty nations of the coalition.’’
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"Marines in desecration video ID’d" ASSOCIATED PRESS, January 14, 2012
WASHINGTON - The US Marine Corps has identified the four Marines in a video shown urinating on what appear to be dead Taliban fighters and has named a lead investigating officer to decide whether they should be charged, Marine officials said yesterday without releasing any names.
Marine officials were also attempting to identify the person who shot the video, which emerged early Thursday and has incited a wave of anti-US sentiment at a delicate moment in the decade-long war in Afghanistan.
Two of the Marines were questioned Thursday by criminal investigators and released to their commanders, the officials said. All served in the Third Battalion, Second Marines, based in Camp Lejuene, N.C.
The top US general in Afghanistan, General John R. Allen, expressed his disgust over the video yesterday, saying the images “are in direct opposition to everything the military stands for.’’
Not really. They are pissing all over the planet.
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"8 Afghan policemen killed at checkpoint" September 29, 2011|Associated Press
KABUL - Gunmen killed eight policemen at checkpoint in southern Afghanistan yesterday, and the United Nations said the average number of armed clashes, roadside bombings, and other violence in the country each month is running 39 percent higher this year compared to 2010.
The United States and other nations have started to withdraw some troops from the nearly decade-long Afghan war, saying they have made progress in taming the Taliban insurgency by routing their strongholds in the south. But the Taliban has hit back with several high-profile attacks in the capital and assassinations of government officials and key senior figures that has raised questions about how solid a grip the Afghan government and its Western allies have on security - and whether the Afghan forces can secure the nation by themselves....
In its quarterly report on Afghanistan released yesterday, the UN said while the number of suicide attacks remained steady, insurgents were conducting more complex suicide operations involving multiple bombers and gunmen. It said that on average, three complex attacks have been carried out each month this year - a 50 percent increase compared with the same period last year....
But we are winning and make progress.
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Related: Suicide bomber kills dozens of civilians, troops at Afghan bazaar
Cui bono?
"Car bomb kills 7 at Afghan police station" by Associated Press | February 06, 2012
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The United Nations reported on Saturday that 2011 was the deadliest on record for civilians in the Afghan war, with 3,021 killed as insurgents ratcheted up violence with suicide attacks and roadside bombs. Civilian deaths from military or other progovernment forces decreased slightly.
And you wonder why the Afghans are PO'd?
And this whole idea from the U.N. that it is the increasingly-supported Taliban responsible flies in the face of common sense. Sad, because I used to believe in the U.N. years ago.
Afghanistan’s largest insurgent movement, the Taliban, said yesterday that the report was “biased.’’ In an e-mailed statement, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid accused the United Nations of falsifying the figures....
It's not beyond the realm of possibility.
In the north, Afghan police said that an American soldier shot and killed an Afghan guard at a US base, apparently because the American thought the guard was about to attack him. There have been a growing number of attacks by Afghan soldiers against international forces in Afghanistan in recent years, some the result of arguments and others by insurgent infiltrators....
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"In Afghanistan, trust among allies erodes" March 18, 2012|By Bryan Bender
But the relationship is as strong as eve.... sigh.
CAMP EGGERS, Afghanistan — Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who arrived in the country on Wednesday, just days after an American soldier allegedly killed 16 Afghans in a village in Kandahar Province, insisted that the partnership between the US-led coalition and the Afghan government is too strong to be derailed because of violent acts by individuals on both sides.
“There is no question that we have all been tested by recent events here. But we are also united in our focus to complete the mission,’’ Panetta told reporters in Kabul. In response to the massacre of civilians, Panetta met last week with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, who has been increasingly critical of American tactics and is calling for all foreign troops to pull back from villages to large bases more quickly.
Panetta acknowledged that he worries what effect any further incidents might have.
“We seem to get tested every other day,’’ Panetta said. “We need to ensure that what happened over the last few weeks doesn’t happen again.’’
The Koran burnings set off violent protests across the country that resulted in the deaths of six American troops and a number of Afghans. Among the dead were two US military officers who were killed while working at their desks in the Afghan Interior Ministry in what was apparently an act of revenge for the destruction of the Muslim holy book, as well as at least one other American soldier killed by a member of the Afghan security forces who was trained by US personnel.
Ties were further strained when the American soldier last week allegedly walked out of his remote base in Kandahar Province, entered neighboring villages, and shot and killed 16 civilian Afghans — mostly women and children — in cold blood.
A few days later, as Panetta was set to arrive in the country, a local Afghan working as an interpreter at a British air base in southern Helmand Province hijacked an SUV and drove at high speed toward the troops who were waiting on the tarmac for Panetta, including the top American general in the region. The man, who emerged from the car on fire, was subdued and later died from his burns.
The security breach, which officials said appeared not to be specifically targeted at Panetta, was nonetheless described by his top aides as another example of the threat posed by some Afghans working with the US-led coalition.
As if to underscore the point, as Panetta left, officials announced that in a previously unreported event a US Marine was killed last month by an Afghan soldier, bringing to seven the number of Americans killed in acts of treachery by their Afghan allies in the past six weeks.
Talk about slanting a report!!
If there is any positive result of recent events, say commanders, it is that they have demonstrated how much US-Afghan relations have improved in recent years. They noted that Afghan troops were assigned to the streets to help control protests over the Koran burnings....
Un-flipping-real!
Perhaps the greatest risk, however, comes from the Taliban’s ability to exploit such incidents, said Sergeant Abdul Wali Takhur, 23, another Afghan soldier at the Marine base in Helmand Province. “The burning was a mistake, not on purpose,’’ said Takhur, who was also interviewed with the help of an interpreter. Still, he said for many of his fellow Afghans the excuses do not mean much compared with the Taliban’s propaganda.
I'm REALLY GETTING PISSED at SHIT JOURNALISM!
For many officers on the front lines, there is no more important commodity than a common purpose with the large majority of Afghans....
Major Amy Nesbitt, 34, of Reading, Mass., who is training her Afghan counterparts on how to buy goods and services for their nascent security forces, said accelerating the handover to Afghans is necessary because time is running out to determine whether Afghans can take full ownership of the war against the Taliban - and whether they want to.
“I think the Afghans are playing a really good game of poker,’’ she said.
I'm really getting pissed at insults, too!
--more--"
"NATO: 3 foreign troops killed by Afghan forces; Attacks increase on international fighting partners" by Heidi Vogt | Associated Press, March 27, 2012
KABUL — Afghan security forces killed three foreign service members, including two British soldiers, on Monday — the latest in a growing number of attacks in which Afghan forces have turned their guns on their international partners.
The top commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan said such attacks were to be expected when fighting insurgencies.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFTTT!!!
The two British service members were gunned down by an Afghan soldier in front of the main gate of a joint civilian-military base in southern Afghanistan, according to the US-led coalition.
Another NATO service member, whose nationality was not disclosed, was shot to death at a checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan by a man who was believed to be a member of a village-level fighting force the US is fostering in hopes of countering the Taliban insurgency.
It is TIME TO FRIKKIN' LEAVE!! It was YESTERDAY!
International forces have faced a series of so-called “green on blue’’ attacks in which Afghan security forces have gunned down their international colleagues or mentors. Such strikes have become increasingly common over the past year, particularly since the burning of Korans at a US base in February.
Allegations that a US soldier killed 17 Afghan civilians in a shooting spree earlier this month also has stoked sentiment against foreign forces.
US Marine General John Allen told reporters at the Pentagon Monday that these types of attacks are characteristic of any warfare involving insurgents.
From the ARMY we are TRAINING and PROPPING UP?!!
“We experienced these in Iraq. We experienced them in Vietnam,’’ Allen said. “On any occasion where you’re dealing with an insurgency and where you’re also growing an indigenous force . . . the enemy’s going to do all that they can to disrupt both the counterinsurgency operations’’ and the developing nation’s security forces.
And you guys still didn't learn!
Yeah, I AM PISSED!!
Sixteen NATO service members, including eight Americans, have been killed by Afghan security officials or militants disguised in their uniforms so far this year. That would raise to 80 the estimated number of NATO service members killed by Afghan security forces since 2007, according to an Associated Press tally based on Pentagon figures released in February. More than 75 percent of the attacks have occurred in the past two years....
But the relationship is as strong as eve.... SIGH!
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“Afghan civilians frequently prefer Taliban governance over GIRoA [the Afghan government], usually as a result of government corruption, ethnic bias and lack of connection with local religious and tribal leaders”.
That is a direct quote from a NATO report. This blog has been telling you for six years that the Afghan government rigged its elections, is enormously corrupt, full of warlords and deeply implicated in the heroin trade. That the “Afghan army” is a tribal construct based on the Northern Alliance, and channels weapons to warlords. That no development is really happening. That the government of Afghanistan is comprised of individuals who make money from war and have no interest in peace."
Wouldn't that piss you off?
--MORE--"
Taliban I Told You So
