Monday, July 30, 2012

Death By Ally

Tom Engelhardt, the founding editor of TomDispatch and author most recently of Terminator Planet, talks about green-on-blue violence in Afghanistan and how it is in fact an unprecedented facet of the new American Way of War.

3 comments:

LP Eggers said...

This is schocking information that I have not read about any place else. Another SAD reason why we should be getting out of Afghanistan as rapidly as possible. It is heartbreaking to read about the young men being killed by the people we are there to defend!! LP Egggers

Dave Dienstag said...

I don't know where you've been but there are plenty of reports about this. I would guess that there are ever more incidents that go unreported. There is also plenty of historical precedent. As the Russians were wallowing around in Afghanistan, this kind of thing was common. Entire garrisons of Afghan soldiers would kill 2 or 3 Soviet commanders and surrender a Government post to Mujaheddin so often, that Muj commanders began asking them not to do so. There were good reasons for this. First, resistance commanders could not afford to feed, clothe, house or arm that many new recruits. Second, the Communists were arming, training and feeding people who were likely to surrender without firing a shot, and use their military skills in favor of the resistance.

I travelled with one Muj commander, Auseph, who specialized in getting Afghan DRA soldiers and Soviet troops to fire on each other for sustained periods, from one post to another. They crawled around the perimeters with bull horns. They urged members of the garrison to surrender and it was usually successful. It became so problematic that bases were being designed to keep Afghan soldiers under the gaze of Soviet machine guns to keep them in. Same thing for mine fields. They were designed with the dual purpose of keeping attackers out and DRA soldiers in. It's just a new version of an old Afghan game.

Dave Dienstag
jezail.org

Anonymous said...

American Armed Forces and their spin-off Security Forces are no longer welcomed in Afganistan and in fact around he world. The American government has worn out its welcome around the world whether our corrupt leaders like it or not.
It is time to come to the conclusion that we are no longer wanted or needed as the Policeman of the world and this just goes to show it along with China and the Soviet Union voicing their opinion of Americas actions and condemning them.

In a very short amount of time America will have the whole world against us if we stay this course on world domination and control. We Are Not Suppose To Abe The Policeman Of The World nor can the American People Afford This Type Of Posture.

If we are going to waste our resources guarding the Afgan Farmers Poppy Fields the why not guard the poppy fields in Columbia !