NewsRealBlog
So, our best and bravest are in a foreign land, an Army of Infidel invaders who are there to root out and kill – whom? This enemy is not wearing a uniform. He lives among the native people. He has lived for his entire life in the country that is right out of the Stone Age, where the social structure is composed of tribes and Islam. The land of floggings, amputations, suppression of women and a landscape that looks like Hell, itself, is where we have sent our young warriors – to do what, again? Oh, yes, find the members of the Taliban and kill them – win the war without killing any innocent civilians in the process. But how can a G.I. tell who is who?
Early this morning the driver of a bus outside Kandahar, Afghanistan ignored flares, flashlights and hand signals used by American troops to get him to slow down and not approach their convoy too closely. According to the L.A. Times’ best information the driver sped up in stead of slowing down. Our troops opened fire, killing four civilians and injuring eighteen (see L.A. Times photo above). NATO authorities have promised a swift investigation, in conjunction with Afghani authorities. Swell. I hope our guys and gals get a fair shake on this one.
The complete report by the Times’ Laura King is here:
“Reporting from Kabul, AfghanistanNot too long ago Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, who has raised all kinds of Hell with our military command staff about civilian casualties in his war, threatened to join the Taliban. He said he resents our presence and interference in Afghanistan’s affairs.
American troops in Afghanistan riddled a passenger bus with bullets outside Kandahar on Monday, killing four civilians and galvanizing anti-Western sentiment just as NATO is gearing up for a massive military offensive in and around the southern city.
Angry protests erupted after the shooting in Zhari district, to the west of Kandahar, which also left 18 people hurt.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said it “deeply regrets the tragic loss of life” in the shootings, and it promised a speedy joint investigation with Afghan authorities…
…The early-morning shooting occurred after a crowded bus traveling on the main highway out of Kandahar came up behind several slow-moving Western military vehicles that were engaged in road clearing, said Zalmai Ayubi, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province…Military officials said troops tried to signal the driver to stop, using flares, flashlights and hand signals.
With the bus gathering speed instead of slowing, the troops opened fire on it, according to the military’s account — realizing only afterward that the vehicle was a passenger bus…”
I don’t know how many rounds were fired and how many of our troops discharged their weapons, but I assure you that they will now be under unimaginable pressure to justify what they did in defense of their lives. How were they to know that the bus was not a huge suicide bomb bearing down on their position? I hope someone is going to check into this bus driver’s background and friends. And I ask again, how in Hell are these magnificent troops supposed to get this job done under these circumstances?
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WIngs of Freedom A tribute to all America's troops ... God bless America!
