US soldier kills 16 civilians in afghan rampage

[jah_yout]

mostly women & children...
in cold blood...
seems he went off the deep end...
will be interesting to hear the talking heads & president explain to the people why they still need to be in afghanistan even though their last boogey-man, bin laden is dead;

it will be something like "we need to be there to ensure democracy & world justice, blah blah blah..

and the content sheep will eat it all up

[Cultcha]

Re: US soldier kills 16 civilians in afghan rampage

I have mixed feelings.

Sad that this happened but also happy that the Americans are there so that women have the freedom to achieve their dreams, like acquiring an education.

With that said, I do not believe that the Taliban will ever be "defeated" and the NATO mission can not succeed.

[Nunya]

Re: US soldier kills 16 civilians in afghan rampage

Apparently this guy had just finished two tours in Iraq and was then sent to Afghanistan? It's just so bloody sad all round...

[RichD]

Re: US soldier kills 16 civilians in afghan rampage

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: KF_Milo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Sad that this happened but also happy that the Americans are there so that women have the freedom to achieve their dreams, like acquiring an education.

</div></div>

is that why they went in there?


the issue has become very cloudy

[Cultcha]

Re: US soldier kills 16 civilians in afghan rampage

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: KF_Milo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Sad that this happened but also happy that the Americans are there so that women have the freedom to achieve their dreams, like acquiring an education.

</div></div>

is that why they went in there?


the issue has become very cloudy </div></div>

Rich, I have no illusions that there are no alterior motives for the Americans being there. However, the ability for women to achieve their goals are a spin-off the the NATO mission.

[Blackstar*]

Re: US soldier kills 16 civilians in afghan rampage

BALANDI, AFGHANISTAN—Moving from house to house, a U.S. Army sergeant opened fire Sunday on Afghan villagers as they slept, killing 16 people — mostly women and children — in an attack that reignited fury at the U.S. presence following a wave of deadly protests over Americans burning Qur’ans.

The attack threatened the deepest breach yet in U.S.-Afghan relations, raising questions both in Washington and Kabul about why American troops are still fighting in Afghanistan after 10 years of conflict and the killing of Osama bin Laden.

The slayings, one of the worst atrocities committed by U.S. forces during the Afghan war, came amid deepening public outrage spurred by last month’s Qur’an burnings and an earlier video purportedly showing U.S. Marines urinating on dead Taliban militants.

The Qur’an burnings sparked weeks of violent protests and attacks that left some 30 Afghans dead, despite an apology from President Barack Obama. Six U.S. service members were also killed by their fellow Afghan soldiers, although the tensions had just started to calm down as recently as Friday.

Now, another wave of anti-American hatred could threaten the entire future of the mission, fuelling not only anger among the Afghans whom the coalition is supposed to be defending but also encouraging doubts among U.S. political figures that the long and costly war is worth the sacrifice in lives and treasury.

“This is a fatal hammer blow on the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan. Whatever sliver of trust and credibility we might have had following the burnings of the Qur’an is now gone,” said David Cortright, the director of policy studies at Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and an advocate for a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan.

According to U.S. and Afghan officials, Sunday’s attack began around 3 a.m. in two villages in Panjwaii district, a rural region outside Kandahar that is the cradle of the Taliban and where coalition forces have fought for control for years. The villages are about 500 metres from a U.S. base in a region that was the focus of Obama’s military surge strategy in the south starting in 2009.

Villagers described cowering in fear as gunshots rang out as a soldier roamed from house to house firing on those inside. They said he entered three homes in all and set fire to some of the bodies. Eleven of the dead were from a single family, and nine of the victims were children.

U.S. officials said the shooter, identified as an Army staff sergeant, acted alone, leaving his base in southern Afghanistan and opening fire on sleeping families in two villages. Initial reports indicated he returned to the base after the shooting and turned himself in. He was in custody at a NATO base in Afghanistan.

The suspect, from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., was assigned to support a special operations unit of either Green Berets or Navy SEALs engaged in a village stability operation, said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still ongoing.

Some residents said they believed there were multiple attackers, given the carnage.

“One man can’t kill so many people. There must have been many people involved,” said Bacha Agha of Balandi village. “If the government says this is just one person’s act we will not accept it. . . . After killing those people they also burned the bodies.”

In a statement, Afghan President Hamid Karzai left open the possibility of more than one shooter. He initially spoke of a single U.S. gunman, then referred to “American forces” entering houses. The statement quoted a 15-year-old survivor named Rafiullah, who was shot in the leg, as telling Karzai in a phone call that “soldiers” broke into his house, woke up his family and began shooting them.

“This is an assassination, an intentional killing of innocent civilians and cannot be forgiven,” Karzai said.

Obama phoned the Afghan leader to express his shock and sadness, and offered condolences to the grieving families and to the people of Afghanistan.

In a statement released by the White House, Obama called the attack “tragic and shocking” and not representative of “the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan.” He vowed “to get the facts as quickly as possible and to hold accountable anyone responsible.”

The violence over the Qur’an burnings had already spurred calls in the U.S. for a faster exit strategy from the 10-year-old Afghan war. Obama even said recently that “now is the time for us to transition.” But he also said he had no plan to change the current timetable that has Afghans taking control of security countrywide by the end of 2014.

Source

[Magician]

Re: US soldier kills 16 civilians in afghan rampage

The Soviets couldn't beat them, not sure why Mercan dem tink seh dem can beat dem.

Some places come in like a hornets nest. Yuh jook it wid a stick an after yuh finish jook dem a come out fi 20 years an nuh no end in sight.