September 6, 2014
WASHINGTON: Avoidable miscommunication (click here) between US air and ground forces led to a “friendly fire” incident in Afghanistan that killed five US soldiers and one Afghan in June, according to a military investigation report....
...The June incident happened in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan at the end of an operation led by the Afghan army and supported by Army Special Forces. Their aim was to disrupt insurgents and improve security for local polling stations in the Arghandab district in advance of the June 14 Afghan presidential runoff election....
...Muzzle flashes seen at their position on the ridgeline were mistaken for signs of rifle fire from insurgents, in part because the movement of the six was not properly communicated to those coordinating with the B-1 crew. And when the B-1 crew said their targeting pods had detected no US marking devices at that location it was decided that targets must by insurgents....
Zabul Province in Afghanistan has a history of disruptive Taliban, but, that goes back to 2010. Do missions in Afghanistan NEVER obtain their long term goals?
April 6, 2013
WASHINGTON: Avoidable miscommunication (click here) between US air and ground forces led to a “friendly fire” incident in Afghanistan that killed five US soldiers and one Afghan in June, according to a military investigation report....
...The June incident happened in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan at the end of an operation led by the Afghan army and supported by Army Special Forces. Their aim was to disrupt insurgents and improve security for local polling stations in the Arghandab district in advance of the June 14 Afghan presidential runoff election....
...Muzzle flashes seen at their position on the ridgeline were mistaken for signs of rifle fire from insurgents, in part because the movement of the six was not properly communicated to those coordinating with the B-1 crew. And when the B-1 crew said their targeting pods had detected no US marking devices at that location it was decided that targets must by insurgents....
Zabul Province in Afghanistan has a history of disruptive Taliban, but, that goes back to 2010. Do missions in Afghanistan NEVER obtain their long term goals?
April 6, 2013
Our State Department family (click here) is grieving over the loss of one of our own, an exceptional young Foreign Service officer, killed today in an IED attack in Zabul province, along with service members, a Department of Defense civilian, and Afghan civilians. Four other State Department colleagues suffered injuries, one critically.
Our American officials and their Afghan colleagues were on their way to donate books to students in a school in Qalat, the province’s capital, when they were struck by this despicable attack....
It would appear that 13 years of military operations in "The Wack A Mole Country" of Afghanistan hasn't resolved anything. Case in point. But, American money and munitions continue to pour into the country while dead bodies are returned to the USA.
Testament to the meaningless wars of the USA to attempt to build a nation.
