U.S. Scrambles to Contain Fury Over Attack in Afghanistan
PANJWAI, Afghanistan — American officials scrambled Monday to understand why a veteran Army staff sergeant, a married father of two only recently deployed here, left his base a day earlier to massacre at least 16 civilians, 9 of them children, in a rural stretch of southern Afghanistan. The devastating, unexplained attack deepened the sense of siege for Western personnel in this country, as denunciations brought a moment of unity to three major Afghan factions: civilians, insurgents and government officials. SOURCE
I am NOT, by nature, given to making excuses, but the reasons this Army Staff Sergeant had in his mind may well be, at least to him, very justifiable. He had been, according to a paragraph further down in this post, deployed to Iraq 3 times prior to this deployment to Afghanistan.
Again, I am NOT making an excuse, but severely stressed combat troops can snap. I mean mentally, they can truly snap. We hear much about PTSD and it being suffered by troops going into combat the 1st time, but we also hear of combat hardened Vets that snap too. The mind can only take so much, and no one knows where that *breaking point* is for any individual.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a REAL illness. Back in the days of WWII, Korea and the Vietnam war it was call battle weariness and combat fatigue. Thankfully the military now addresses PTSD and offers treatment to those that come forward and ask for help and also to those that are recognized as suffering the symptoms of combat stress and fatigue.
But what do our military leaders do when that breaking point has been reached and there are NO outward indications?
WAR, under ANY conditions, is HELL. The wars we are engaged in now are even more-so.
Our troops are pretty much hated at every turn, no matter what they do or how they do it. In nations like Afghanistan, they are hated, simply because they are Americans and because we, as a nation, are perceived as *The Great Satan*.
Our troops fight an enemy that is basically a guerrilla force; they are a rag-tag bunch of fighters that wear no uniforms, have no recognizable force organization and a carry a huge conglomeration of weapons like nothing ever seen.
Our troops are attacked with great force and they attack back, but the enemy is nearly indistinguishable from the indigenous people of Afghanistan. In many cases, the attackers are one in the same, indigenous AND insurgent, and with the rules of engagement our troops are forced to fight under, the attackers can run out of ammunition and merely lay their weapon down as they blend back into the crowd, and OUR troops are obligated to cease fire and let this person(s) walk away.
I have to wonder; in the mind of a stressed out American soldier, after 3 deployments to Iraq and now to Afghanistan, does the *line* begin to blur? Does that troop, due to PTSD or whatever you want to call it, begin to see them ALL as a threat, sees them ALL as the enemy and an immediate threat? Is it possible that this trooper is not a heinous war criminal but possibly an American suffering some serious derangement and delusions?
Our troops see it all; death, disease, destruction and atrocities committed by our enemies, does it not stand to reason that perhaps this young man simply lost it?
Bibles are burned, Christian Churches are torched and Christians are murdered but nobody in Middle East apologizes, and apparently, they don’t give a DAMN about what Christians and Jews think, but if a Quran is burned or an Islamic follower is murdered, all hell breaks loose.
I don’t know about YOU, but I call that hypocrisy of the worst kind.
If Islam is NOT the Religion of Death and Hypocrisy, how then would you explain this? Activists: Civilians killed in Syria reprisals.
Do any of you hear the Muslim world and their cry of STOP THE MADNESS as Muslims are killing Muslims?
EDIT TO ADD: The Army staff sergeant who allegedly went on a rampage and killed 16 Afghans as they slept in their homes had a traumatic brain injury at one point and had problems at home after his last deployment, officials told ABC News. SOURCE
What this soldier did was wrong and criminal. We will punish him and he has to live with the consequences of his crimes.
But the violence towards US Troops who liberated the country from tyranny is the root cause.
It is time we remove our troops from Afghanistan and then start bombing. Every square inch of that God Forsaken land. And if we find anything moving, we bomb again and again.
It is time to tell the world we will kill all of you and let God sort out the Good from the Evil (if there is any Good).
It’s a one way street for us the USA, they can abuse, shoot, behead, drag our dead through the street, hang us from a f*cking bridge, but if we ACCIDENTLY burn a STINKING book, well, the world has ended. We have a SOLDIER who loses it, it’s what we all do and we all are the GREAT SATAN!
Well let them take care of themselves, and withhold money. Quit the Apology Tour. Enough already.
Well said Fred and thanks for saying it. I only wish the military senior brass and their civilian counterparts could or would read what you wrote.
The following paragraph you wrote sheds a whole new light on the whole situation.
I have to wonder; in the mind of a stressed out American soldier, after 3 deployments to Iraq and now to Afghanistan, does the *line* begin to blur? Does that troop, due to PTSD or whatever you want to call it, begin to see them ALL as a threat, sees them ALL as the enemy and an immediate threat? Is it possible that this trooper is not a heinous war criminal but possibly an American suffering some serious derangement and delusions?
I have to wonder how many more troops on their third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh deployment are at this point right now?
I agree; I don’t condone what he did, but I completely understand WHY he did it.
For an insight into this, watch the documentary “RESTREPO.” And then you’ll be able to BEGIN to understand what lying sacks of shit are Afghans and the reprehensible conditions to which our American troops are exposed, that time in the Korengal Valley. Time and again. Deployment after deployment.
Further, I suggest the book WAR by Sebastian Junger, a paperback providing a more detailed view into the situation covered by RESTREPO.
Finally, no one seems to much care about this.
Will there be retribution? Of course. They’re Muslims.
Islam is nothing but a Death Cult for the brain dead.
“Islam is as Islam does.”
BZ
I hate to say it, but it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. They are sending soldiers back for more tours who shouldn’t be going. PTSD will continue to grow as a major issue. Most combat Vets WANT to go back because that is where they feel comfortable. As a retired military vet, it is something that you can’t explain to most people.
I know he will be (and should be) held accountable for his actions. Unfortunately, King Obama and his goonies will bow and snivel and apologize!! I guess he can have Panetta come to the sandbox with a white flag!!!! Enough said for now. Thanks TF for a great post!!!
Here’s what I will WRITE which won’t be made obvious.
Since WWII, this nation has NOT been “allowed” to WIN!
KOREA: not allowed to win.
VIETNAM: not allowed to win
1991: not allowed to win
Afghanistan: not allowed to win
Iraq: not allowed to win
Our current situation:
NOT ALLOWED TO WIN.
BZ
I agree with you, Fred, and BZ. I’ve been in the middle east, I was in Somalia in 1982.
I have a copy of Restrepo I bought after watching it on FiOS. There comes a time when a man under that kind of duress starts sking himself questions about what is the purpose, who actually are the enemy (think back to the VC in Vietnam. They did the same thing), and when do we get to fight to win. I fully support our military, I’m a Vet of the Cold War (Ronald Reagan was the best Commander in Chief to serve under), I’m a better man for having served. I think any one who serves is. That said, I worry for our troops serving under Obama because their SOP is fairly milk-toasty I’d say, and the policies in place with it, I believe, are what causes most of these misshaps in the first place. Practicers of Islam, Muslims in particular, understand and have respect for brute force and barbarism as a way of life, and the way to get things done.
Until the rest of the world, us in particular, roll up our sleeves and deal with middle east problems from that slant, this kind of thing will continue. The troops in the field understand this all too well. The ones who have been there say the same thing.
Quit using our military as game pieces in a board game. This is not Risk,
this is reality, with real people, our people, our future.
Right now, it looks like someone is playing a game of Mouse Trap, using
our troops for the tokens.
I too not knowing what was in this guy’s mind…and not trying to make excuses for him….but do you think he just wanted to give them a better reason for killing his fellow Americans , than just burning a bunch of books filled with lies and hate about being peaceful.
When each soldier, when each sergeant, lieutenant, captain, colonel, general, has to worry about EACH BULLET fired by a line troop and where it ends up.
And when our ROEs change daily and seem to be fitting AGAINST our own troops.
Then it’s time to GET THE HELL OUT of EVERY theatre wherein those ROEs exist.
BZ
Screw it…
Let us hear the lamentations of their women, and their breaths of death. All, or nothing!