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More Afganistan.

grumpygygrumpygy Member Posts: 48,464 ✭✭✭
edited January 2012 in General Discussion
quote:Military commanders in Afghanistan have stopped making public the number of allied troops killed by Afghan soldiers and police, a measure of the trustworthiness of a force that is to take over security from U.S.-led forces.





The change in policy comes after at least three allied troops have been killed by the Afghan troops they trained in the past month and follows what appears to be the deadliest year of the war for NATO trainers at the hands of their Afghan counterparts.

The International Security Assistance Force in Kabul had responded to previous requests for details on cases where Afghan troops - screened and trained by ISAF and Afghan officials - have turned their weapons on NATO troops.

INTERACTIVE: American casualties in Afghanistan
Navy Lt. Cdr. Brian Badura said ISAF has a new policy to release only limited information about casualties, leaving the responsibility for detail to the troops' home countries. The policy went into effect in the latter half of 2011, he said.

Since 2005, more than 50 troops had been killed and 48 wounded by Afghan troops, according to data released before the policy changed and USA TODAY research. In 2011, Afghan troops killed at least 13 ISAF troops.

Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said information about the killing of U.S. troops by Afghan troops or police is important because it shows whether the U.S. withdrawal plan is realistic. "It's not just a matter of the number of ISAF or U.S. troops getting attacked. The real question is will this force be loyal to the government?" he said. "The constant question has to be, 'Did you rush out to set impossible levels of quantity without addressing the quality of Afghan security forces?' "

President Obama has said he intends to hand off security responsibility to the Afghan government in 2014. NATO forces train Afghans to fill the ranks of the country's military and police forces to keep the Taliban insurgency from regaining power.

There are about 306,000 Afghan soldiers and police, and the force is scheduled to grow to 352,000 by October. The United States has spent $11 billion to train and equip those forces in the past year.

In 2012, Afghan security forces have killed at least one ISAF member. In the latest incident, a man wearing an Afghan army uniform killed a coalition soldier, ISAF said Jan. 8. Two days later, the Pentagon said Pfc. Dustin P. Napier, 20, of London, Ky., had died from small-arms fire on Jan. 8 but released no further details.

More than a third of the attacks stemmed from combat stress as opposed to Taliban infiltration, an ISAF review of incidents found last year. About one-fifth of the attacks were caused by insurgents goading or coercing Afghan troops.

Infiltration of local forces is a common tactic among insurgents anywhere, said Seth Jones, an expert on Afghanistan at the RAND Corp.

"In general, they are part of a broader insurgent effort that involves assassination, intimidation and infiltration," Jones said. "Insurgents have been doing it for decades - actually centuries - in Afghanistan and other wars."



Wondered why some of the death Notices are now listed as Under Investigation.

quote:DOD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Spc. Keith D. Benson, 27, of Brockton, Mass., died Jan. 18, in Paktika province, Afghanistan. The circumstances surrounding his death are currently under investigation. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, Grafenwoehr, Germany.

For more information related to this release, media may contact the U.S. Army

Comments

  • Rack OpsRack Ops Member Posts: 18,596 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
  • TooBigTooBig Member Posts: 28,559 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    When the rag head killed all those troops it Texas the obama administration call it work place violence. More BS from the worst administration in our history in my opinion[V][xx(]
  • wpagewpage Member Posts: 10,201 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The Afghans have failed to be a ally. The Afghans are the worst of cancers...

    Worse then the travesty of Vietnam is our Afghan experience.
    A waste of tax dollars and lives of US precious lives.

    We should be out of Obamas war in Afghanistan!
  • allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,690 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    They say that you can't buy the loyalty of an Afghani, but you can rent it for a while.

    Looks like the rental contract has expired.

    Time to get out of this hell hole, we should have not stayed there over a year. IE should have gotten out nine years ago.
  • Night StalkerNight Stalker Member Posts: 11,967
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by grumpygy
    quote:Military commanders in Afghanistan have stopped making public the number of allied troops killed by Afghan soldiers and police, a measure of the trustworthiness of a force that is to take over security from U.S.-led forces.

    The change in policy comes after at least three allied troops have been killed by the Afghan troops they trained in the past month and follows what appears to be the deadliest year of the war for NATO trainers at the hands of their Afghan counterparts.

    The International Security Assistance Force in Kabul had responded to previous requests for details on cases where Afghan troops - screened and trained by ISAF and Afghan officials - have turned their weapons on NATO troops.

    Navy Lt. Cdr. Brian Badura said ISAF has a new policy to release only limited information about casualties, leaving the responsibility for detail to the troops' home countries. The policy went into effect in the latter half of 2011, he said.

    Since 2005, more than 50 troops had been killed and 48 wounded by Afghan troops, according to data released before the policy changed and USA TODAY research. In 2011, Afghan troops killed at least 13 ISAF troops.

    Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said information about the killing of U.S. troops by Afghan troops or police is important because it shows whether the U.S. withdrawal plan is realistic. "It's not just a matter of the number of ISAF or U.S. troops getting attacked. The real question is will this force be loyal to the government?" he said. "The constant question has to be, 'Did you rush out to set impossible levels of quantity without addressing the quality of Afghan security forces?' "

    President Obama has said he intends to hand off security responsibility to the Afghan government in 2014. NATO forces train Afghans to fill the ranks of the country's military and police forces to keep the Taliban insurgency from regaining power.

    There are about 306,000 Afghan soldiers and police, and the force is scheduled to grow to 352,000 by October. The United States has spent $11 billion to train and equip those forces in the past year.

    In 2012, Afghan security forces have killed at least one ISAF member. In the latest incident, a man wearing an Afghan army uniform killed a coalition soldier, ISAF said Jan. 8. Two days later, the Pentagon said Pfc. Dustin P. Napier, 20, of London, Ky., had died from small-arms fire on Jan. 8 but released no further details.

    More than a third of the attacks stemmed from combat stress as opposed to Taliban infiltration, an ISAF review of incidents found last year. About one-fifth of the attacks were caused by insurgents goading or coercing Afghan troops.

    Infiltration of local forces is a common tactic among insurgents anywhere, said Seth Jones, an expert on Afghanistan at the RAND Corp.

    "In general, they are part of a broader insurgent effort that involves assassination, intimidation and infiltration," Jones said. "Insurgents have been doing it for decades - actually centuries - in Afghanistan and other wars."



    Wondered why some of the death Notices are now listed as Under Investigation.

    quote:DOD Identifies Army Casualty

    The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

    Spc. Keith D. Benson, 27, of Brockton, Mass., died Jan. 18, in Paktika province, Afghanistan. The circumstances surrounding his death are currently under investigation. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade, Grafenwoehr, Germany.

    For more information related to this release, media may contact the U.S. Army Gunny:

    This is not a new phenomenon. It's naturally dangerous when you are working with Foreign Security Forces, and unfortunately this will happen while conducting the SFA mission.

    I do not know how SPC Benson was killed, and certainly cannot rule out that he was killed by someone in the unit he was advising. It would be unusual to have a SPC perform the advisory role, but not unheard of.

    When circumstances surrounding a soldiers death are unknown, ie.. possible suicide, or an unclear event which lead to the death, the initial report is very similar to that report. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

    NS
  • nemesisenforcernemesisenforcer Member Posts: 10,513 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yes, let's abandon Afghanistan to the tender mercies of the Mujahadeen and their terrorist allies who will inevitably seize power once we leave and create a vacuum.

    Because that policy worked out soooooooooo well last time we tried it.
  • woodhogwoodhog Member Posts: 13,115 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    The French have announced they may leave the Afgan Nato compact early due to the loss of troops from this very reason.
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