Posted on 08/19/2012 9:11:51 AM PDT by moonshot925
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is urging Afghanistan to rigorously vet its security force recruits following a spate of attacks that has seen Afghan soldiers and police turn their weapons on NATO troops.
In a telephone call Saturday, Panetta encouraged President Hamid Karzai to work closely with the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan to counter such attacks, Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a written statement.
There have been a record 31 attacks on NATO forces by people wearing Afghan security force uniforms this year, the alliance's mission in Afghanistan says.
The attacks have resulted in the deaths of 39 NATO service members, according to NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
Three ISAF service members were killed Sunday, but not in a so-called green-on-blue attack. They died following an improvised explosive device attack in eastern Afghanistan, ISAF said.
The latest green-on-blue attacks took place Friday. An Afghan police officer opened fire on U.S. troops in Farah province, killing two, the same day that an Afghan soldier wounded two NATO service members and an Afghan security force member in Kandahar province.
Even as NATO has blamed the majority of attacks on personal grievances rather than an infiltration by insurgents, ISAF commanding Gen. John Allen has ordered all troops in the country to carry loaded weapons around the clock.
Panetta urged Karzai to work closely with Allen to strengthen ISAF-Afghan cooperation to counter the threat, "including augmented counterintelligence measures, even more rigorous vetting of Afghan recruits, and stepped up engagement with village elders, who often play a key role by vouching for Afghan security personnel," Little said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
YOU vet the DNC Presidential Candidates.
Then we'll talk.
Cheers!
I contend that no U.S. soldier should ever be put in harm's way in a foreign land without the full legal and political support of his government. That's what a declaration of war is all about. If anyone thinks that makes me unpatriotic, then I'd question their understanding of what patriotism even means.
After Operation Linebacker II in December 1972, the North Vietnamese sued for peace which lead to the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973 and the cease fire.
There was peace in Vietnam but it only lasted until our troops had withdrawn. Then the communists renewed offensive operations and took Saigon.
The fatal mistake we made was pulling out our troops too early.
Simple: Bring them home or unleash the hounds of hell. This PC crap is getting our fine military troops killed. What in hell is in Afghanistan asset wise that keeps us there. The Taliban are there to stay and as long as Islam is both religion and political power and a tribal mindset with no desire to change, IMHO, nothing is going to change. The Islamists have only one goal...to kill all infidels.
Right. Linebacker II.
Bomb the F ghani’s long and hard. Bomb them at day. At night. In the fields. In their hovels.
Then for kicks stage koran burnings or other blasphemies to get them to group up and hit them with the Napalm.
Decimate them.
You are not going to change anyone’s character by vetting them.Instead recruit people who lost the lives of relatives to the insurgents or who’ve been in conflict with the Taliban.
People with personal reasons to fight versus people who make good recruits would be intelligent.Hiring from tribes that have the most to lose if the Taliban win,would also be a good idea but since that is politically incorrect......
Also slightly 10 years after an invasion is kind of late in the game to be planning this.Clarifying what we’re doing here,would be nice otherwise just leave this hellhole to destroy itself.
By Telegraph Reporters
11:30AM BST 20 Aug 2012
The BBC Three documentary series, Our War, will return to British screens from tonight.
The first programme uses footage captured on helmet cameras of front line troops to show scenes of war in astonishing detail.
According to the public broadcaster, the self-shot stories “explore the different ways in which a decade of conflict in Afghanistan has affected young people”.
A BBC spokesman said: “Many of the videos have been shot by young people, from their perspectives, in their own words.
“Whether it’s young soldiers fighting on the front line, the families of serving troops back home, or Afghans living in a war torn country. ...
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