Yesterday I gave you the number of British troops who have died in Afghanistan, and for months now I have been reporting the latest Canadian deaths. But to give credit where credit is due, I should point out that hundreds of Americans are also laying down their lives -- needlessly -- in the most dangerous country in the Middle East.
Yesterday three US soldiers were killed by an IED somewhere in southern Aghanistan. No other details are available.
Afghanistan also has an army (of sorts) of its own, a pretty motley crew of inadequately trained and armed conscripts, led by the "real soldiers" of NATO. They run the risk of dying at the hands of their own countrymen. Anyone with a uniform is fair game.
Associated Press reports that "NATO" mistakenly killed five* of its Afghan army allies in an airstrike this morning. Since the Americans fly most of the gunships in that theatre, we can pretty much assume that some trigger-happy American was responsible. "Hey Joe! You're supposed to shoot at the rag-heads! The ones with the caps are ours!"
It's not like this hasn't happened before. Walt is reminded of the Tarnak Farm incident in 2002, when four Canadian soldiers were killed. Eight others were injured when U.S. Air National Guard Major Harry Schmidt dropped a laser-guided 500-pound bomb from his F-16 jet fighter on the Princess Pats who were conducting a night firing exercise near Kandahar.
Schmidt was charged with negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, and dereliction of duty. He was found guilty of the latter charge, was fined nearly $5,700 in pay and was reprimanded. Today he lives in obscurity in his home in the USA, known locally as "the Schmidt house".
During testimony Schmidt blamed the incident on his use of "go pills" combined with the "fog of war". The Canadian dead received US medals for "bravery", but no apology.
*According to Agence France Presse the number of dead Afghan soldiers is six. Presumably they too will get medals...but no apology. "Collateral damage" happens!
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