Hard Day for ISAF

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/20/world/asia/afghanistan-helicopter-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Just wanted to acknowledge how difficult of a day it has been for the ISAF team in Afghanistan. First, six Marines were killed in a helicopter crash. Then, four French soldiers killed by an Afghan soldier. I can’t believe that ten years into this fight, we’re still taking such a high volume of casualties–particularly from the Afghan soldiers themselves. I worked with Afghan soldiers quite a bit during my tour with them in 2009-2010, and I’ll be the first to admit that they are not the safest of folks to serve with. Lots of competing loyalties and incompetencies plague their units. I count myself lucky for not incurring injuries from them myself.

I did have one incident I recall when a heavy caliber machine gunner from the Afghan unit I was mentoring,had slipped and  turned his turret to an angle that had me directly in his line of fire as he was shooting. But it was his own lieutenant that charged at the soldier, saved my life, and probably his own at the same time. I was impressed with how brave that lieutenant was and thanked him heartily afterwards.

But incompetence is one thing, but an inherent disloyalty is something completely different. Killing 4 French soldiers isn’t something that happens by accident. And I’ll be following reports on the investigation closely. I’m sure we’ll come to the realization that there are still many hurdles to overcome.