Q+A of future Civilian casualties in Afghanistan
US troops storm Afghan hospital in the latest effort to win hearts and minds! I hate to say it but a hospital can not be sacred ground it ca not be a safe haven for the Taliban as you know it would be. We must have the ability to check every possibility be it hospital or morgue. At any rate I am sure it will not help our image and will be played to the hilt as we continue to lose the so called war for hearts and minds!
I hate to say it but with destruction of of the cities on the increase and rising civilian deaths seems to be beating us in the war to win hearts and minds too! The more we try to minimize civilian deaths the more the Taliban keep them underfoot and the more we are killing them for the Talban. We are killing them with "kindness"
At this point like it or not we better realize it is time to take the gloves off. Respect for "tradition" is used against us as the"brave" Taliban dress as women to hide and escape or hide in places reserved for women only. yes they hide in hospitals and areas of the hospital that are by tradition for women only. I am sure they figured it all out by themselves but the Palestinians set the standard. They set the example for the rest of the "extremists" to follow.
Hiding behind civilians and in hospitals and schools was the routine and capitalized on by the Palestinians and went on until the citizens tired of the deadly game and took matters into their own hands as the Afghan citizens must. Pakistanis also did it and still are fighting bravely. As the Taliban are these extremists kill their own in the name of God!
Any traditional war zone respect of any sort must not be abused but must temporarily go by the road side. As we hear so often this is not a traditional war if there is any such thing. Our enemy has no rules just kill the infidels "us" and sacrificing their own people in any manner is a goal not something to avoid as their new "code of conduct" states.
We in turn are forced by the Taliban at least to temporarily disregard their traditions when they offer protection for cowardly Taliban. We must however be a respectful as possible but to do the job right we must leave no tradition unchecked. We can not put female soldiers in a situation like this nor do we have the available women to spare so despite it being disrespectful to have men or soldiers in many "female" areas of the hospital it simply has to be acceptable and tolerated. US troops storm Afghan hospital
* In closing let the complaints continue As long as we are there we have a job to do and sadly we are forced to ignore some customs to do the job right. Sadly civilians will continue to die! That is why we must leave ASAP. The Taliban will continue to kill civilians as they were before we invaded under Sharia Law but at least it will not be us.
James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
www.anaveragepatriot.com
11 comments:
I have mixed feelings about Afghanistan, hate being in any war, on the other hand, hate the idea of the Taliban overtaking the country and possibly overtaking Pakistan. It's a difficult position for Prez Obama, one I'm sure he wishes he didn't have.
Hi Karen
Funny but I just finished putting somethig together for tomorrow in regard to what Gates said about arming the middle east against Iran and I dug up a story on it I wrote 2 years ago. We already did that. Anyway attacking Pakistan was only part of it. Yes I feel for Obama and the entire world. Hope you and your garden are well!
Wars are always so messy, especially when the enemy looks like the people you don't want to harm. Conflicts in that part of the world are not winnable, unless you kill everybody, the best that can be done is to contain things.
There are 12-year-old kids in Afghanistan and Iraq, whose only memories are of American troops, bangs in the night, explosions, death, funerals. Pretty soon they will be young men and a whole new generation to bear arms.
You are right Holte! Right now we are fighting those we armed to fight Russia along with their kids. All they know there is war that is what they do for a living. We think we're better than Genghis Khan, come on!
Sadly this is just what was happening in Iraq under the Bush reign of war. This is no different.
It's not "time to take the gloves off. It's time to put on the running shoes and beat feet.
You may believe everything is hunky-dory with the Pakistanis, but I'm preparing a post which points in the opposite direction. I'll try to have it up tomorrow.
You make an excellent point in your closing: "The Taliban will continue to kill civilians as they were before we invaded under Sharia Law but at least it will not be us."
And the Afghan casualty rate will be much lower.
Hate to break your heart, Holte, but afghan kid soldiers are often younger than 12... but they won't nescessarily be on the taliban side...
True, all conflicts should be solved peacefully, but if some people just won't take no for an answer you've gotta show them the limits.
The problem is: we live in a completely insane world, wehere ther're no ethical guides line we all agree on and the individual members of the world's population are usually more or less insane. That's why you get all kinds of conflicts which the majority doesn't want, but a very, very small minority insits on creating because it covers up what they are doing and naturally they benefit from the chaos.
here's something a little more lighthearted, James:
http://livinginscandinavia.blogspot.com/2009/09/feeling-lucky-today.html
Just to see how rediculous our world really is.
Sarah - You didn't break my heart, not even a murmur or palpitation, but I cannot speak of what I don't know. I have not read anything about boy soldiers i.e. 10-years-old or younger in Afghanistan, who take part in firefights and ambushes. Owning a gun does not make you a soldier or even a threat.
Larry I wish to hell we would get the hell out but the fools will not. They are getting us in deeper instead so we have to stop screwing around at least..
Brother I wish we would cut losses and beat feet but they are getting us deeper. This is going to be worse than Vietnam and Saigon. We just do not learn. With the wars and our economy our Waterloo is here thanks to Bush and Obama is not helping! I look forward to your post!
Thanks for the link Sarah I will check it out! Funny you mention 12 year old's because I was watching one this morning doing security for us and Afghanistan on Highway 101 between Kandahar and Kabul!
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