Violence is again on the rise in southern Afghanistan tonight, following a pre-dawn attack on a NATO base which has produced several different stories and a number of other strikes elsewhere.
Exactly what happened in the pre-dawn attack is unclear, with the Taliban claiming over 40 NATO troops killed, NATO claiming no one killed, and other reports putting the toll anywhere in between the two figures.
Today’s spate of attacks follows yesterday’s shooting, by a group of uniformed Afghan police, against NATO troops. In that incident one soldier was killed and several others wounded. The police disappeared after the attack.
Following that, a group of four in Afghan police uniforms were killed in an attack in Kandahar. It isn’t clear if these attackers were related to yesterday’s.
The Department of Defense website reports today June 19, that Army Pfc. James Lallier of Seattle was killed June 18, by individuals in police uniforms in Zharay, Afghanistan.
Why, oh why they hate us? Western governments claim we are hated for our freedom and democracy. Which freedom and what democracy? Freedom to kill and maim people anywhere in the world? Freedom to install new governments at will just by military or and technological dominance? Democracy of installing a new governments by "committee" It is a rape of both words meanings. Occupation can not be a freedom. It is an occupation.
Or the latest trend: judicial coup.
An AP story identified the US soldier as the one killed by three rouge Afghan soldiers.
A suicide bomber has killed 16 after driving a motorbike into a joint NATO and Afghan convoy in Khost according to a BBC report.
Three US service members and 17 Afghans killed by suicide bomber in Khost.
My sympathies to the families of the 17 Afghans killed in the attack.
In other news, President Obama invokes Executive Privilege to avoid revealing the true extent of the Taliban attack earlier today, but he did claim the attack was started during the Bush administration.
Uh, huh. Such is the case when one of the parties is lying.