Five Australian soldiers have been killed by Afghan trainees in two separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday, in the latest of such “insider attacks” leaving a bad taste in the mouth of US officials seeking to finish out a lost war for another two years.
The number of such incidents, termed “green-on-blue” attacks have been increasing steadily as of late, with 35 of them so far this year, ending with 47 NATO members killed, mostly Americans.
The fact that all those killed in the last two incidents were Australian strains an already tense US relationship with Australia over the war in Afghanistan. In April, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced an early withdrawal to be completed a year before the Obama administration’s so-called withdrawal date at the end of 2014.
Gillard said the loss of the five military personnel the single worst day for her country in war since the Vietnam conflict.
The failure of the US mission in Afghanistan – to build up and train a centralized state and security apparatus – is illustrated clearly in the constant killing of US soldiers by their Afghan counterparts. Much of the security force has been infiltrated by the Taliban or Pakistani agents.
Earlier this month it was reported that the Taliban’s supreme leader Mullah Omar issued a statement bragging about extensive insurgent infiltration in America’s trained security personnel in Afghanistan.
“They are able to (safely) enter bases, offices and intelligence centers of the enemy,” he said. “Then, they easily carry out decisive and coordinated attacks, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy.”
As a former US official told Dexter Filkins of the New Yorker, “several hundred soldiers in the Afghan Army are thought to be agents for the Taliban or for Pakistan.” He said that many insurgents who have infiltrated the Afghan forces and killed US troops “had been planted in the Army by the Taliban or by Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan’s main intelligence branch.”
The US mission in Afghanistan has failed miserably. President Obama’s supposed justification for building up Afghan security forces is so they serve as a bulwark against a return to Taliban rule. But the Taliban have seeped deep into those forces the US is spending billions of dollars on training, and the insurgency is as strong as ever.
The deaths are 'aussie' SAS troops killed by Afgan soldier. I honestly do not know 'wtf' we are doing there in the first place!
These three deaths will bring the total U.S. dead in Afghanistan to over 40 for August, 2012.
When is someone going to accuse the U.S. of being a failed warmonger? Look at Iraq, look at Afghanistan, what do you see? Failure, complete utter failure!
The U.S., with its gigantic army, can't even beat a few lightly armed freedom fighters. David beats Goliath at every turn.
There's a message there somewhere. I wish the Yanks would heed it!
Five 'Aussies' dead today in Afganistan…..stop this ridiculous invasion now!
The USA has been and will always be a warmonger. War is just too exciting. Remember Vietnam, Laos, Panama, the Caribbic, Iraq, Afghanistan and soon Iran !
What do dumb americans expect from the people they already destroyed in terms of life, liberty and country. This is only so little payback. Then what is wrong with exterminating terrorists and future psychopaths. This is good news for the world indeed.
America declared 'victory' in Afghanistan long ago when Taliban were defeated in Kabul. So for those Americans who keep dying over there are nothing but stupid and ignorant.
I'm sure you would be willing to admit that the troops doing the dying are there because someone in a comfy chair in the Pentagon or Congress – far from the senseless stupidity – has ordered they be there doing whatever it is they do. If you had been a member of the Provos during the "Bad Times" and the local Commander had ordered a bunch of the lads to take on a squad of Brits up the road, your choices would be to follow orders or take your chances as a turncoat.
It's the pols who are stupid and ignorant…and have an agenda of which they have not informed the rest of us.
I think you will find that the troops are Australian not NATO. We lost 5 today, 3 (2 wounded) in a green on blue attack and twoSAS in a helicopter crash. Way past time to get out of a 'war' we should never have been involved in.
Have we lost the war yet ? Or do we have to wait another 10 years… and let 'history' tell us that we lost ?
Maybe they are not "taliban" and the mythical, non existent Al Queda. Maybe they just don't like Americans. Americans are the worst people on the planet, and I say that as an American.
Americans are the dumbest people on Earth. No one else could be this stupid…to get involved in these meaningless wars that BENEFIT NO ONE. It would be better if the Americans were trying to steal the wealth from Afghanistan ….but they simply don't know what they are doing and are utterly enraptured with paranoia which casuses them to treat people badly and then they get attacked and then they confirm their paranoia through the stupidity of their acts.
AMerica….Go Home
As the US in losing the war and has also announced when we are leaving, I don't understand why ANY Afghan would enlist to help us. I think we know the fate of any Afghan who fights with the US/NATO after we leave. They (and probably their families) will be wiped out. I also don't understand why ANY other country still has troops there fighting along side the US (other than the probability that they are afraid of us).