On Saturday, the latest in a growing series of insider attacks in Afghanistan saw a joint patrol of US green berets and Afghan forces come under attack by an attacker in an Afghan Army uniform. The attacker opened fire with a machine gun.
Casualty figures are still not settled. The Pentagon confirmed two US soldiers killed, and a number of others wounded. One Afghan soldier was also killed, though Afghan officials suggested 5-6 US soldiers and six Afghans were killed.
The attacker, who was also reported killed, has not been identified. Early speculation is that it was a Taliban infiltrator, though the incident took place in Nangarhar Province, which usually means ISIS involvement.
Exactly who it was in this particular case is less important, however, than the general trend, where insider attacks have been soaring in recent months. This just underscores that the situation is far from under control, and the Afghan military is still struggling with infiltration, one of its biggest and most enduring problems throughout the US occupation.
That’s just more bad news for how the US war is going in Afghanistan, and at a time when there are growing doubts about whether the US should continue the war into a third decade, it’s hard to not make the case that this is another unsolvable matter.
Since these attacks occur inside Afghanistan, who’s the insider here?
More “winning”….
If your goal is to enrich the Military Industrial Complex, every tragedy which gets people worked up to retaliate is a big win.
when the war is older than the soldiers fighting it
Only 2 dead? Not even a pin-prick. A Beirut-style 241 dead might get the public’s attention.
(1) Even if it got public’s attention: people are too busy playing the stock market.
(2) People and have becoming desensitized to these deaths much like, there was over 600 thousand death due to cancer but you don’t see anyone protesting for a cure.
I’m sure these “insiders” are getting easier and easier to find the more civilians that are killed. Does anyone want to know the attackers story? You have to wonder, I guess only if you have some semblance of humanity.
Okay, so there are still some patriots left in Afghanistan.