Thursday, March 29, 2012

Too Damn Little. Too Fucking Late.

via Fox News.
 U.S. troops in Afghanistan now have far-reaching new protections against rogue killers among their Afghan allies, including assigned "guardian angels," fellow troops who will watch over them as they sleep.
Marine Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, ordered the added protections in recent weeks to guard against insider threats, according to a senior military official. They come in the wake of 16 attacks on U.S. and coalition forces by Afghans that now represent nearly one-fifth of all combat deaths this year.
Some of the changes have been subtle, others less so.
In several Afghan ministries, Americans are now allowed to carry weapons. And they have been instructed to rearrange their office desks there to face the door, so they can see who is coming in, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the orders.
Two U.S. military officers working in the Afghan Interior Ministry, one of the most heavily guarded ministry buildings in Kabul, were gunned down at their desks on Feb. 25. While Allen did not detail the new measures in a briefing earlier this week, he acknowledged that changes had been made.
"We have taken steps necessary on our side to protect ourselves with respect to, in fact, sleeping arrangements, internal defenses associated with those small bases in which we operate," Allen said, adding that now someone is "always overwatching our forces."
Wow.

Leadership just doesn't get it.

Troops made this adjustment already.  Interior perimeters are standard and have been for awhile. 

The risk is not when you're sleeping but when you're having to work side by side...when you're on patrol...teaching and leading ....AFGHANS.

It must be great to order your men to do what they're already doing.


3 comments :

  1. Well, if it's good leadership not to give orders that won't be followed, it follows that it must be supreme leadership to give an order that's already being followed.

    Now just wait while I mint the new medal...

    Facepalm, indeed.

    Ferran

    ReplyDelete
  2. hey Ferran.

    reading the news is about to turn me into an alcoholic!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It occurs to me that US has probably been in a war where an enemy force has been unable to inflict 20% of the casualties its suffered.

    Now its ally is managing to do so.

    Shocking, and people still live in a fantasy world where we are 2 years away from leaving behind a viable afghan government.

    ReplyDelete

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