A troubling perspective on the recent massacre in Afghanistan

It's by Robert Fisk, writing in the Independent newspaper in England. He examines the killing of 16 Afghan civilians by a US Army soldier last week, and states flatly that 'Madness is not the reason for this massacre'. I called his perspective 'troubling' in the headline because, based on what I'm hearing from friends in the sandbox, he may have a point. Here's an excerpt from his op-ed column.

The Afghan narrative has been curiously lobotomised – censored, even – by those who have been trying to explain this appalling massacre in Kandahar. They remembered the Koran burnings – when American troops in Bagram chucked Korans on a bonfire – and the deaths of six Nato soldiers, two of them Americans, which followed. But blow me down if they didn't forget – and this applies to every single report on the latest killings – a remarkable and highly significant statement from the US army's top commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, exactly 22 days ago. Indeed, it was so unusual a statement that I clipped the report of Allen's words from my morning paper and placed it inside my briefcase for future reference.

Allen told his men that "now is not the time for revenge for the deaths of two US soldiers killed in Thursday's riots". They should, he said, "resist whatever urge they might have to strike back" after an Afghan soldier killed the two Americans. "There will be moments like this when you're searching for the meaning of this loss," Allen continued. "There will be moments like this, when your emotions are governed by anger and a desire to strike back. Now is not the time for revenge, now is the time to look deep inside your souls, remember your mission, remember your discipline, remember who you are."

Now this was an extraordinary plea to come from the US commander in Afghanistan. The top general had to tell his supposedly well-disciplined, elite, professional army not to "take vengeance" on the Afghans they are supposed to be helping/protecting/nurturing/training, etc. He had to tell his soldiers not to commit murder. I know that generals would say this kind of thing in Vietnam. But Afghanistan? Has it come to this? I rather fear it has. Because – however much I dislike generals – I've met quite a number of them and, by and large, they have a pretty good idea of what's going on in the ranks. And I suspect that Allen had already been warned by his junior officers that his soldiers had been enraged by the killings that followed the Koran burnings – and might decide to go on a revenge spree. Hence he tried desperately – in a statement that was as shocking as it was revealing – to pre-empt exactly the massacre which took place last Sunday.

Yet it was totally wiped from the memory box by the "experts" when they had to tell us about these killings. No suggestion that General Allen had said these words was allowed into their stories, not a single reference – because, of course, this would have taken our staff sergeant out of the "deranged" bracket and given him a possible motive for his killings.

There's more at the link.

I can appreciate the strain under which US and allied soldiers find themselves in Afghanistan. Put yourself in their shoes, and consider:

• You're stuck with multiple deployments to combat zones, because the US armed forces haven't had enough active-service troops to provide for longer rotations to non-combat posts;
• Your family are kept on tenterhooks, wondering whether you'll come back alive (and if so, whether you'll be whole, or maimed or crippled, like so many returning soldiers);
  
• You've seen your friends killed and injured all around you, often betrayed by the very 'civilians' you're supposed to be protecting;
• You know that politicians back home are trying to cut your and your family's benefits, in order to free up more funds for entitlement programs to support those who don't give a fig for you or the danger you face on their behalf;
• Your own leaders distrust you to such an extent that they order you disarmed before being addressed by a senior Administration official;
• And, in the midst of all these things, you're still being asked to risk death every day in a war that you know, beyond a shadow of doubt, will never be won (because your President has already announced his intention to reduce US forces in Afghanistan).
  

Given such pressures, is it any wonder that such massacres happen? I can only wonder why there haven't been more of them! Under the circumstances, I fear Mr. Fisk may have more of a point than many US observers are willing to concede.

Peter