Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Afghanistan, Why Do We Insist on Defeating Ourselves?

Okay, according to America's own counter-insurgency doctrine, Western forces in Afghanistan have long passed the point where, in Afghan eyes, they transformed from liberator/defender to occupier/oppressor.  And, okay, the drone attacks aren't helping nor the burning of the Korans or that video of Marines pissing on Afghan corpses and that US sergeant who went berserk and murdered 16-civilians including a gaggle of kids really, really made it all worse.

But now the Afghans have pictures, 18 of them,  of US troops posing with trophies - body parts of dead Afghan fighters.

In one of the pictures a paratrooper posed next to an unofficial patch placed beside a body that read "Zombie Hunter", while in another soldiers posed with Afghan police holding the severed legs of an insurgent bombers.

Two soldiers in another frame held a dead insurgent's hand with the middle finger raised.

It's bad enough having to withdraw from Afghanistan in defeat.  Was it really necessary for us to have to leave in disgrace?

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