US soldier kills 10 Afghan civilians in Kandahar

[malaise]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17330205
<snip>

A US soldier in Afghanistan has killed 10 civilians and wounded five in Kandahar province after suffering a breakdown, officials say.

He left his military base in the early hours of the morning and opened fire after entering local homes; women and children are said to be among the dead.

Nato said it was investigating the "deeply regrettable incident".

Anti-US sentiment is already high in Afghanistan after US soldiers burnt copies of the Koran last month.
The soldier, who has not been named, is said to have suffered a nervous breakdown.
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Bring the troops home - EfuggingNOUGH!

[Selatius]

1. We're never defeating the Taliban at this rate. nt

[malaise]

2. Was that ever the plan?

[Selatius]

5. I don't know what the plan in Afghanistan is, but those unhappy tribesmen aren't going away.

They live on that land and in those mountains and mountain passes, as they have for thousands of years. They'll be there long after the United States has faded into dust like the Roman Empire or the British Empire.

It could simply be that we're staying in Afghanistan for simple pride. It would be hard for the Pentagon or the White House or the Congress or any major agency of the federal government to admit that they couldn't destroy a bunch of tribesmen calling themselves the Taliban after eleven years of anti-guerrilla warfare, an enemy using primitive assault rifles and RPGs and homemade bombs against a foreign army armed with guided bombs, multi-million dollar tanks, artillery, warplanes, UAVs, satellite surveillance, real-time global communication systems, and more money to spend on war than any other nation on earth.

The only saving grace of Afghanistan is that the Taliban doesn't have ridiculously dense jungle foliage to hide their movements and allow for ambushing of American units like the Viet Cong. Otherwise, the number of dead soldiers coming home could be several times higher than it currently is.

[malaise]

9. You're so right

Excellent post

[xchrom]

3. Wow. Nt

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Good God. In our name...

[Bonobo]

6. We've done the same any number of times with drone strikes.

This just puts a face on the drone.

[malaise]

10. True but at leat the drone folks tell us they were after some militant

These were all civilians including women and children. Heard that 16 are dead.

[jsmirman]

7. Read this late last night

absolutely horrible, both in what was done and in what it suggests is to come.

One of those headlines where you wish you were dreaming, but you know the story is real.

[Zalatix]

8. If you think that's bad, wait'll we start sending the troops to get Joseph Kony

[Junkdrawer]

11. + 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

[otohara]

12. Just Like In America

so many deeply regrettable incidents happen when guns are involved.

[undeterred]

13. I thought the term "nervous breakdown" was out of fashion.

[malaise]

14. The entire story makes no sense

No one man could have attacked all those homes and then burned those bodies.
Something is wrong with this story.

Get the troops out - innocent troops do not need to be victims because there are zealots, drunk or sober, in their midst.

[Tveil]

15. The Taliban doesn't even need a Propaganda program. We are doing the work for them nt