Afghans Say Pakistan Fired First in NATO Attack

[Robb]

Source: WSJ

(snip)

Two Afghan officials working in the border area where the attack took place said Sunday that the joint force was targeting Taliban forces in the area when it received fire from a Pakistan military outpost. That prompted the coalition force to call for an air attack on the Pakistani posts, said an Afghan Border Police official in the area. Pakistani officials were informed of the operation before it took place, he said.

"There was firing coming from the position against Afghan army soldiers who requested support and this is what happened," said a third Afghan official in Kabul, where Gen. Allen met with top government leaders for a special security meeting to discuss the incident. The Afghan official in Kabul said the government believes that the fire came from the Pakistan base—and not from insurgents operating nearby.

That view was bolstered by one Western official who discussed the attack with military officials in Kabul on Sunday.

"They were fired on from a Pakistani army base," the Western official in Kabul said. "It was a defensive action."

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204630904577061270317324992.html

[bemildred]

1. Can this marriage be saved? nt

[Robb]

2. LOL nt

[DCBob]

3. interesting but its still a horrific mistake.

in military/political terms the response from NATO was not proportional.

[indepat]

4. One is not likely to amass phenomenal kill ratios through proportional

responses. :patriot:

[bemildred]

5. Somebody needs to ask WTF they were doing there in the first place.

There are not merely tactical issues here, why were the various participants in this debacle, supposedly "allies", in shooting distance of each other and yet (apparently) unaware of each others proximity and location? Is this another case of "we can't trust our allies with the facts"?

[Robb]

11. Don't forget, those Afghans didn't have the last word on air strikes.

They can call all they want, but somewhere up NATO's command chain those strikes got approved at least twice, by people with good information and good maps.

I'm having trouble with the notion that there was a mistake made here.

[bemildred]

12. I hear ya. You don't know what's worse, being an accident or not being an accident. nt

[GeorgeGist]

6. ...

[MarinCoUSA]

7. Teliban faction of Paki army just waiting to fire on any NATO helos. And it happens.

I am Shocked .... Shocked I tell you.
Our military position there is so untenable?
And why is W still not in prison?

[lsewpershad]

8. Typical answer

from the American war machine ...they fired first. Get the hell out the peoples' country.

[mazzarro]

9. For An Afghan Border Police official

He sure knows a hell of alot of what was going on in high places to know who did what at that time.

[kiranon]

10. Been in Afghanistan too long; time to leave. Pakistan is on a downward

spiral and the U.S. is just making it worse no matter who fired first. Cannot see how the U.S. will get public opinion in Pakistan on its side for the foreseeable future. The U.S. is better liked from a distance. Up close and personal has proven to be too deadly in the last decade or so.

[krucial]

14. Afghanistan

US needs to leave All arab and Muslim land alone and focus on our own country.
we would not have this serious deficit problem.Maintaining wars troops and occupation and hundreds of bases all over the globe cost us $$$$$$ billions a day,no other country has to do that so they can spend their money on their people,infrastructure,High speed rail,and building and improving their country,while we invest in wars,high tech killing machine,and in making sure the military industrial complex and defense contrators stay in perpetual business,rolling in the dough War is good to those who invest and hold stocks in it Ka Ching $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[krucial]

13. Pakistan

Too bad we don't have wiki leaks to give us the truth.Always in the initial report of such incident US version is always the correct,the truth and right version until the real facts and truth come out much later on

[bemildred]

15. APNewsBreak: Fatal NATO raid in Pakistan likely a case of mistaken ID by US, Afghan forces

---

The Associated Press has learned details of the raid, which began when a joint U.S.-Afghan special operations team was attacked by militants just inside Afghanistan. It ended when NATO gunships and attack helicopters fired on two encampments they thought were used by militants but were actually Pakistani border posts, the military account said.

U.S. officials say the account suggests that the Taliban may have deliberately tried to provoke a cross-border firefight that would set back fragile partnerships between the U.S. and NATO forces and Pakistani soldiers at the ill-defined border.

---

According to the U.S. military records described to the AP, the joint U.S. and Afghan patrol requested backup after being hit by mortar and small arms fire by Taliban militants in the early hours Saturday.

---

Before responding, the joint U.S.-Afghan patrol first checked with the Pakistani army, which reported it had no troops in the area, the military account said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/national-security/apnewsbreak-fatal-nato-raid-in-pakistan-likely-a-case-of-mistaken-id-by-us-afghan-forces/2011/11/28/gIQAhdsg6N_story.html

[Robb]

16. Nice.

Well, even if that's not how it went down, I think this is the best story for all sides to run with. I expect they will.