Friday, September 15, 2006

Taliban Funeral



I'm sure most of you have already seen this picture of almost 200 Taliban soldiers attending a funeral for one of their own. I've tried to count how many soldiers are there but it's almost impossible. I've seen reports from 120-200. I counted well over 50 on the first row alone.

This picture was taken from a predator drone armed with hellfire missiles. We could have killed these Taliban soldiers but didn't because it was at a cemetery. You can be sure that if the opportunity was reversed, there would be dead American soldiers. Even worse, by not killing them, this missed opportunity will most likely cost the lives of American soldiers...if it hasn't already.

Are we fighting a war or aren't we?

While not giving a reason for the decision, the military concluded the statement saying that while Taliban forces have killed innocent civilians during a funeral, coalition forces "hold themselves to a higher moral and ethical standard than their enemies."

If we are going to fight by these "higher and ethical standards" we will never finish the job. This was a tightly compact group of soldiers. An easy target. The only "innocent" civilians were already dead and buried. If we didn't want to kill them at the cemetery, why didn't we take advantage of the situation after the burial when they were leaving?

Afghan governor's funeral bombed; 6 dead

Why do we give more respect to cemeteries and mosques then our enemy does? Last week an Afghan governor was killed by terrorists. At his funeral, a homicide bomber detonated a large device killing 6 and injuring dozens.

AP:TANI, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber struck Monday at a funeral for a provincial governor assassinated by the Taliban a day earlier, and four senior members of the government at the service escaped unhurt, officials and witnesses said. At least six people were killed and dozens were wounded.

The blast went off near a tent where more than 1,000 people had congregated in Tani district of Khost province in eastern
Afghanistan at the funeral for Gov. Abdul Hakim Taniwal. He was killed Sunday along with two other people in a suicide attack outside his office in Gardez, the capital of neighboring Paktia province.

Back to the Taliban funeral:

NBC News had quoted one Army officer who was involved with the spy mission as saying "we were so excited" that the group had been spotted and was in the sights of a U.S. drone. But the network quoted the officer, who was not identified, as saying that frustration soon set in after the officers realized they couldn't bomb the funeral under the military's rules of engagement.

13 Comments:

At 7:51 AM, Blogger WomanHonorThyself said...

. Even worse, by not killing them, this missed opportunity will most likely cost the lives of American soldiers...if it hasn't already.
..very accurate AC..and some of our allegedly "high moral standards" will be paid for in American blood.

 
At 9:29 AM, Blogger Obob said...

I cannot share enough frustration

 
At 1:45 PM, Blogger American Crusader said...

How can you not be frustrated...this is a recipe for defeatism?
Why are we expected to show more restraint on Muslim "holy sites" than they put on themselves.
Remember the Church Of The Nativity?
They used the altar for urination and for the most part, the entire church has an outhouse. Where was the MSM? Why no up roar from Western journalism?
In my opinion, it's totally f'ing ridiculous.

 
At 3:29 PM, Blogger nanc said...

nothin' a little daisy cuttin' action couldn't have handled...G-d forgive me...

 
At 3:52 PM, Blogger elmers brother said...

the drone from what I understand was unarmed and getting ordnance on the target more difficult then not...just what I heard.

 
At 5:09 PM, Blogger American Crusader said...

EB..the pentagon confirmed the drone was armed.
If you read the last paragraph in the post, you can see how excited they originaly were.
"U.S. Army officers wanted to attack the ceremony with missiles carried by an unmanned Predator drone but were prevented under rules of battlefield engagement that bar attacks on cemeteries."
I have also read (Debbie Schlussel) that it was unarmed.
I BELIEVE it was armed but...

 
At 5:10 PM, Blogger American Crusader said...

nanc...good to see you!

 
At 7:54 PM, Blogger nanc said...

good to see you - the question may not be why we didn't do anything, but rather, why is the wapost the first to break this?

great article at autonomist with many questions unanswered.

 
At 6:32 AM, Blogger Brooke said...

I think this is just the latest symptom of a larger problem, which started here stateside.

For some time now, we have been giving criminals such as rapists, murderers, ect., more consideration and quarter than the victims of their crimes. In states that still have the death penalty, it often takes 25-35 years to execute a convicted criminal.

If we don't have the stones to deal with our internal enemies as we should, why is it any surprise that we lack the conviction to deal with our enemies abroad as we should?

This nation has been reduced to a bunch of simpering cowards, too afraid to offend someone, too needing to be liked by everyone, that we cannot do what we must.

Where are our men? *sigh* Where are the higher ups who will fight?

It's high time we did a major overhaul on how we deal with our enemies!

 
At 12:25 PM, Blogger beakerkin said...

AC

You are going to annoy your friend with the I stand with Israel logo. I am looking for the book that demolishes all the crank theories.
A nut is a nut is a nut.

 
At 2:46 PM, Blogger Dan Zaremba said...

Why weren't the officers in charge Court-Martialed?

 
At 5:52 PM, Blogger American Crusader said...

MissingLink said...

Why weren't the officers in charge Court-Martialed?

I'm sure it was for political reasons. That's not a justification...it's just an observation.

 
At 5:54 PM, Blogger American Crusader said...

You're right nanc...many questions unanswered.

 

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