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American officers killed in Afghan Interior Ministry
Topic Started: Feb 26 2012, 02:42 AM (302 Views)
Jim Miller
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Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
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Do you suppose the Afganis' will apologize?

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American officers killed in Afghan Interior Ministry


KABUL (Reuters) - Two American officers were shot dead at close range inside Afghanistan's Interior Ministry on Saturday, a U.S. official said, as rage gripped the country for a fifth day over the burning of the Muslim holy book at a NATO base.

NATO recalled all staff working at ministries in the Afghan capital Kabul following the attack, with its top commander in Afghanistan calling the killer a "coward".

"For obvious force protection reasons, I have also taken immediate measures to recall all other ISAF personnel working in ministries in and around Kabul," said General John Allen, adding that the attacker's actions "will not go unanswered".

The two American officers, advisers to the ministry, were fired on at close range, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the shootings, which it said were in retaliation for the desecration of copies of the Koran by foreign troops at NATO's Bagram air base. Afghan security sources said the two dead were a U.S. colonel and major with NATO forces.

U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a letter to his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, apologizing for what Washington says was the unintentional burning of the Korans, after Afghan laborers found charred copies while collecting rubbish.

The Koran burnings ignited anti-Western fury. Thousands have taken to the streets and at least 27 people have been killed in the protests. Two American soldiers were shot dead on Thursday by an Afghan national army soldier who joined the rallies.

HIGH SECURITY CLEARANCE

An Afghan security source said the American officers killed on Saturday had been found dead with gunshot wounds deep inside the heavily fortified Interior Ministry.

"There is CCTV there and special locks. The killer would have had to have the highest security (clearance) to get to the room where they were killed," the source told Reuters.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed two of its servicemen had been killed in Kabul but declined to say if the shooter was a member of the Afghan security forces.

If the shootings are linked to Afghan forces, new questions will arise about Taliban infiltration as well as their ability to secure Afghanistan once NATO combat forces withdraw in 2014.

NATO is supposed to be moving away from a combat role to an advise-and-assist mission as early as next year. That will require NATO to place more staff in ministries.

"The fact that NATO is recalling staff from ministries suggests they are worried about a deep malaise in the Afghan security forces, that they expect more of these attacks," said Kamran Bokhari at STRATFOR global intelligence firm.

The Koran burnings have underscored the deep cultural mistrust between Afghans and the foreign troops who invaded a decade ago to oust the Taliban from power.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement four high-ranking Americans had been killed. The Islamist group often exaggerate and inflate claims of casualties.

"A devoted Mujahid hero, Abdul Rahman, killed four high-ranking Americans," he said.

"The attack came from the mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate in revenge for the American soldiers' repeated desecration of our religion, especially the latest intentional incident in the Bagram airfield which they burnt Korans," he added, using another name the group call themselves.

DESECRATION

An Afghan security source said the shooting of the two Americans in the Interior Ministry could be connected to the burning of the Korans.

Muslims consider the Koran to be the literal word of God and treat each copy with deep reverence. Desecration is considered one of the worst forms of blasphemy.

Hundreds of people tried to overrun a compound in the northern Kunduz province housing workers from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, but were held back by police, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.

In April last year protesters angry over the burning of Korans by an obscure pastor in the United States stormed a U.N. compound in northern Balkh province, killing seven people.

The protests could dent plans for a strategic pact that Washington is considering with Kabul which would allow a sharply reduced number of Western troops to stay in the country well beyond their combat exit deadline.

There have been several instances of Afghan troops and forces turning on NATO troops. NATO servicemen and staff live and work primarily at their bases, but also frequent the barricaded Afghan ministries dotted around Kabul on official business.

General Allen said an investigation had been launched. A U.S. official described the pullout of staff from Afghan ministries as a precaution.
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Pat
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Of course not Jim.

Were Ron Paul president, the question would be moot anyway. The soldiers would be manning our borders and dealing with illegal immigration.
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campingken
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Pat,

We would have to change the law as active duty military cannot do police work etc within our borders. This is why the Posse Commitus (sp) law in California reads:

Anyone over 18 years old, and not on active military duty, must assist and render aid to a police officer when so summoned...

However Congress could declare that we are being invaded by Mexico (we are) then use the military to protect the borders.

The truth is that Conservatives want cheap labor and liberals want the Hispanic vote so we will continue to see what we have seen under both Republican and Democratic control lots of talk and little action.

The good news is that based on birth rates in about 30 years Hispanics will be a majority nation wide. Then they can make Spanish our offical language and they will probably close the borders.
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Pat
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Excellent points Ken and I stand corrected. For temporary relief during what we all consider an invasion, we can probably get away with it under current law.

I cringe every time I hear tell of another American serviceman killed over there. For Christ's sake, bring the damn troops home now. Why waste another life.
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campingken
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Since the end of WWII we (both parties) have been sticking our noses where it doesn't belong. i.e. nation building. This is a habit that will be very hard to break. Like most bad habits the addicted spend most of their effort talking about their problem rather than acting on it.
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tomdrobin
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Seems to me we have been going at this the wrong way.

Burning Korans brings them out into the open, then KaaaBooom.

There goes some more potential terrorists into martyrdom.
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Well its their country, it is occupied by foreign troops. To many afghans its the same as the french resistance, German occupiers & a puppet Vichy government. You have to see from their perspective.
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