H/T to Black Five for pointing us to the truth.
This is the post that I’ve been dreading, but I knew it would come. For the first time since WW-II, Ohio’s 37th (then a division, now a Brigade Combat Team that includes many soldiers from Michigan) has lost lives in combat. The day before yesterday, out in Maimana, an insurgent wearing a suicide vest approached a group of Afghan Police and their mentors and detonated his vest. The indiscriminate violence of that act took many lives. Among the dead were two Americans; SFC Hannon and SFC Rieck. A third, CPT Rozanski, died of his wounds within hours. Five other soldiers were wounded, most of them severely. Two are still fighting for their lives.
All three of our honored dead leave families behind. Children, wives, parents and siblings. Each of our wounded has a life. All have a story. Every single one of them was born into loving arms and was, in that moment, the most loved being in the world. Each was born into hopes and dreams, and none of those hopes and dreams involved being blown up by a madman with explosives strapped to his body. Each one is or was a volunteer; they raised their hands. Some had to compete to get on this particular mission. Each took those hopes and dreams and the love of many hearts with him every day he left the wire. These men did not willingly give their lives, but willingly risked them. They placed their health and their lives as a wager on the altar of freedom not as lambs to slaughter but as the sheepdogs who defend the lambs from the wolves. Theirs was no unwitting nor willing sacrifice. Not given, but offered with a challenge; come and take this if you can.
The insurgent commander who sent the madman to do this deed did not strap himself with explosives but sent instead a minion who was not likely in possession of a strong mind. Instead of standing in open combat, he stole those wagered lives in a way that protected himself at the expense of another… or so he thinks. We will kill him for it, for this will not stand without repayment. Like a pit bull who has finally bitten someone, there is no reconciliation. For him there is no more opportunity to lay down his arms and rejoin the society he seeks to seize control of. No. He has earned his fate. He will not likely die in open combat, but terrified by a sudden rush of sound and fury in the night. There is no saving him.
As the old Irish curse says, “May he die screaming.”
The news stories about the event are disturbing. Some stories reported that they were acting like a bunch of battlefield tourists, strolling in the park and taking pictures. Some depicted the soldiers as having opened fire indiscriminately in the aftermath of the attack, killing children in the process. One such story appeared in Stars and Stripes, of all places, who apparently cut and pasted their story directly from al Jazeera. None of them are true. Not one American fired a shot following the blast. They were performing a mission, not wandering around like a bunch of carefree war tourists.
Newspapers in the US and the UK published photos of the grim aftermath, violating the dignity of the dead and dying. For that, I am eternally angry. The editors of any publication that did so had best never meet me and be identified as being responsible for the publication of such war porn. It would not go well for them. Just because they could didn’t mean that they should.
read the rest here on Afghan Blue III
Replies
This is how they strike us...in the BACK! (Excellent written journalism! TB)
Oh God!!! My prayers are filled with sadness. I can't say much, I'm worrying about our men and women. I'm worrying about my nephew. God Be With Them All!!!
Twana; This article will be printed and taken to 2 churches, Christianity will prevail. Now I'm wiping the tears away.Ron
We continue to fight the enemy on their terms. If our troops cannot fight to win, which means destroying enemy cities and anyone who even appears to be the enemy, then we need to get the hell out; NOW. If the enemy wants to fight each other on their turf, so be it. We cannot continue to let our troops be murdered with their hands tied behind obama's back.
We are wasting lives and billions for nothing.
Dave
You are so right. This is so horrific and none of this so called administration has a clue. Panetta spends tons of money flying back and forth but will not order the troops to either win or get out NOW. On judgement day they will be held accountable.
Thanks little sister. Shareing the truth.
We must fight the enemies we have here at home to provide our troops the best protection against this sort of mayhem: by doing away with utterly ridiculous rules of engagement made by bought field commanders and in concert with uncaring politicians. There is NOTHING civilized about warfare and to try to make it so is futile and causes more casualties than are necessary for us while providing the advantage to our enemies who generally conduct themselves as the savages they are. That meansd utilizing the VOTE to implement the necessary changes. Let us hope we are capable of dioing so and as soon as is practicably possible.That also includes our own media who report falsely for someone else's political expediencies at the expense of our troops; IN BLOOD. If we cannot do so, our troops must come home and help US make the needed corrections.
We changed from the "battlefield" to the new type "Urban Warfare" where our troops were supposed to insert in and only take "enemy combatants" because it was supposed to keep us from being hated by the citizens around the enemy, and would save more lives. Has anyone bothered to compare the number of civilian casualties where the enemy is free to intermix with them and plant IED's or wear suicide vests, or use car bombs, as compared to a war where we had true battlefield's and anyone on or near them is assumed to be the enemy? It looks IMHO as though we're losing more civilians and being hated more the longer these insane warfare tactics go on. Someone should be held accountable for not allowing our troops to win wars!
The politicians and civilians continue to think that you can wage war like we were from social services. After WWII all the rules of a "Gentelmans" war were thrown out and the only rule in effect for our enemies since Korea has been "Whatever it takes to win". We will never understand this and so will continue to suffer needless casualties. As a combat vet I send a reverent "hand salute" to the fallen and their families.