Afghanistan

[xoxoxoBruce]

Definitely sign up for in or out, no menu choices.
Karzai want coalition forces corraled, but don't leave just yet, in case he needs them to save his sorry ass, plus keep the money and shit flowing.
I assume you read Mike Yon, Joe.

[Lamplighter]

Anyway, back to the recent incident. What was the guy's supervising officer up to? His base commander? Medical staff? Even his buddies? Did no one notice any warning signs that he was losing it? IMHO, that is where the responsibility lies.

Agreed... from the moment I heard of the incident.

[xoxoxoBruce]

He'd just been through psychological evaluation and sniper training before this tour.

[ZenGum]

Well, his shooting ability is beyond question... (going straight to hell)

[infinite monkey]

Oh I don't know, it was like fish in a barrel, eh...(following Zen straight to hell)

[ZenGum]

The US soldier accused of shooting dead 16 Afghans had received body and brain injuries while serving in Iraq and was unhappy about going for another tour of duty, a lawyer has said.

John Henry Browne said the 38-year-old soldier, who has not been named, had already completed three tours in Iraq.

He also said the accused had witnessed his friend's leg blown off the day before the killings.

From da Beeb: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17395066

[infinite monkey]

It's a goddam shame.

[sexobon]

It could have been worse: the guy could have burned a Koran.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by regular.joe

Happy, I know I've been a dick and an arrogant ass lately. I am not coming from that space right now. I just really need to let you know that we do indeed volunteer to do everything asked of us when we join the military. Man, speaking as a former Drill Sergeant, it takes all of the nine weeks of Basic Training to get this idea out of the heads of new soldiers.

Originally Posted by ZenGum

Reg Joe, I think you and HM are actually in agreement, witha slight miscommunication.

Right. What I was saying was that people going on multiple tours weren't necessarily volunteering for each tour individually. Once you join, you're volunteering to do whatever they lawfully require.

But in this case, I'm got impression from one discussion on NPR that he had in fact volunteered for the fourth tour after having trouble in civilian life after the first three. But I only caught part of the discussion.

[Lamplighter]

For what it's worth...

KOMO 4 NEWS and the ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 16, 2012

Suspect in Afghan massacre identified as local soldier

His lawyer, John Henry Browne of Seattle, also says that when the 11-year veteran heard
he was being sent to Afghanistan late last year, he did not want to go.
He also said that a day before the rampage, the soldier saw a comrade's leg blown off.

The 38-year-old staff sergeant is married with two small children.
He lost part of one foot because of injuries suffered in Iraq during one of his three tours of duty there.

The soldier was en route Friday to the maximum-security military prison
at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., a senior defense official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of security surrounding the move.
Browne said the sergeant is originally from the Midwest
but now lives near Joint Base Lewis-McChord. His children are 3 and 4.

The sergeant's family says they saw no signs of aggression or anger. "They were totally shocked,"
by accounts of the massacre, Browne said. "He's never said anything antagonistic about Muslims.
He's in general very mild-mannered."
<snip>

[Happy Monkey]

Yeah, I heard that on NPR on the way home...

[ZenGum]

New Zealand have just lost three more soldiers in Afghanistan, bringing their losses to ten.

The bodies of the fallen were received back at their base by a giant haka or ceremonial dance. This video shows it very well, not too intrusively, and with absolutely no inane commentary.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-2...mrades/4225346

Spine chilling.

[footfootfoot]

That is exactly what my country is missing. We beat each other up in parking lots for backing the wrong team instead.

reminded me of this:

[Big Sarge]

The haka was awesome. I wish we had something similar

[regular.joe]

I was thinking, what would it be like here if we brought our soldiers home with such passion. Instead we bury ours under a cultural love affair with apathy, greed, selfishness, embodied in such things as fake reality tv shows and fake politicians.