The Enemy from Within: Afghan Forces Turning Against Their U.S. Trainers

Wars spawn their own monsters.

Aside from growing numbers of suicides within the US Army, in the Afghan war, Afghan forces have reportedly been turning against their US benefactors.

Writes the pro-war conservative Heritage Foundation,

American troops in Afghanistan face an increased threat from “insider” attacks in which the Afghan forces they are there to help and train are turning their guns on their American partners, raising serious questions about the viability of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

The attacks, which have killed 40 U.S. and NATO troops so far this year, are also referred to as “green-on-blue attacks,” because the military refers to local forces as “green” and allied forces as “blue.”*

Who are the Afghan security forces? While the Afghan Army leaders are professional and committed to working with their American counterparts, the recruits are mostly rural, illiterate men who can become disgruntled by cultural differences with their American trainers or susceptible to insurgent bribes or intimidation. U.S. military officials attribute only about 10 percent of the insider attacks to Taliban infiltration, despite Taliban claims of responsibility for most of the attacks.

There are about 350,000 Afghan security forces, including the police and army. As of October 1, there will be 68,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. strategy in Afghanistan is centered on being able to train the Afghan forces so they can eventually face down the insurgent threat on their own. If the number of insider attacks does not abate, it will be increasingly difficult to justify a large-scale U.S. troop presence in the nation.

The backlash from US Imperial policies has been intensifying.

As a side note, here is an interesting social media video of US troops in Afghanistan doing a “call me maybe”. (hat tip from cbsnews.com)

Well this is just one of the explosive “call me maybe” videos, you can see more here.

Ironically, the New York Times decries such viral effects of social media as “the music industry itself, has been upended by social media”. This logic has it backwards, the Carly Rae Jepsen “call me maybe” phenomenon became a "viral" hit because of social media. I wouldn’t be listening to her music if not for these amazing videos. [My daughter and her classmates even made one]