Another Boneheaded Play....

[Gob]

Nato has withdrawn all its personnel from Afghan ministries after two senior US officers were shot dead in the interior ministry building in Kabul.

Nato said an "individual" had turned his gun on the officers, believed to be a colonel and major, and had not yet been identified or caught.

Nato commander Gen John Allen condemned the attack as "cowardly".

The shootings come amid five days of deadly protests over the burning of copies of the Koran by US soldiers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17165410

[Econoline]

I say we should give the Taliban an equivalent number of Bibles, an equivalent number of American flags, and a couple of books of matches, and call it even.

I cannot comprehend a religion that places an equal value on printed pages in a book, on one hand, and human lives, on the other.

[Rick]

Wow, I actually agree with that...

[Scooter]

Um, except that Muslims also consider the Bible to be a sacred text...

[Crackpot]

Only very select parts of it

[Scooter]

However one interprets the canon of Islamic holy texts, every Bible would contain those "very select parts" and would thus make improperly disposing of one a no-no.

[Crackpot]

maybe the solution would be a hole punch?

[Rick]

Evidently burning ain't the right way...

[Lord Jim]

And now there's this:

U.S. soldier held in Afghanistan killings
9 children, 3 women among victims in early-morning shooting spree

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — A U.S. Army soldier who allegedly left his base in southern Afghanistan early Sunday and killed 16 civilians is being detained, according to news reports. Nine women and three children were reported among the victims.

It is believed that the soldier acted alone in a shooting spree, according to media reports.

A 15-year-old boy who was wounded said the American soldier entered his house in the middle of the night and shot members of his family, according to the AP report.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the deaths “intentional murders,” demanding explanation from the U.St., according to a report from Reuters.

Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, committed to a “rapid and thorough investigation.”

“In the meantime, we will continue to offer medical care for those who were injured in this shooting. We will maintain custody of the U.S. service member alleged to have perpetrated this attack. And we will cooperate fully with local Afghan authorities as we ascertain all the facts,” Allen said in a news release. “I am absolutely dedicated to making sure that anyone who is found to have committed wrongdoing is held fully accountable.”

The development will likely worsen an already tense relationship between the countries. The recent burning of Muslim holy books at a U.S. base sparked violence in Afghanistan.

Any “sliver of trust and credibility” following the Koran burnings is now gone, the AP quoted David Cortright, director of policy studies at Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, as saying.

“This may have been the act of a lone, deranged soldier. But the people of Afghanistan will see it for what it was, a wanton massacre of innocent civilians,” Cortright said, according to the AP.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-sol ... _news_stmp

If this is what it appears to be; a case of a soldier going off base to conduct a mass killing, he should be court martialed and face a firing squad.

[Grim Reaper]

I'm slightly interested in learning how he was able to get off base with apparently no one noticing.

And I read in another report that he was drunk too, his chain of command is very likely going to get a lot of heat from this as well.

[dales]

agent provoceteur?

[rubato]

Alcohol and firearms, how could that possibly go wrong?


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

Hague sued over US drone strikes in Pakistan

Human rights lawyers are to sue Foreign Secretary William Hague over the alleged use of intelligence in assisting US drone attacks in Pakistan.

The case is being raised at the High Court in London on behalf of Noor Khan, whose father was killed in a US strike.

Lawyers from Leigh Day and Co say civilian intelligence officers who give information to the US may be liable as "secondary parties to murder".

The Foreign Office said it did not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

The lawyers, which include some from the international charity Reprieve, want to establish what official UK policy or guidance is with regard to assisting the US in such cases.

Leigh Day and Co says Mr Khan's father Malik Daud was part of a council of elders holding a meeting in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan, when a drone missile hit the group.

The firm said it had "credible, unchallenged" evidence Mr Hague oversaw a policy of passing British intelligence to US forces planning attacks against militants.

It will also point out that Pakistan is not involved in an international conflict.

Malik Daud is believed to be among 40 killed in the strike in North Waziristan, but the figures cannot be independently verified as reporters are prevented by the authorities from travelling to the region.

The area is known as a sanctuary in Pakistan for the Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Attacks by pilotless US aircraft have become a key weapon in the US's fight against terrorism in Pakistan.

But many Pakistanis see them as a breach of their sovereignty and the cause of frequent civilian deaths

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17335368

[Lord Jim]

The firm said it had "credible, unchallenged" evidence Mr Hague oversaw a policy of passing British intelligence to US forces planning attacks against militants.

Yeah, right, just as it should be...so what?

[Gob]

So may I refer you to the title of this thread?

[Lord Jim]

I hope nobody spills the beans to the sharpies at Leigh Day and Co that the US and British military and intelligence services have been sharing information on a regular basis for decades....

This shocking revelation might cause them to keel over in a swoon....

[Lord Jim]

So may I refer you to the title of this thread?

I assume that when you are connecting that article to "boneheaded play" you are referring to the boneheaded publicity seeking lawyers who actually believe that they have some legal standing to sue a government minister for following a long standing well known government policy? Folks so addle brained that they recoil in shock at the news that two historically close allies, engaged in a joint military mission, are actually providing each other intelligence information to assist in prosecuting that mission ?

Yes, boneheads indeed....

[Gob]

By jove, I think he got it!

[dales]

What's next for you two, a mediation sub-forum?

[loCAtek]

Ha! Nope, that's mine- neeners!