Fatal Green on Blue Attack Reported in Jalalabad, Afghanistan (8 APR 15).

Sad news.

I never felt comfortable around any uniformed Afghans, yet I grew to respect many of the businessmen I interacted with. Despite my specialty, I could tell I was always looked down upon by those in uniform; however, when working with civilians, I could usually feel mutual respect and a true desire for a better life, especially when discussing family. Edit to say: One barber shop owner was so excited for my next visit to show me how he was learning how to write, all because I learned a few phrases to better interact. Conversely, I was asked to assess the conditions of an Afghan camp; however, the only way the "Doctor" we were meeting with would listen to a suggestion, despite being as polite as possible, would be to say it first to my male counterpart and have him echo the remarks. Perhaps the cynical view is that the civilian businessmen were motivated by money, but it seemed that the civilian population was far more accepting of western culture and motivated for positive change.

Rest in Peace

I had to work with them, but I always remained suspicions of everyone of them... some would say I was too paranoid, then 1 night in November 2010 in RC North in a place called OP North, our "Allies" that where guarding the ECP that night walked up the hill and killed 10 German Soldiers while they slept... Not all are bad.. But not all are good, do not trust your life gambling that you know the good ones and give up your back and security in a TIC

Back in 2010 when this was rampant in Afghanistan, the Pentagon determined they needed a task force of CI personnel to deploy in an effort to combat this incidents from happening. I was part of that joint task force that had personnel from all services. The first thing we accomplished once in theater was beginning to know the enemy (i.e. whose responsible for conducting these attacks, how are they funded, etc). We then began to tear apart those individuals lives to fully understand the situation. Once we had a baseline of the an individual not only capable but willing to conduct these types of attacks, we went on a full court press throughout the country to brief everyone on the indicators to look out for. Within that year of our deployment these attacks dropped by 70%. It wasn't by just our doing, it was because of everyone being aware of their surroundings and knowing they are in Indian country.

My opinion is for everyone to watch their six in order to come home alive. I truly HATE to see these incidents starting to happen again!! Stay safe out there and say a prayer for this slain Soldiers family tonight.

That rhyme of history again.

USA Today (on RallyPoint!) posted this about another Green on Blue attack from 2 months ago.

https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/taliban-claim-responsibility-for-kabul-attack

I was in Afghanistan when these green on blue attacks were nearing an all time high. Unfortunately, its hard to really hard against this. They are a tribal people, most illiterate and stuck with very reactionary sort of leadership. Any little perceived slight to an Afghan's honor is enough to set them off. Not to mention how quickly they change hats. The Taliban has this enduring admiration among a large portion of their population.

When I was there 11-12, my squad leader told me to work with them, teach them, rely on them, but have a plan to kill every single one if something goes down. At the time private kitchen thought it was over the top, that this was a soldier who spent too much time at war giving me paranoid advice. I couldn't see how these fellow soldiers; so eager to learn, so willing to fight for their homes could be that much of a threat to those that sacrificed much to help and support them. I did as he said though. I trusted them as much as I could allow but always presented a hard target. We never let our guard down. Quiet aggressive. Then September hit and we rotated back to our fob and another platoon took our spot in the At Ghar river valley ( with holding the actual COP name). Two weeks later I get spun up to react on qrf to a TIC involving 4 American KIA and two critical WIA. When we get out there we found out that the same ANP we fought so hard to defend turned their weapons on my brothers. It was one of the worst feelings a soldier could have. Hatred towards those people, and a want for revenge. It dawned on me that the only thing that kept me and my platoon alive was those stupid paranoid words and our outward projection of strength. Should this happen, no. But all is fair in love and war. It's the nature of the beast, but would I go back over and fight beside them? Yes. Four out of the 450 I worked with is right in line with the law of averages. This is what we do. This is why we volunteered for the service. I will fear no man, I will live in fear of nothing. Just don't get complacent, you may have to kill everyone around you one day....