The domestic media and Afghanistan news
Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive writes that the British media isn’t afraid to report that Afghan border police are regularly intercepting heavy weapons shipments from Iran;
Quantities regularly run into the hundreds and the weapons are usually brand new he added.
Mr Obama has been working hard to enlist Iranian support in tackling rampant arms and opium traffic across the border.
Sources said both sides were prepared for a “fresh look” at co-operation after years of hostility caused by Tehran’s nuclear programme, American support for Israel, and Iranian suspicion of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of course, the American media is reluctant to report such news, lest they tip the Obama applecart a hair. So just like in the Clinton days we have to rely on foreign media.
But the Associated Press is willing to encourage the specter of blame on American soldiers for an grenade attack on a crowd which had assembled around a disabled miltary vehicle. The grenade killed two and wounded fifty, according to the account;
Some Afghan witnesses and officials, including Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education, accused a U.S. soldier on Tuesday of throwing the grenade. But U.S. military officials and the Ministry of Interior said fragments from a Russian-made grenade were found at the site, and blamed an insurgent in the crowd for throwing the weapon.
None of the half dozen U.S. soldiers in the video can be seen throwing a grenade. However, the video does not make clear who may have thrown it.
So why even mention the unlikely allegation that Americans tossed the grenade?
Several witnesses and victims wounded in Tuesday’s blast told The Associated Press that they saw a U.S. soldier fire a grenade launching weapon. Others said they saw a soldier reach into his pocket and throw a grenade.
Well, it’s easy to see why AP reported it – reaching in your pocket to pull out a grenade requires the exact same action as firing a weapon, doesn’t it? By the way, all of you military folks who carried grenades in your pockets raise your hands. Yeah, me neither.
Here’s the video, by the way;
Category: Media, Terror War
Back when I was a gay marine captain Battalion Commander, I had all my men carry them in their pockets because it was easier to fake out the kids who were our usual targets. You could say “Hey kid, you want a Snickers bar?” And then just reach into your pocket and hand him a grenade. Which is why I had Grenades made up to look like chocolate bars. KBR made them for me, because they also wanted to kill kids.
Oh sure, I used to carry Russian made grenades in my pocket all the time. That way, I could keep the pins out for “super fast awesome action” when I was ready to throw it at civilians.
Not that I’m often willing to give AP the benefit of the doubt, but playing devil’s advocate the comments about the soldiers seem to be more of an attempt to exonerate the troops than cast blame at them…the facts about the grenade being Russian, that nobody can see any of them throwing one in the video, the contradictory reports from the crowd of the different methods of grenade deployment.
It’d be nice if they closed with a summary of those facts that show the same conclusions we all drew…but that would be forming conclusions in journalism, and wouldn’t that be silly?
Bwahaha. Yes indeed, I had my thumb on that clip, hand in my pocket-EVERY TIME. Worked like a charm, I tell ya…
When I reached into my pocket for a grenade, I said “oh wait, that’s not a grenade!”.
Yep becuase I always carry a spare Grenade in my pocket for when I forget the keys to my room. Someone should que of the family guy “thinking Grenades” skit.
Naw, these were special grenades that you could throw or load into your “grenade launching weapon”. Would that be one of those super elastic water balloon launchers?
Didn’t have grenades on the ship, did carry a couple of spare fuel rods for the reactor though, Made for an extra thrill for those Thai hookers. I even supplied my own mood lighting.
Dawn Patrol 06/10/2009…
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our daily roundup of information on the War on Terror and other topics – from the MilBlogs and various sources around the world. If you’re a blogger, you can join the conversation. If you link to any of these stories, add a…