A Rock and a Hard Place
In talking to Jonn and others in the secret cabal last week, there was a ton of discussion about this:
KABUL (AP) – A Swedish charity has accused American troops of storming through a hospital in Afghanistan, breaking down doors and tying up staff. The U.S. military says it is investigating.
The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan accuses the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division of entering the hospital without permission in Wardak province, southwest of Kabul.
The charity’s country director, Anders Fange, says the troops kicked in doors and tied up four hospital employees and two family members of patients last week. He says the troops actions are a violation of the sanctity of medical facilities in combat zones.
I kind of knew what was really going on, and so the word from the US side didn’t surprise me:
A U.S. military spokesman and a senior adviser to the Army’s 10th Mountain Division are now pushing back against claims made by a Swedish charity group that its soldiers rampaged through a hospital in Wardak province, Afghanistan while searching for insurgents.
A senior spokesman for Central Command (CENTCOM) Captain Jack Hanzlik said the Army did enter the hospital, but did so in cooperation with the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Police, and the staff of the hospital.
The only reason I am weighing in is that I have been to that hospital, or rather, been outside it. Back in late 2004 I was part of a group that went to meet a woman who was involved with the Hospital. I don’t even remember what we were doing there, it was outside my lane. But, the CO and I and a few others went to talk to this woman. Only we had to go through a local elder to get to her, and when we showed up she was pissed, and waved us on. We would later meet her down the road.
On the night of the Presidential election that year a poll worker in Wardak got hit. I remember him being stable, but we took him part of the way to that hospital, and then, we had to take him out of the humvee and transfer him to the back of a civilian truck and let the ANP take him in. If he’d have shown up in a US vehicle the guy wouldn’t have made it through the night, and we would have put the doctors in danger.
I am always suspicious of NGO’s in general, and the Swedes in particular. They do good things, no doubt. I believe it was also the Swedes who built a school in Srpski Brod when I was in Bosnia. They built this incredible school, they had a big opening, and it was burned and destroyed the next day. But the Swedes also have a tolerance for these savages that drives me nuts. Not as bad as that Norwegian clown Mads Gilbert, but also not angels.
I empathize with the doctors etc there. Imagine you are a doctor there and you let Americans come strolling in one day. You deal with them civally, don’t give up any doctor/patient info and the Americans leave. What solace would that give when the Talis show up the next day looking to wack anyone that dealt with them? It does little good to have a hospital when you know that horrible men will come and kill your patients if they even suspect you are working with the Americans.
There probably have been some Talis who got treatment there that my Battalion helped to ventilate. Damn good chance. And believe me, I hope those sonsabitches got the shittiest treatment imagineable. But I am not sure in this specific case what could have been done differently. Everyone plays a part, and it’s all a big dance. I believe that the American troops did what they had to do. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t understand why the hospital did what they did. I do understand. There’s going to be a shitstorm raging on this no matter what happens.
It seems sometimes that the only thing worse than being a combatant in Afghanistan is being a non-combatant. The reality is that US troops can’t protect the hospital. Wardak is the size of Rhode Island, and they have like a battalion of US troops there. If we protect it, it becomes a target. If we don’t, then I can’t see what they can do other than claim that the US did horrific stuff, and keep their street cred as a non-partial place.
Love for someone to tell me how this could be handled differently, but it just seems lose-lose to me.
Category: Politics
Hate to make the comparison, but this is the same kind of crap that went on in Viet Nam when the locals cooperated witht the US forces there and the Viet Cong found out. The hospitals and NGOs really have to protest even if they don’t mind or bad things will happen because we simply don’t have the manpower in theater to handle that kind of universal, airtight security.
And I remember that hospital and others like it. Just one Province to the North East and the attitudes changed noticably… but Wardak is Wardak and bad things happen there.
I just hope the Swedes have evidence, real evidence, even photos of the US troops in action, while what he sez was going down. Otherwise it’s a case of “he sez, she sez.” The US troops may walk away from it all, but they’ll be dirty from the tar brush, even if nothing sticks. I hate that. To be accused, just to protect this assh**le’s street creds with the TaliBan.
Were any of our troops even IN the area when this supposedly happened? Somehow I’m thinking not. Or just nearby, but not at the hospital. The US troops just happened to be the closest target of opportunity. Like the woman who happens to see a stranger walking by & accuses, “He raped me!” What do you do? There’s no way to get out of this cleanly.
B Woodman, the troops were there, they admitted they were there. They also said the Swedes were so full of it, their Nordic blue eyes turned brown. Two doors were kicked in, because the Swedes didn’t have the keys to the padlocks. They Lt leading the patrol also said they were accompanied by the ANA and ANP, and that they left on good terms with the hospital staff. I heard the interview with a Lt Peck, I think his name was Peck, on Fox News. He seemed somewhat bewildered by the allegations of a bureaucrat who wasn’t on scene.
Fox News has the story, and Lt Peck’s after action report. This is the link to the Lt’s AAR.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,547483,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:r2:c0.083802:b27
Thank you
“I am always suspicious of NGO’s in general, and the Swedes in particular.”
Swedes are the most deliberately stupid advocates of Pee-cee on the planet: Jens Orback, Minister for Democracy, Metropolitan Affairs, Integration and Gender Equality from the Social Democratic Party said during a debate in Swedish radio in 2004 that “We must be open and tolerant towards Islam and Muslims because when we become a minority, they will be so towards us.”
If we get suckered into saving Europe’s bacon from their self inflicted gunshot wound to the balls….
Sign: umsun Hello!!! rcuwwymhyw and 5063ssgfhphzye and 2706Thanks. We look forward to hearing from you again and for your opinions on the world of work.