Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Pentagon belatedly concedes: U.S. soldier killed by men in Afghan police uniforms

A U.S. soldier, killed in Afghanistan Monday when his unit was attacked by individuals in Afghan police uniforms, has been identified as 20-year-old Fort Bragg paratrooper, Pfc. Jarrod A. Lallier of Spokane, Washington.

However, despite the fact that Afghan officials had already confirmed on Monday that a U.S. soldier had been killed by individuals in Afghan police uniforms, the Defense Dept., in its initial report [Monday], claimed the U.S. soldier had been killed when enemy forces attacked his unit with small-arms fire and grenades. Late Tuesday, the Defense Dept. finally issued another statement conceding that the soldier had been gunned down by individuals in Afghan police uniforms who turned their weapons against his unit.

The AP reported in March that, in a number of instances, when U.S. soldiers had been gunned down by Afghan soldiers, "the Pentagon's casualty announcement" did not mention that the soldiers had been killed by their supposed Afghan allies., but rather that they had died of wounds suffered when their unit came under small arms fire.

In one instance, several months ago, the Defense Dept. announced that a U.S. service member had been killed "while conducting combat operations", and only upon inquiry from the Pentagon - one month later - did the AP learn that the U.S marine had been killed by Afghan soldiers.

The U.S. military is supposed to be working closely with their supposed Afghan allies to train and mentor them in order to facilitate President Obama's plans to transfer Afghanistan's security to the Afghan forces by the middle of 2013. But, if Afghan security personnel are killing U.S. soldiers [and NATO service members] on a regular basis, this goal can not be achieved.

Hence, it appears as if the Leon Panetta-led Defense Dept., in an effort to prop up President Obama and his failed policies, is trying its utmost to conceal the facts.

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