Today’s tragic, cowardly “green on blue” shooting near Kabul, Afghanistan which killed a U.S. two-star general and wounded 15 other NATO troops, including a German brigadier general is a stark reminder of the brutality of war.
On behalf of the Wooten For Congress campaign team, I send our heartfelt prayers for the killed and wounded in this tragic moment.
In the past two years, insurgents dressed in Afghan military uniforms have infiltrated our Afghan training units and have killed 85 NATO troops under similar circumstances. The U.S. and its NATO allies are working tirelessly to train Afghan security forces in advance of President Obama’s announced withdraw of American forces from the country.
At the time of this writing, the Commander-In-Chief has offered no statement regarding the tragedy but I can only hope that in light of this and the previous assassinations on our troops by insurgents will be met with a much more rigorous background and security screening of every Afghan applicant accepted into the training programs.
Further, President Obama and his Joint Chiefs of Staff should be reviewing the selection process for such security training programs and implementing rigorous safeguards to ensure no one is permitted with any ties to insurgent operatives. Taking the security measures further, a greater measure of situational awareness and protective posture must be implemented immediately to ensure any future attempts are thwarted before they materialize. Providing armed, NATO, vigilant security details to the training environments seems like a good idea to preclude further attacks.
Again, our prayers are with the families of those affected by this cowardly act.