I trust you already know that, for the first time since Vietnam, a General officer has been killed in a war zone. From all accounts Major General Harold J Greene was an excellent, dedicated commander. I ask that you join me in condolences, thoughts ands prayers for his family, his friends, his troops and all who loved him.
For the first time since Vietnam, a United States Army general was killed in an overseas conflict on Tuesday when an Afghan soldier opened fire on senior American officers at a military training academy.
The slain officer, Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, was the highest-ranking member of the NATO-led coalition killed in the Afghanistan war, and his death punctuated the problems vexing the Americans as they try to wind down the 13-year-old conflict, contending with a political crisis that has threatened to splinter the Afghan government and leave it unable to fend off the Taliban.
The general was among a group of senior American and Afghan officers making a routine visit to Afghanistan’s premier military academy on the outskirts of Kabul when an Afghan soldier sprayed the officers with bullets from the window of a nearby building, hitting at least 15 before he was killed.
Though American officials said General Greene was not believed to have been specifically targeted, his violent death at the hands of an Afghan soldier, not an insurgent, was a reminder of the dangers faced by even the highest-ranking, and best protected, officers in Afghanistan… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Times>
No doubt he shall be mourned my many.
I’m sad to report that only minutes after hearing of this I also heard Republicans using the occasion to fault Obama and call for a continuation of the US occupation of Afghanistan. Thy are saying this proves that we have not yet defeated Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. How absurd!
There is no evidence at all of any association between the attacker and Al Qaeda. He attacked us because we are foreign and occupying his country. The Afghan people have a history of driving out foreign occupiers for thousands of years. There is one way to stop the attacks. Leave their country. In the 19th and early e0th centuries, the British learned that lesson the hard way. In the 20th century, so did the Russians. In the 21st century, we are learning it, but not quickly enough. If leaving Afghanistan were a bad idea, Republicans would not oppose it.
6 Responses to “Our Fallen General”
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Any time a soldier is killed it is sad. That he was killed in a senseless act and not in combat makes it worse. It was the act of a coward, not a soldier. This is reason enough to get out of Afghanistan. The people do NOT want us there.
August 2014 ~ Bring our men and women back home. We want them here!
There are many good people in the military. That's where our wonderful veterans come from (and no doubt why the Greedy Old Pigs don't like them). Unless one has a close relative in the military, it can be easy to forget that under the shadow of the Pentagon. THis is, as is every death or injury of our troops, very sad.
TC, you are very ambitious, hoping for Republicans to learn – anything at all. Learning is just not their forte.
This is hard to take, knowing that my son had been there not too long ago.
I hope that the Greene family knows that there are a lot of people that are grieving with them.
The fact that we are still occupying this country means that the fatalities will inevitably not stop. They may not be as many as before, but they will continue as long as we occupy THEIR homeland! There will be more and it will hurt every time, no matter if it is a General or a PFC!
We must elect people that love peace more than war.
This nation is built on a warmonger footing. There are factories all over the nation that depend on this. And we will always be in a war, as long as there is money to be made on killing people!
Peace and love is what this nation needs to be built on fir it to survive!!!
There Are No Victors In War, Only Victims
As I watch the news stories at my television
I couldn't help but to stare and turns my head on
Another number of casualties, another wounded
Another mothers who cry over their childs body
Another wives who weeps over their husbands casket
Another sweethearts who lost their loveones
Another day for the nation to mourn at once
I'm wondering, when will this war going to end?
When will this nightmare going to rescind?
Hundreds of soldiers have been killed
Hundreds of innocents have been obliterated
Families and homes have been devastated
Hundreds of kids and teens become homeless
Gay towns and cities are now places of hopeless
What more do we want? What are we fighting for?
What do nations want? What is the war for?
Is this our way to find peace and solidarity?
Then why we need to sacrifice the lives of many?
Is this what we call the war for the welfare of humanity?
Or just another filthy action of a selfish country?
What more do we want, to bring other lives into stray?
There's no victors in wars only victims
Can't you see it? Can't you feel the shame?
We are fighting for the destruction of one another
We are just investing the terror and fear
How long does it will take for this war to end?
How many lives do every country needs to spend?
How many soldiers do countries need to send?
If wars are figths for sovereignty
Then why could not we do it in a better way?
If talks and agreements are seems to be useless
Is this enough reason to kill, to tear down and to cease?
We are created to love and to stand for one another
Not to kill and be get killed by unprincipled matter
TIme is still here, it's not too late to make the world better
©2009 CONICONZ
Connie Tallada
Connie Tallada lives in the Philippines and wrote this poem in 2009. I have not changed a word here although it does need to be cleaned up for spelling and grammar, but not content.
TC, you expressed my thoughts exactly. If the British and the Russians have all ready left there, tail between their legs, why does our government think it can do better. The war in Afghanistan and the one in Iraq have destroyed us economically and there seems to be no end in sight. The Republicans are determined to keep our troops there. The war on terror has turned out to be a war on US citizens, instead, we are steadily losing constitutional rights in the name of protection from terrorists. My sympathy and condolences to the family of the general, I know this will be hard for them. Those in the military have my utmost respect. I did not castigate the Viet Nam soldiers even though I hated the war. They put their lives on the line for us every day.
Thanks all. Prayers for all with family in harm's way.