reply to post by daaskapital
"This isolated incident does not in any way call into question the transition process aimed at handing over security responsibilities to the
Afghan National Army," France's Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said.
I have to agree that FDM Longuet's statement is ... well it's incorrect. Moreover, I can't be certain that his comment does not derive from
ignorance, but suspect that his statement is aimed at expressing positive spin.
Ironically, there's nothing quite like cold, clinical appraisement of the situation to
undo ungained gains--it's too instructive. So take,
for instance, 19 September 2006: Dudes with an American flag patch on their left shoulders ventured from Tagab proper to Alisay (region controlled by
French and PRT where the events in the OP took place) for an Afghan powwow. Not surprisingly, however, the meet-up was cut short by unfriendly
movements throughout the valley and resulted in an unscheduled timeline for departure. Long story short they spent the next five to six hours
fighting thru prepositioned ambush sites, and the kicker here is that ~1/4 of the unfriendlies wore ANP (Afghan National Police) uniforms.
Isolated incident? That's just
one example of what goes unreported.