Hatred Fueling Afghan Army Attacks on Allied Troops

Mutual contempt behind most attacks on NATO troops from within: report
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 20, 2012 6:46 AM CST
Hatred Fueling Afghan Army Attacks on Allied Troops
Afghan National Army recruits march as part of their daily training at the Kabul Military Training Center.   (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Even before today's attack on French troops, the number of deadly attacks on US and other coalition troops by Afghan soldiers was steadily rising. And while the military continues to describe the attacks as isolated incidents, a classified report obtained by the New York Times tells a very different story. "Lethal altercations are clearly not rare or isolated; they reflect a rapidly growing systemic homicide threat, a magnitude of which may be unprecedented between 'allies' in modern military history," states the report, which blames mutual dislike, not Taliban infiltrators, for most of the killings.

The report—written by a behavioral scientist who interviewed hundreds of Afghan and US troops—found that at least 58 Western troops were killed by Afghan soldiers and police in the four years to May 2011, with most of the attacks happening after October 2009. American troops described their Afghan counterparts as gutless and often stoned, while the Afghans' complaints about Americans ranged from public urination to the killing of civilians. "The sense of hatred is growing rapidly,” an Afghan Army colonel says. His troops, he says, are "thieves, liars, and drug addicts,” but the Americans are "rude, arrogant bullies who use foul language." (More Afghanistan stories.)

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