Sunday, February 26, 2012

Four U.S. soldiers killed by Afghan personnel, several wounded - No apology necessary?

Four U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan have been killed and several have been injured in the wake of the recent unintended burning of Korans at a NATO army base in Kabul.

On Sunday, protesters hurled a hand grenade at a U.S. army base, injuring seven U.S. personnel. On Saturday, a junior officer in the Afghan ministry's intelligence department shot and killed two American officers inside the Afghan interior ministry.

Two other U.S. soldiers were killed last week at a base in eastern Afghanistan when an Afghan soldier turned his gun on them.

President Obama issued a written apology to Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, last week for the [unintended] burning of the Korans, but has yet to demand an apology from Mr. Karzai for the deaths and injuries of the aforementioned U.S. military personnel. And, considering Obama's penchant for appeasement, particularly whith regards to Islamic extemists, it is unlikely that he will make such a request. Nor is it likely that Mr. Karzai will issue an apology.

Quite the contrary, according to CNN, Mr. Karzai, in a recent televised address, said that the "emotions of our people" over the burned Korans "are legitimate and valuable." But he went on to say that staying calm will help stop "enemies of our peace and stability" from taking advantage and harming people and property. Heh...

In typical hypocritical fashion, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday lashed out at the Republican presidential candidates who criticized Obama for apologizing to Karzai.

"I find it somewhat troubling that our politics would inflame such a dangerous situation in Afghanistan," said Clinton, who, in 2008, in unison with Obama, not only slammed President Bush with a barrage of political rhetoric that bolstered the enemy, but also voted with Obama to cut off funding for the troops in Iraq, a move which, at the time, was harshly criticized by then-Sen. Joe Biden as harmful to the safety and well-being of our troops.

Nevertheless, rather than apologize for the unintended actions of our troops, President Obama should stand up for our service members, and for the soldiers who were brutally gunned down by the Afghan personnel. Indeed, it would behoove the President to pay his respects to the murdered soldiers by demanding an apology from Mr. Karzai.

This is the least Obama can do for the deceased soldiers and their surviving comrades in Afghanistan who've been hamstrung by his policy of appeasement, surrender and retreat.

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