April Fools

"The ever alert FRI regular commentators picked up on this tragedy in near real time. Last Tuesday morning an Army patrol opened fire on a bus on the main road between Kandahar and the large ISAF base just outside the city. They killed four Afghans which sparked protests inside Kandahar City. The NATO statement is pasted below:

“NATO said the bus approached a slow-moving military patrol from the rear at a high speed. Troops opened fire after the driver ignored flares and other warnings — including flashlights and hand signals — to slow down, NATO said in a statement. It confirmed four people were killed, adding the alliance “deeply regrets the tragic loss of life.”

I have a problem with the “flares and other warnings including flashlights and hand signals.” If a fast moving bus is approaching a slow moving convoy, how much time does the turret gunner have? Subtract the time it takes to bring the machine gun to bear on target and fire, which is 2 or 3 seconds, and I have a hard time seeing how he armed and fired a flare, and used his flashlight and hand signals (which would not have been visible in the pre-dawn gloom). When you read the news accounts, the statements by witnesses from the bus sound much more credible. I have been shot at three times, once by the Brits (American Embassy project vehicle put out of commission – downtown Kabul, spring of 2005), once by the American army (warning shots into the hillside while in a Japanese Embassy vehicle with diplomatic plates and a very senior passenger – downtown Kabul winter 2006), and once by the ANA (last Monday when they shot at a car right next to me which had nicked their fender in a gigantic traffic jam). The common denominator of those shootings was the lack of warning. All of a sudden the turret gunners got behind their weapons and I thought, “Holy shit, they are going to shoot,” and they did. One of those shootings produced the best quote I have to date from all of my years here. My Japanese client who was the Chief of Party for JICA shook his head and said, “Tim san, I no understand how your army won World War II.” I launched into a spirited defense with a pedantic description of the evolution of Amphibious Warfare and the Fleet Marine Force, but he cut me off with the urgent need to make a phone call. I was very fond of Mr. N and he knew better than to try and ride out a rant. I’m American and we are not shy about defending our own, even when they are reckless (for no damn good reason) with an M240 machine gun."
FRI