Any of you guys listening to hack on triple j yesterday arvo?

 

It had a quick commentary on a father who's son is serving in Afghanistan, he believes that his sons e-mail's in the last couple of weeks are starting to indicate that quite a few soldiers are starting to get pissed off with command.

The sons emails appear to comment on the commands intel as being sourced "from people who know F&@k all" and were putting soldiers in harms way.

This particular soldier has been warned with action for insubordination as often he and the soldiers around him have had to disobey orders to avoid being killed...

It seems that alot of the intel coming from the locals is being used without recon or secondary confirmation perhaps? leading our guys down the garden path for an old fashioned blood bath...

 

Doesn't make me confident when you read the following article..

 

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/26/asia/AS-GEN-Australia-Afghanistan.php

Edited October 27, 200717 yr by chambersAUS

The problem is multifaceted, there is two types of intel, stuff that we know, and stuff that we think. When an informant in Afghanistan gives someone intel it could be true, it could be false, it could be a trap, etc. So all of that must be taken with a big grain of salt.

 

On top of that there is politics which screw around with the military to no end.

 

Politicians are dicks full stop. Politicians will do whatever it takes to be popular in the minds of the general Australian public (read bunch of brainless simpletons). To be defense minister for Australia you don't even have to have any military experience WTF? This hamstrings the military as it looks far better to the public on paper if we are rebuilding, helping, defending, etc, than attacking, killing, blowing stuff up. The politicians want the people happy so they want to sugar coat everything, the soldiers want to destroy the Taliban and establish order but they are mainly restricted to sitting on their asses doing nothing unless they are attacked directly so the Taliban pretty much have free reign as long as they are smart.

 

The last thing to consider is the media. Never believe what is printed in the paper or shown on TV without good reason. The media will do anything it takes to hype things up and get more viewers and money. Case in point a large American media organization was found to be buying intel off the Taliban and then using it to print stories about what is happening in Afghanistan, mainly along the line of the American soldiers killing civies and bombing neutral houses and infrastructure. Some of which was partially true, there are casualties as a result of crossfire and other collateral damage, but the media made it out that the Americans meant to kill innocents and are generally psychopaths out of control. In the Herald Sun today there is a story about how Australian troops are now a primary target for Taliban fighters. What a crock of ****. Any westerner in Afghanistan is going to be a targetsince the start of the war. Nothing has changed. Also the most prized target for the Taliban are "the bearded men" or "bearded ones" this refers to any special forces operator Australian or otherwise, because don't shave very often as they are away from base for long periods of time (and they are slack bastards when it comes to hygene lol). However this has been true since the start of coalition operations in Afghanistan. But the Herald Sun wants to make it all scary because of two soldiers dying in 3 weeks oh noes they must be coming for us. Bull**** they just want to sell more papers.

 

Also note that the 3 guys that have officially died in Afghanistan are all SAS. The vast majority of SAS operations are very highly classified so I would doubt that the last two guys even died the way they said they did. If you look at the amount of guys who have died in the SAS look at the amount that died in "training" or "peackeeping" or such. Pretty much none of them have died in balls to the walls combat as far as official records state. It's all covered up because the SAS do some of the best work when it comes to kicking Taliban ass and the like. But that is not politically correct so bull**** stories are made up of how they died, again to make the politicians look good. However the one thing you can count on the media for is a good cover up story.

 

Sorry about the rant lol. I really hate politics and the media, enough said.

 

R.I.P diggers, there are still some who appreciate your blood, sweat and tears.

Edited October 27, 200717 yr by mrchickenfool

Pretty sure there has only been 2 SASR that have died over that the WE know of, the other bloke that died was transport or a grunt.

 

The other SASR bloke that died was crushed by his vehichle.

I'm more concerned that soldiers are losing faith in command, heck in the email apparently he bags the seniors for listening to people who know bugger all. Could be a one off or could be a growing concern..

You have to remember that this is Hack we're talking about. Everything they say must be taken with a grain of salt as they are an alternative news source basing thier articles on heresay in this case. While there may be elements of truth, the truth is a big grey area. It may just have been a single soldier talking purely out of frustration at being in Afgahnistan, however, it may also be a major problem. Personally, I wouldn't consider it a problem until more than one soldier expresses his concerns.

 

(I heard the full article btw)

Lack of respect for superiors (armed forces or not) wouldn't be a new thing though? Is it just that he hates 'the man' or is it a genuine change in morale?