Panjwai Killings

Well, it seems that the dirty laundry is out on SSG Robert Bales. DUI, hit and run, assault and supposedly investment fraud before he even enlisted are on his rap sheet. It doesn't surprise me - the Army and the military as a whole made a lot of concessions to fill slots when both Iraq and Afghanistan were going strong. Criminal? Morbidly obese?? Old? Stupid? Tattoos up to your eyeballs? Permanent profile? Come on in. We took anyone and everyone and it seems now that we're paying the price. I mean, look at this guy. Look at his chin strap. I saw this picture and immediately thought "wow, I'm glad that guy isn't my squad leader."

I can sympathize with SSG Bales a little bit - yeah, it sucks here. The pay is shit. But, welcome to the military. No one wants to be here anymore than the next guy on the line. Everyone needs more money - that's not an Army problem or an American problem, it's a human problem. But that's no excuse to not seek help, no matter how shitty your life is. We are constantly being evaluated by multiple offices about our level of combat stress - the chaplain is here, there's a combat stress clinic here, the behavioral health officer comes to the FOB. There are a hundred outlets for your problems. There are thousands of grants and loans and relief programs for people in his financial situation. Not utilizing them is foolish. Almost as foolish as walking off the FOB and massacring a village. Fry him and fry his command for deploying a dude that is so obviously burned out.

Shitbaggery

Just when we started rebuilding relationships following the Koran burnings (now known forever in the annals of history as the KBI or Koran Burning Incident), this fuckstick pulls this crybaby shit. When you read shit like this back in the States, you think "wow, what a shitbag." Then, when you're over here, and you KNOW that the fallout from this will likely cause harm to yourself or your friends, you think, "wow, what a fucking shitbag!"

A US soldier in Afghanistan has killed at least 16 civilians and wounded five after entering their homes in Kandahar province, senior local officials say.

He left his military base in the early hours of the morning and opened fire in at least two homes; women and children were among the dead.

Nato said it was investigating the "deeply regrettable incident".

Anti-US sentiment is already high in Afghanistan after US soldiers burnt copies of the Koran last month.

US officials have apologised repeatedly for the incident at a Nato base in Kabul, but they failed to quell a series of protests and attacks that killed at least 30 people and six US troops.

Local people have reportedly gathered near the base in Panjwai district to protest about Sunday's killings, and the US embassy is advising against travel to the area.

Lt Gen Adrian Bradshaw, deputy commander of Nato-led forces, said he was unable to "explain the motivation behind such callous acts", adding that "our thoughts and prayers are with those caught in this tragedy".

Douchebagistan

Haven't posted since I've got here. What a rugged, beautiful country filled with curious, hard-working people. Too bad the U.S. Army is here to shit all over it. The reduction in strength imposed by the President in order to adhere to the draw down has hamstrung our unit, just like it did to the unit we replaces and all units to come. It turns out sending half your people home makes you shorthanded. I would get back on a plane and go back to Iraq in a heartbeat. The days were long, it was hot as balls but we had a set schedule and a set rest cycle. I can count with my fingers the number of times I've slept through the night without being woken up to do some detail or another. I've pulled more 36 hour days (shift -> mission -> shift) than days I've got to sleep without being disturbed. I've been on the verge of calling IG or writing my congressmen pretty much everyday that I've been here. It's not just me either - it doesn't seem too intelligent to make a guy do two back to back shifts on tower guard but it happens daily. I understand we are short on people but that doesn't mean NCOs don't have to go to bat for their soldiers to shield them from the bullshit.

Gripes aside, things are well here. We saw some action in the wake of the Koran burning (thanks turds - you can never really understand the impact of some cunt burning a Koran or pissing on a body until you're actually in that country when it happens), but not too bad. Our mission OPTEMPO is actually ridiculously slow compared to the last deployment, we just have to cover down on the FORCEPRO and the chow hall guard unlike last time. One of the new guys called me a fobbit and told me proudly that he's been on 10 missions in 3 months so far. I laughed - in Iraq we did 90 in 3 months. As always, the busy gauge violently switches between watching paint dry and staying awake for 40 hours without sleeping. I miss going out everyday with the guys but at the same time our missions aren't anymore exciting than working in the TOC. Drive, sit in the turret while a KLE happens then drive back. I still get made fun of. I was thinking about changing the blog name to Fobbits Eat Ice Cream too.