In Afghanistan, the affair of the burned Qurans is getting out of hand. A sniper aims the crowd
(BRUXELLES2) For the past few days, demonstrations - clashing - have been taking place in Afghanistan. They have already done at least 29 dead - including 2 American soldiers - and a hundred wounded - "most of them by bullets", according to AFP. But we can already wonder about the crowd control techniques developed by the Afghan and international police forces on the spot.
This image - taken from a report broadcast on several televisions including RTBF in the Friday evening newspaper - clearly shows a man in uniform, totally masked, who wears no visible stripes of a regular army, clearly pointing a machine gun, type AKM, in the direction of the demonstrators, apparently in Herat. This is usually the uniform worn by some Afghan policemen (but usually these policemen do not wear balaclavas). We can therefore wonder about the nationality of this shooter. But also on the technique used. We are very far from the usual methods of maintaining a crowd - with tear gas canisters, pumpers, etc. And one can wonder if the methods employed - with the use of weapons of war - do not add oil to the fire. In any case, an investigation will have to take place both within NATO and the Afghan police forces on these "snipers". And it will also be necessary to wonder whether the training of Afghan police officers and the presence of "auxiliaries" by their side is perfectly judicious.
The cause of this explosion is not trivial. Copies of the Koran, confiscated from prisoners at the US base in Bagram, were burned overnight from Monday to Tuesday (February 21). The next day, NATO, through General Allen, commander of ISAF, presented its most " serious apologies ", explaining that this act was " unintentional " and one " isolated incident and announced an investigation (video here). It's not enough. US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta first (text here), then the American president, Barack Obama himself, in a letter written to his counterpart Hamid Karzai apologized, invoking a "inadvertent error" who "does not reflect the views of the U.S. military". Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter is visiting Afghanistan. But that does not calm the violence either. One can, there too, wonder how, after ten years of presence on the ground, soldiers did not understand how certain symbols - in particular the "Book" - were untouchable. This "misunderstanding", this "inadvertence" reflects well how the strategy of "win hearts and minds"finds a serious limit...
(Maj) The situation worsened further on Saturday with the assassination of two American military advisers who worked in the Afghan interior ministry. The ISAF command has decided to temporarily "recall" all advisers working in the ministries.
