Airstrike kills 4 insurgents... no wait, civilians

Afghanistan Airstrike Kills 4 Insurgents

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

Posted September 30, 2010 at 11:16 a.m., updated September 30, 2010 at 11:16 a.m.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2010 - An air weapons team engaged insurgents who'd fired on Afghan and coalition forces conducting a patrol in eastern Afghanistan today, military officials reported.

The combined patrol came under effective small-arms fire from about eight insurgents in the Andar district of Ghazni province. After gaining positive identification on the insurgent position, an air weapons team engaged the insurgent firing position. After the engagement ended, the combined force called for a medical evacuation for wounded insurgents and reported that approximately four insurgents had been killed.

The wounded were evacuated to an International Security Assistance Force medical facility for treatment. ISAF is aware of allegations in the media of civilian casualties associated with this operation. ISAF is receiving reports from this operation and will provide updates as they become available.

Alright! Take that you dirty insurgents! 

Oh, wait a minute.

4 Afghan civilians killed during attack on insurgents, NATO says

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 30, 2010 -- Updated 1702 GMT (0102 HKT)

(CNN) -- Four Afghan civilians died and three others were wounded in a NATO-led operation on Wednesday in eastern Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said Thursday.

The incident took place in the Andar district of Ghazni province. ISAF forces met with village elders to apologize for their actions and embarked on an investigation.

It is the latest incident of civilians caught in the crossfire of the Afghan war, a trend that has caused outrage and consternation among Afghan government officials and citizens.

ISAF said eight insurgents wielding small arms attacked an Afghan and coalition security force.

An air weapons team trying to protect the troops "accidentally struck a group of unarmed civilians, killing four and injuring three others."

ISAF spokesman Rear Adm. Greg Smith said families will be compensated in the wake of their losses.

"We deeply regret that our operation resulted in civilian loss of life and we express our sincerest condolences to the families," Smith said.

Um, right. Is it just me, or does it seem like they always report initially that they killed X number of insurgents, and then a short time later, it's revealed that they actually blew up a school or something? I have a better idea. Instead of reporting how many insurgents you killed, why not report that the combat took place and save the details until the data is actually known?


While we're on this subject, what the heck is an insurgent, anyway?

¹in·sur·gent

 noun \-jənt\

Definition of INSURGENT

1

: a person who revolts against civil authority or an established government; especially : a rebel not recognized as a belligerent

2

: one who acts contrary to the policies and decisions of one's own political party

From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insurgent

So... an insurgent is someone revolting against the established government, who is not a member of an opposing army. In Afghanistan, the established government is a corrupt nightmare formed out of warlords and thieves that was put in place by NATO forces. These are people who are rebelling against the puppet government in Afghanistan. It seems that insurgent is a very good term for them.

Isn't it interesting that when they say it on the news, it sounds like "terrorist" rather than "revolutionary".

Hey, that's kind of like the difference between "insurgent" and "civilian".

I guess it just depends on who you ask. And when you ask them.

Bloody good!

I want to tell everybody my awesome story about how I cut finger over the weekend.

Actually, the story isn’t awesome, I cut my finger cleaning up some broken glass. I mopped the floor, them emptied the bucket into the tub. When I was scooping up the cat hair, it turned out there was a jagged piece of glass in there the size of a dime.

My finger started bleeding profusely, so I did what any normal person would do. I ran to the living room and got my camera.

AWESOME!

If you like gory, bloody messes, check out the pictures. If you don’t, check them out anyway.

The awesome bloodiness:

At this point I wondered if I would have to get stitches:

I thought this was cool – bloody ring:

Then it stopped by itself, which was weird:

And my Wolverine-like healing powers kicked in:

I left this for my wife and told her there was something cool in the bathtub:

Doesn’t this look like a Fight Club poster or something?

I’m totally making it into my blog logo:

Kids bring the awesome

Today, I was playing some power metal in the car. It was starting to build, and my daughter said:

"Daddy, can I rock out now?"

I was like "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

But like this.

Okay, maybe not exactly like that. But it was still pretty cool.

Quote of the day

All matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration ... we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves.

- Bill Hicks, comedian

What's the word of the day?

What's the mystery word of the day? Let's see if you can guess!

The systematic use of violent acts which are intended to create fear and are perpetrated for a religious, political or ideological goal, and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants.

I'll let everybody figure it out.