Sunday, February 8, 2009

Tragedy: Two U.S. Soldiers Among Four Killed In Afghanistan While Defusing Roadside Bomb




This is a breaking update to another article here at Breitbart - the pertinent story is at the top of the article. But the tragic news is that two U.S. troops were killed along with an Afghan policeman and an Afghan translator when the roadside bomb they were trying to diffuse exploded. This happened in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan. Here's the entire update on this horrible news:



2 US soldiers defusing bomb killed in Afghanistan

KABUL (AP) - A U.S. military spokeswoman says two American soldiers were among four people killed in southern Afghanistan when a roadside bomb they were trying to disarm exploded.
The provincial police chief in Helmand province, Kamal Uddin, says the explosion took place Sunday in Nad Ali district. Uddin says an Afghan translator and a policeman were also killed in the blast.
Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a U.S. military spokeswoman, confirmed that two U.S. soldiers were among the four killed.
Helmand is a stronghold of Taliban militants, who control wide swaths of territory in the province. It is also the world's largest opium poppy growing region. Opium poppies provide the main ingredient for heroin.
I certainly don't want to be some sort of macabre arm chair quarterback here but I must admit that I do not ever remember American soldiers killed in defusing a roadside bomb or IED before in all of the Afghan War. So I am a bit perplexed in this. I have seen dozens of videos showing how American troops and Marines have blown up these IED's and utilized robots to disarm them so I am really at a loss here.

It seems to me that the key here is the Afghan policeman and translator who were also killed - I'm almost wondering if this policeman was trying to defuse when the U.S. troops happened along the scene. I guess we'll have to wait for the details but it's my opinion that this is NOT proper procedure for our troops to be handling these bombs like this. But what is done is done and I pray for the families of these two soldiers.

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