Deaths of Afghan Civilians Could Have Been Prevented

COMMENTARY | As a combat veteran, I can attest that everyone has their breaking point. The moment when all normal mental functions cease and you do something no sane person would. A temporary lapse in proper judgment has been the fall of a great many good men, and it is sad that it apparently has happened again.

According to MSNBC, an American soldier is accused of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan. The yet to be named soldier was on his first deployment to the country. It is also reported that since 2003, his brigade had been to Iraq three times.

Obviously not condoning the horrific actions, but if you want a reason as to why a man would snap, there it is. As much as the U.S. military likes to tell us it is doing as much as possible to combat the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, it is forgetting the No. 1 trigger: Sending men and women back repeatedly to the place that causes them the stress. Nobody should be sent back to a combat zone as many times as this individual's brigade is said to have been.

But the horrific killing of 16 people has happened. You know people are going to line up around the block looking for an excuse to go after the U.S. According to CNN, the Taliban is vowing revenge. Not to be flip, but the Taliban wants revenge for everything, from a murder to the U.S. letting women drive cars. The Taliban needs to realize its stock isn't quite what it once was. A call of revenge from the Taliban is like a 5-year-old saying he's going to beat up Mike Tyson.

According to BBC News, an Afghan intelligence official said this was a propaganda victory for the Taliban. Again, proof the terrorist group will use anything to further its agenda. There is too much international pressure from all sides on the group. It does nobody any good to use a killing to its advantage.

If the Afghans want to take this individual and try him in their courts, I see no fault in it. But U.S. officials should realize that something like this could have been prevented if it just didn't send the same people back so many times.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/deaths-afghan-civilians-could-prevented-183900608.html

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