National Security Demands Afghanistan Roadblocks and Checkpoints

The Afghanistan Papers will take time to read and process. I took 5 minutes to scan a tiny sample in one category involving checkpoints. The picture I got is of U.S. forces attempting to discover an enemy and/or prevent infiltration by occupying the country via checkpoints and reconnaissance flights. In incident after incident, Afghanis fail to stop at checkpoints or attempt to speed through them (these reports say). This leads the U.S. soldiers to open fire. After killing or wounding Afghanis, the soldiers find no arms, no bombs, no suicide attacks, and no improvised explosive devices (IED). On one recon flight, two men were seen doing something near a road. This led to a pursuit in which the pilot destroyed their motorcycle. Afterwards, no IED was found near the road. My faith that  our brilliant government is insuring our national security by setting up roadblocks in a rugged mountainous country the size of Texas is undiminished from reading these reports. I only wonder why we have not solved the unemployment problem by hiring the unemployed and augmenting the roadblocks so that we could feel even safer in our beds. I am sure that the Afghanis don’t mind sacrificing a few of their lives for the sake of our safety.

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6:31 am on July 28, 2010