UPDATE: The NZDF has released the names and photographs of the three personnel killed in Afghanistan this morning:
Lest we forget.
The Herald reports:
Lest we forget.
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The Herald reports:
Three New Zealand soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.They were serving with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan.The last vehicle in a convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device north west of Do Abe on the road to Romero about 9.20am (Afghanistan time).The remaining personnel in the patrol secured the location and awaited additional support.The Defence Force says next of kin has been informed and the families are being supported.Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Rhys Jones says "we are deeply saddened by this loss'', especially given the deaths of New Zealand soldiers Lance Corporals Rory Malone and Pralli Durrer during a gunfight at Bamyan on August 4.
This has been a dreadful month for the NZDF forces in Afghanistan.This morning's tragedy sheets home the dangers our servicemen face on a daily basis.
As regular readers will know, we come from a military family. Our grandfather was a Gallipoli veteran. Our late father fought in North Africa, Crete and Greece during WWII. And our brother saw active service in Vietnam. By the grace of God, we have never been called on to serve our country, and we hope that our children won't either.
Only those who have seen active service will understand the horrible reality of combat. We can't even begin to imagine what it is like to be fired on, or to be in a situation such as the PRT faced this morning. But nonetheless, we thank them for their service for which three soldiers have today paid the ultimate price
22 comments:
Blood on Key's hands.
More and more blood.
@ Warbird - the only reason I've published your comment is to show just how low some people will sink. The PRT has been deployed in Afghanistan since 2003. Your petty political point-scoring is an insult to the memories of those who have lost their lives serving their country.
(sigh). What can you say about people (warbird) like that KS? They have no idea. In nine years we have had ten soldiers pay the ultimate price. Dad's platoon had that many in a day in WWII. Death in combat is sad, but inevitable. Soldiers, and families of soldiers, know this.
Death in combat is sad, but inevitable brian_smaller, but being in Afghanistan isn't.
If they weren't there, they wouldn't be dead.
They're there because Key keeps them there.
Blood, hands, all over them.
Quite so Brian. I have very little idea of what my father or brother ever faced, because they barely ever spoke about it. But it left a mark on both of them; no doubt about that.
War is a bastard. But part of being part of the international community is mutual support. If, God forbid NZ was on the receiving end of a terrorist attack, would we want help from other countries? Did international assistance pour in when Christchurch rattled? Did we reciprocate in Japan.
The answer to all those is yes. As an international citizen, New Zealand does more than its bit, and our troops serve with distinction. I have a rellie at Burnham who could be called to Afghanistan at any time. That's a life that he has chosen, with full knowledge of the risks.
You just dishonoured those soldiers Warbird. You should be ashamed.
Key should be ashamed. He could have pulled those soldiers out of there but chose to leave them in harm's way. One of them is a woman for Christ's sake!
There are two words in your comment, Monique, that are beyond warbird's comprehension.
They are of course, dishonoured and ashamed.
Keeping Stock is distorting the discussion here by deleting my comments. Typical devious, fearful reaction from a rightwinger frightened of a dissenting voice.
Stuff has Phil Goff's comments on the situation. Goff is taking the lead on this issue and is calling it correctly. Where is John Key on this? He's not in Hawaii is he??
Goff, a former defence minister, said it was not a case of ”cutting and running”.
”It’s a case of managing an orderly transition out of Bamiyan which the Government should have been embarking on already.”
New Zealand had done everything it could in the province.
“There is nothing further we can do to influence outcomes in Bamiyan or in Afghanistan. To justify sacrifice, you’ve got to have obtainable objectives.
“Things are going backwards in Afghanistan, not forwards. Not because of what our guys are doing but because the [Afghanistan] government has failed utterly to win the support of its own people.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/7507715/Woman-among-three-Kiwi-soldiers-killed
Who's deleted anything Warbird. Much as I disagree with your comments, each one has made it past moderation. Feel free to apologise for the slur.
Key's comments were being reported in the public domain when I got up before 6am Albright. He was on both Breakfast TV programmes this morning, and has done numerous radio interviews and a media conference. He is also quoted in most of the media stories online this morning.
Your smart-arse comment about Hawaii suggest that you are less interested in making a proper contribution here, and more interested in smearing John Key. Funny that...
I am bemused by the position that we must stay in Afghanistan as if it were a question of honour, or, as some seem to see it, a sign of cowardice on our part if we were to leave. We are losing, in terrible manner, our young people in support of a failed war and a corrupt and venal state, in a context in which we are now forced to negotiate with the Taliban about the country's political future.
There is no disgrace in recognising that what may have begun as a positive move is now something we should end. It matters not one jot if Labour started it; Mr Key has the power to end it.
We should leave now.
Key's comments were being reported in the public domain, but where is his apology?
He had the option on a number of occasions of pulling the troops out, but didn't. Now there are three more young New Zealanders killed.
Is an apology enough?
You're like a broken record Warbird. Key and his government are honouring an international commitment made by the previous administration. If you'll care to remember, Helen Clark and Phil Goff were careful to assure New Zealanders that only non-combat troops were being deployed to Afghanistan, then all of us sudden they're posing with Lance-Coporal Willie Apiata VC; how time dims the memory.
IMHO New Zealand was right to support the original international effort, and despite casualties, is right to honour its commitment to a withdrawl in 2013.
That's apologist rubbish Keeping Stock. Key is PM and could have withdrawn our troops on several occasions. He chose not to. Choice - Key talks about it all the time as do you rightwingers, it's paramount to you. Key chose to leave the New Zealand soldiers there and is therefore responsible for the outcomes from that choice. How can you argue against that? It's bedrock to your beliefs. He chose, he has to wear the consequences. Just like beneficiaries who, as Key says, choose to be beneficiaries and must live with the consequences of their choices. You see KS I'm using reason to explain my argument, not ad hominem or political attack, just logic. Can you do the same in response?
It's you who has been using ad hominems Warbird. Please desist, or go elsewhere and use them.
Gordon Campbell cuts the spin (allow this comment through, Keeping Stock, if you dare. I think you'll want to keep it hidden.
"Gordon Campbell writes that it is gutless crawling to the Americans by our leaders that New Zealanders are dying for.
“…… we should be clear about the motives at work here.”
“…… when Prime Minister John Key wears his sad face and talks gravely about sacrifice, we need to keep in mind that the lives in question have been sacrificed for a political commitment that is meaningless. There is no noble purpose involved here, only the usual grubby business of politicking – that by joining the effort in Afghanistan, New Zealand might gain some political or trade favours from the Americans.”
Gordon Campbell August 20, 2012
“….our soldiers will continue to be sitting ducks, who are doing little more than trying to survive a totally arbitrary period of deployment.”
“On the current timetable, our PRT forces are not due to be withdrawn until September 2013. That timeframe lacks any intrinsic sense. There is no reason to believe that between now and then, our PRT presence will make Bamiyan safer for the locals in any sustainable fashion, or that the aid projects with which the PRT has been involved will survive their withdrawal. Nothing that New Zealand will achieve between now and September 2013 can justify the further loss of life that now seems inevitable….”
Gordon Campbell August 20, 2012
“Whenever he is pressed on the purpose of our Afghan deployment, Key usually responds by saying that we’re fighting global terrorism and/or enabling Afghanistan to rebuild. Well, if it ever made any sense, the ‘fighting global terrorism’ rationale ended many years ago, after the destruction of al Qaeda as a functioning global network and the capture and/or killing of its leaders……”
“The Dutch saw the writing on the wall and pulled out their troops two years ago. There is no good reason why we should not do likewise, and get our forces home by Christmas. Because what our troops in Afghanistan are really defending – and dying for – in 2012 is John Key’s reputation, and his welcome mat in Washington.”
Gordon Campbell August 20, 2012
It's hard to say who I hold in the greater contempt AI; Campbell for writing such politically biased crap, or you for repeating it.
Good man
The truth can sometimes be very painful, KS.
Your difficulty lies in the fact that Gordon Campbell is, pretty much, right. And, like it or not, a political decision was made to stay in Afghanistan in support of a corrupt regime and a closer reelationship with the US. That decision led to these deaths, and there is no escaping it. It is disingenuous in the extreme to try and disentangle the political decision from its impacts, and, I submit, in all courtesy, to argue that link shows no disrespect to the dead. Rather, it tries to understand why they suffered so.
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