The US defence chief held talks in Afghanistan on Wednesday, acknowledging that a series of “deeply troubling” incidents had challenged the US war effort but vowing that nothing would derail the mission to defeat Al-Qaeda and reverse a Taliban insurgency.
Leon Panetta held a series of meetings in southern Afghanistan just days after an American soldier went on a murderous rampage, shooting dead 16 Afghan civilians — most of them women and children — in the worst single such incident since the 2001 US-led invasion. His spokesman described a meeting with leaders in Helmand as “excellent” but his talks were overshadowed by a bomb attack elsewhere in the southern province that killed eight civilians, a stark reminder of the cost of the conflict.
Addressing US, NATO and Afghan troops at Camp Leatherneck, Panetta conceded that the burning of Qurans on a US base last month, Sunday’s killings and attacks on coalition troops by Afghan soldiers had posed difficult challenges. “Each of these incidents is deeply troubling,” he said. “We will not allow individual incidents to undermine our resolve. “We will be tested, we will be challenged by the enemy, by ourselves and by the hell of war itself.” But he added that “thanks to your efforts, our strategy is working”.
In a sign that nerves are on edge, a group of US Marines waiting to hear Panetta speak inside a hall were asked to leave their rifles outside. American troops typically have their rifles in hand when the US defence secretary addresses them.
A defence official told reporters there was no heightened security threat but the US troops had been ordered to leave their weapons at the door to be “consistent”, as the Afghans in the hall were unarmed. The eight civilians who died on Wednesday were killed when a minibus ran over a roadside bomb in Marja district — the focus of a major US-led military offensive designed to clear out the Taliban in early 2010.
