talisyn Posted October 19, 2009 Report Posted October 19, 2009 I don't know how I missed this article French troops were killed after Italy hushed up bribes to Taleban - Times OnlineHow awful! I do like to make fun of the French, but I would never disrespect those serving in a war zone. Operating in an arc of territory north and east of the Afghan capital, the French apparently believed that they were serving in a relatively benign district. The Italians they had replaced in July had suffered only one combat death in the previous year. For months the Nato headquarters in Kabul had praised Italian reconstruction projects under way around Sarobi. When an estimated 170 insurgents ambushed the force in the Uzbin Valley the upshot was a disaster. “They took us by surprise,” one French troop commander said after the attack.What happened was...What the grieving nation did not know was that in the months before the French soldiers arrived in mid-2008, the Italian secret service had been paying tens of thousands of dollars to Taleban commanders and local warlords to keep the area quiet, The Times has learnt. The clandestine payments, whose existence was hidden from the incoming French forces, were disclosed by Western military officials.Wanna bet a few commanders in Italy are going to have a lot of explaining to do? Quote
awillowfairey Posted October 19, 2009 Report Posted October 19, 2009 What a disgraceful thing to do. The French are allies, why not TELL your allies what you did before they go into harms way?!?! They should be paying the widows and families of the fallen French soldiers for what they did not the fracking enemy....sheesh. Quote
Tarnished Posted October 19, 2009 Report Posted October 19, 2009 Somehow I am not surprised that the Italians were doing this. Italy is one of the countries where you have to pay a bribe fee to send a package to someone there. If bribes have gotten into the mail system then I am not at all surprised that they used bribes to keep the place their troops were serving quiet. Quote
awillowfairey Posted October 19, 2009 Posted October 19, 2009 · Hidden Hidden What the Italian Secret service should do is now is take all that money that they spent on bribing the enemy and give it plus change for several years to come to the widows and families of the fallen solders. Of course, I will not hold my breath on that idea.
Guest Posted October 19, 2009 Report Posted October 19, 2009 Hey, if that's all it needs to bring about peace... we got tons of bail-out money, what's a few more? Quote
annewandering Posted October 19, 2009 Report Posted October 19, 2009 Money to the taliban for peace is a pretty sick idea. I dont even want to think of the damage they have done and that is not even counting the French. What terrible thing to do to their own allies. Quote
Just_A_Guy Posted October 19, 2009 Report Posted October 19, 2009 IMHO: Buying off our enemies: Not ideal, but if it works . . . Putting our friends in the danger zone without informing them as to how that danger has been neutralized over the past couple of years: betrayal. Quote
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