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Showing posts from November, 2009

The 11th Hour and The 18 Deaths

There are two stories in the news that have really bothered me over the last few weeks and the gist of what happened is not dissimilar in either case. Last Tuesday, an Afghan policeman, working with a group of British Officers opened fire on them as took a break from duties. He killed five boys in cold blood. Whilst on Thursday, a US army doctor went on the rampage, murdering 13 people and injuring 29 . These are troubling cases for a number of reasons. Firstly, obviously, the loss of life - but I believe, all the more worrying because the perpetrators were not the "enemy" as such, but trusted comrades - the inner circle, as some would put it - or the fifth column as others may well believe it should be named. So how do the respective armies deal with the fallout of such a situation? The immediate reaction is obviously one of shock and dismay and no doubt anger, understandable as it is, from within the army and of course from the families of the victims. There will be som...