U.S. forces chafe under challenges of working with Afghan forces

[unhappycamper]

U.S. forces chafe under challenges of working with Afghan forces
By Drew Brown, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, November 5, 2009

SHAH JOY DISTRICT, Afghanistan — An Afghan army commander whom American troops had dubbed “Snoop” was angry, accusing a U.S. dog handler of allowing his Labrador retriever to sniff a copy of the Quran while searching a cluster of villages that U.S. forces suspect is a Taliban stronghold.

The commander — named for his resemblance to the rapper Snoop Dogg — warned 2nd Lt. Blake Wyant of Company C, 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment that he and his men were ready to quit the village and never work with American forces again.

Wyant, 24, of Sioux City, Iowa, listened patiently until Snoop threatened to kill the dog if the incident happened a second time. Muslims consider dogs to be unclean.

Speaking through an interpreter, Wyant looked evenly at the Afghan commander.

“You tell him that’s not going to happen,” he said. “You tell him that shooting that dog would be just like shooting an American soldier.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=65855



unhappycamper comment: Sounds like the Hearts & Minds campaign is going as expected. :(

[excess_3]

1. time for the US to get out