Canadian soldier disables Afghan taxi

[maddezmom]

Saturday, August 20, 2005


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A Canadian soldier opened fire Friday to disable a vehicle that was trying to overtake a military convoy, out of concerns that it might be a suicide attack.

It was the first time the Canadian Forces have fired shots since being deployed on their current mission to Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.

~snip~


The soldier who fired at the yellow-white taxi had warned off the vehicle several times, Anderson said. But when it tried to pass the convoy, the soldier let loose with four machine-gun rounds into the car's engine, disabling the vehicle.

No one was injured, officials said, although the convoy didn't stop to check on the driver out of concerns that it might have been a suicide bombing attempt.

more:http://www.canada.com/nanaimo/story.html?id=a19395e0-49ef-415c-93a7-2cf8210f1265

[NNN0LHI]

1. Anyone notice the Afghans have switched to IED's and suicide...

...car bombs since we invaded Iraq?

Don

[bemildred]

3. Can't put the genie back in the bottle now, can we? nt

[HuffleClaw]

2. i note the guy didn't just hose down the cab

killing the occupants, which seems to be the way things are done in iraq. nice to see some discretion on the part of those serving in our Canadian Forces.

[MADem]

4. Could be a funding issue, too

Don't waste ammo. The Canadians do not have a bloated military budget like we do, they have to stretch those dollars...

[Kagemusha]

5. Usually US soldiers aim for the engine and hit the driver.

Somehow I doubt it's a simple marksmanship issue.

[Chrisduhfur]

6. Different situations.

Afghanistan and Iraq are way different in terms of what is going on. Iraq is a war where as in Afghanistan it's more like a peacekeeping operation(for the most part). The soldiers in Iraq are most likely more on edge and they know that there is a very good chance the person coming toward them is a bomber or something of that sort. At least that is my take on it. Plus the US military often times is not as picky in who they take in. Since the Canadian military not nearly as large I would assume they can be more picky and only take in those who they take in. Of course that is just an assumption on my part based on what I heard from people joining the Canadian forces.

Although I would think the former scenario is the reasoning behind most of the situations in Iraq.

[Spazito]

7. Afghanistan is not a 'peacekeeping' operation, it is as unstable

as Iraq. The only secure place in Afghanistan is PART of the city of Kabul, not unlike the green zone in Baghdad. The media is only now starting to report on Afghanistan again and the news is not good.