Green on blue: How Afghan troops' attacks on Americans are forcing the U.S. out

When you speak to U.S. Army and Marine officers, there’s a nervous titter in their voice as they dismiss the significance of what has happened. With fingers crossed, they are hoping – and they probably are right – that the spasm of killings has peaked and is now on the decline…

If such murders subside, the Obama Administration will be able to cling to its all-out by 2015 strategy. But that’s the essential conundrum: for the U.S. troops to leave, they have to be able to train Afghan security forces to take their place. But if those trainees keep killing their trainers, the chances of success for such a program plummet.

“The apparent randomness and unpredictability of the murders of the six U.S. soldiers creates the terror effect that destroys trust,” ex-DIA analyst John McCreary writes on his NightWatch blog [link not available]. “All joint patrols with Afghans carry an increased probability of murder that overrides can-do attitudes and positive thinking.”