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Afghan gun-free zone (courtesy nytimes.com)

“Three American doctors were killed Thursday morning when an Afghan police officer turned his gun on them at a private hospital in Kabul,” nytimes,com reports, “an attack that underscored the growing frustration with the Western presence here a decade after the war began.” Yes, well, notice the sign smack-dab in the middle of the pic above. Given that, I’m thinking it was also an attack that underscored the inadvisability of creating a “gun-free” zone – especially in a war zone. But not exclsuively. More than a few TTAG readers are doctors. Armed doctors (despite hospital policies). And for good reason (154 hospital-related shooting events in 12 years). So here’s how this one went down . . .

A government official said the police officer, Ainuddin, a two-year veteran of the department, had only recently been assigned to the unit guarding the hospital. Witnesses and officials said he fired on the doctors when they entered a security vestibule at the entrance of the building, killing three of the male doctors and wounding a female doctor. The attacker then entered the interior courtyard, where he continued to fire at foreigners.

Other officers were reported to have wounded the gunman before he could kill anyone else, although one security official said the guard had shot himself.

In this case, he did not. The guard is in custody. So how many more people would he have been shot if Ainuddin hadn’t faced armed opposition. By the same token, how many fewer people would he have shot if he’d faced that armed opposition earlier? Say, if one or all of those doctors had been armed? Sadly, we’ll never know. [h/t ropingdown]

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24 COMMENTS

  1. A better question is, why are Americans even in a country who’s government supports paedophilia, and one of its biggest beefs against the Taliban was that the Taliban wanted to end the practice of man boy “relations”?

    • The word you’re looking for is Pederasty. Habit well establish and accepted in Muhammadanism.

      We’re there under the Western Civilization theory that We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

      The history of the last decade makes one wonder though.

    • The taliban wanted to end that practice? You must be smoking some afghan export, son. It is universal in muslim nations, and the more devout the nation, the more prevalent it is. The taliban are the primary practitioners.

    • I guess you forgot why we went there. I understand with the seasons of American Idol and Survivor, Lindsey Lohan and the NFL draft this week.

      Terrorists supported by the Government of Afghanistan (ran by the Taliban) flew big passenger airplanes filled with Americans into really big buildings in New York City and in DC.

      Where would you choose to fight those who swear to kill you? In their country or in ours?

  2. We nuked Japan twice, and it’s now one of the largest economies in the world.

    Just sayin’, if we want to help the Afghan people long term…….

    • Apples v Oranges. The Japanese are historically known for extreme cultural shifts after major historic events. They also were tired of war and wanted to rebuild. The momentum of westernization in Japan was already well established before the turn of the century.

      NONE of that is true of Afghanistan. Any cultural changes are resisted by huge swaths of the population, with many, and the Taliban in particular, preferring a regression. Generally speaking they are not tired of war, having a deep seated tradition of tribal warfare and warlord leadership. And finally, westernization is largely centered only in a handful of urban areas, and even then it is resisted and slowed by inclinations to wards traditionalism.

      • Is it really apples and oranges?

        Japan’s civilian population circa 1945 were all prepared to die fighting us. The situation in Afghanistan isn’t much different. They don’t want us in their country any more then the Japanese wanted us invading. Why is it that the idea of us winning the “hearts and minds of the Japanese ” in 1945 is rightly considered insane, but winning the hearts and minds of people who only take comfort in warfare and death is considered “policy”?

        In both cases the direct path to victory isn’t pretending we like the country that wants us dead. The Afghans for the most part don’t like us, don’t want us there, and are trading their “police” uniforms after dark for the enemy’s to snipe at our men . Best to dispense with the pretense of “nation building” and start from scratch, five megatons at a time.

        Given Afghanistans history and geography, a couple of nukes might actually improve the place.

  3. Pretty sure the guard probably had ties to the Taliban. And it’s also my understanding that homosexuality is rampant amongst the Taliban but also al Qaeda.

  4. My son was in the so-called green zone in Baghdad. Nothing safe or “gun free” about anywhere in Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s a colossal waste of time, money & American lives to help these people. It’s a Muslim hellhole

  5. @Nick D
    April 24, 2014
    “Evil is like a cancer, and the best known treatment for cancer is a stout dose of radiation.”

    What goes around….

  6. Ironically (or stupidly), the gunman is being treated at the same hospital he had just shot up.

    Another note: These open massacre zones are a joke and reek of political correctness. It’s like being disarmed of my M4 and knife when I was at Bagram Prison, even though I was a Soldier that had to deal with inmates on a daily basis.

  7. This may explain a lot/or not. Who knows if these numbers are correct? I doubt Census takers are welcome in any area of Afghanistan.

    0-14 years: 42.6% (male 6,733,097/female 6,520,116)
    15-24 years: 21.9% (male 3,479,696/female 3,346,154)
    25-54 years: 29.1% (male 4,623,203/female 4,440,635)
    55-64 years: 3.8% (male 585,629/female 605,018)
    65 years and over: 2.5% (male 360,395/female 414,134) (2013 est.)

    So over 60% of the population today were less than 10 when 911 occurred. And over 55 there aren’t too many folks left.

    So we have an uneducated population who have fought foreigners for years, little education, do not want Christians around, hate Americans and Russians and we are there to help?

    I doubt if many or any Afghans or Pakistani folks even know where the border between the two countries is.

    Somewhat arrogant of us to decide they are different countries (same religion, same families, same morals, same sh** on everything).

    And we decide they are like a 21st century country?

    Sorry about the docs but you have to wonder. Being peaceful and there to help wont keep you alive. And while marvelous things are happening over there, it’s still somewhat dangerous.

    Our politicians are dumber than I thought but you’d better believe someone in America is making money on this one. Hell, we can’t help Detroit or Chicago so we go there?

    • So what’s your solution? Let Pakistan take over the whole place? Those two-faced bastards haven’t exactly been cooperative.

      It sounds like you pity them, but you underestimate their capabilities. You forget that this is the same non-21st century country that 9/11 was planned and carried out from. For people who, according to you, don’t know where the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is, they sure do seem to utilize that border to attack our forces and then slip back into Pakistan, where they know we can’t go. Or shoot at our patrols from across that border.

      If this article tells us anything, its that we should not underestimate the lengths our enemy will go to to kill even a few peaceful doctors.

  8. “Gun free zones” are more problematic in war zones than normal “gun free zones.” I am not willing to truly make that statement. Gun free zones anywhere are idiotic, anywhere. Gun free zones are observed by doctors, lawyers, engineers, plumbers, teachers, professors, electricians, IT, nurses, and just about every other law abiding profession, but not criminals–the non-lawabiding profession, and not by the mentally unstable or Muslim jihadists.

  9. More do-gooders killed by the seventh-century barbarians they were foolish enough to think they could help.

    Afghan security, LOL. Hello, fox, welcome to your first day guarding the henhouse! What’s next? A rehab program for pedophiles where they teach sex ed at middle schools?

  10. I’m plum outta idealism about Ashcanistan, and the Middle East in general.

    I say we pull back and nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

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