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| Afghanistan |
| State Department changes story on Afghanistan blast that killed diplomat |
| 2013-04-12 |
| The State Department has acknowledged that five U.S. personnel killed in Afghanistan, including 25-year-old diplomat Anne Smedinghoff, were on foot when they were attacked by a suicide bomber, and not in an armored vehicle, as officials had told bereaved relatives earlier this week. The violent deaths of U.S. diplomatic personnel — and the State Department’s changing account of how they died — harken back to the debacle in Benghazi, Libya, where Islamist extremists killed four Americans in assaults on the U.S. diplomatic compound on Sept. 11. “We are able to clarify at this point that they were in a walking movement from the [Provincial Reconstruction Team’s base] down to the school down the road,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters Wednesday. Mr. Ventrell said the school was “a short distance away” — reports on the ground say 200 yards — and that all the U.S. civilians in the group were wearing personal protective gear. The five killed — Ms. Smedinghoff; a civilian U.S. government contractor who has not been named; and soldiers Staff Sgt. Christopher M. Ward, 24, of Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Spc. Wilbel A. Robles-Santa, 25, of Juncos, Puerto Rico; and Spc. Delfin M. Santos Jr., 24, of San Jose, Calif. — were all members of a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) who were taking a U.S. donation of books to the local school in Qalat. |
| Posted by:Glineck Angavick9938 |
| #5 Everyone has to remember the Taliban is opposed to anything except reading the Queeran. Classes in chemistry, physics, math, language, reading, and economics are opposed by the Taliban. When the empty suit pulls us out of Afghanistan, the Taliban will systematically, blow up or burn all of the schools and books, murder the teachers, and slap the students around for being apostates going to a real school. Welcome to the new dark ages Afghanistan, I hope you enjoy the Stone Age. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2013-04-12 16:42 |
| #4 The U.S. Government contractor's name is online I even saw it on FB. It's PJ CMSgt Nick McCaskill. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2013-04-12 07:59 |
| #3 Odd a group(=>5) in PPE would walk 200m out to the wrong building then head back 200m carrying books. Wonder if the GC was her bodyguard? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2013-04-12 06:19 |
| #2 It is a mystery to me how, or for what reason the State Department got it wrong. Personally, I'm only mystified when US State dep. gets something right. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-04-12 01:58 |
| #1 One report indicated the explosion also killed two Afghan civilians and narrowly missed the Zabul governor, Mohammad Ashraf Nasert. Perhaps Nasert or the event at the school were the actual targets. These types of attacks are investigated immediately by the Army. It is a mystery to me how, or for what reason the State Department got it wrong. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-04-12 01:51 |