A Pentagon advisor and military strategist believes the killings of U.S. service members at the hands of Afghan police present a serious problem for coalition forces trying to complete their mission there.
Terrorists recently fired rockets into a U.S. base in Afghanistan, damaging the plane of the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff while he was there on a visit. The top American military chief was not near the plane at the time of the attack, and no one was injured.
Retired Army Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis, senior fellow for national security at the Family Research Council (FRC), explains that Army Gen. Martin Dempsey was in Afghanistan to discuss the state of the war following a string of killings of U.S. military trainers by their Afghan partners.
"He was there to talk to the command about what we call [green-on-blue] attacks; in other words, Afghans attacking American or allied forces," Maginnis details.
He says such attacks are part of an effort by the Taliban to reclaim control of the country once the U.S. and allied forces pull out.
"I fully expect that once most of our forces are gone -- the reliability of the Afghan forces not being very high -- that the Taliban will make a play for retaking that country," the strategist predicts.
Maginnis adds that green-on-blue attacks are a serious problem for coalition forces trying to complete their mission in Afghanistan.
"If you can't trust them not to shoot you, than that's really going to undermine the effect that we have with them," he concludes.