Chairman King Calls on Director of National Intelligence to Investigate Killings of U.S. Troops by Afghan Forces
August 21, 2012
Also Urges Defense Secretary to Disclose All Details of These Attacks
Washington, D.C. – Today, following as many as 40 attacks this year on U.S. and NATO troops by members of the Afghan security forces, Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, called on the Director of National Intelligence to lead an investigation of the killings and urged the Defense Department to disclose all details of the attacks.
Within the last several weeks, at least 10 U.S. troops have been killed in these attacks, including Marine Corps Lance Corporal Greg Buckley, Jr., a constituent of Rep. King in the 3rd Congressional District of New York. Rep. King attended Lance Corporal Buckley’s funeral on Saturday.
In an effort to ensure that every effort is being made to stop these killings and protect our troops, Chairman King made his requests today in separate letters to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
In the letter to Panetta, Chairman King wrote: “We cannot address this growing crisis for our mission in Afghanistan unless we first understand how many such incidents have taken place, who has perpetrated them, which Coalition units have suffered these attacks, and under what circumstances.”
Rep. King has been requesting similar information on this issue since he and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman held a joint hearing on December 7, 2011 to examine threats against our military.
The signed letter that Chairman King sent to Secretary Panetta today is available HERE.
The signed letter that Chairman King sent to Director Clapper today is available HERE.
The text of both letters follows:
August 21, 2012
1400 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1400
I write further to my inquiries that began prior to the December 7, 2011 joint House/Senate Homeland Security Committees’ hearing on threats to military communities, to request an accounting of “green on blue” casualties suffered by Coalition Forces in Afghanistan.
It is reported that as many as forty such attacks have taken place against Coalition Forces by members of the Afghan security forces and local nationals employed by our forces this year, causing at least 13% of Coalition casualties, including 11 men killed in the last two weeks alone. One of our slain servicemen was a constituent, Marine Corps Lance Corporal Greg Buckley, Jr.
The statistics cited above are unofficial. In preparing for our December 7th hearing, I was surprised that the military claimed that it did not then track green on blue casualties. A phenomenon now resulting in such a high proportion of our dead deserves both close study, which I trust you have undertaken, and also disclosure to Congress of the scope of the problem.
We cannot address this growing crisis for our mission in Afghanistan unless we first understand how many such incidents have taken place, who has perpetrated them, and which Coalition units have suffered these attacks, and under what circumstances.
I have also asked the Director of National Intelligence to lead an interagency counterintelligence survey of the Afghan security forces, on an expedited basis, to address this critical matter.
If you have any questions regarding this letter, please have your staff contact my Committee staff at 202-226-8417. Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter of national security.cc: General James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence
August 21, 2012
I write as Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security to request that you lead an interagency counterintelligence survey of the Afghan security forces, on an expedited basis, to address “green on blue” shootings.
As many as forty attacks have taken place against Coalition Forces by members of the Afghan security forces and local nationals employed by our forces this year, causing at least 13% of Coalition casualties, including 11 men killed in the last two weeks alone. This likely indicates serious vetting problems, including Taliban penetration of the Afghan security forces.
I am reliably informed that reporting on counterintelligence problems in Afghan units advised and trained by U.S. forces has been suppressed, out of a misplaced fear of reflecting badly upon those units’ American advisers and trainers. Such concerns must now plainly come second to addressing a growing crisis for our mission in Afghanistan, posed by green on blue shootings.
The military need not undertake this task alone. The Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are well-placed to assist the Defense Intelligence Agency and the service components’ intelligence branches in conducting such a counterintelligence survey.
I have also asked the Secretary of Defense to ascertain how many green on blue incidents have taken place, who has perpetrated them, which Coalition units have suffered these attacks, and under what circumstances.
If you have any questions regarding this letter, please have your staff contact my Committee staff at 202-226-8417. Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter of national security.
cc: The Honorable Leon E. Panetta, Secretary of Defense