Analysis: Comparison to My Lai is not entirely out of place

FOR those of us old enough to live through the messy war in Vietnam, this latest tragedy evokes memories of the appalling massacre in My Lai, where in 1968 a group of US soldiers ran amok, seeking revenge among innocent civilians.

In scale, there are few similarities with this latest incident in Afghanistan, there having been between 350 and 500 Vietnamese slaughtered, most of them women and children. Back then, an entire US platoon was involved, whereas this incident would seem to be the work of one crazed individual.

But increases in the speed and reach of world communications means that the murder of 15 Afghan civilians could have equally far-reaching consequences in the region, in US domestic opposition circles and on world opinion. Coming on top of the bloody reprisals following the accidental burning of the Koran by American servicemen, and in a week when six British soldiers were killed, the overall impression for many will be that we have “lost it” – and it is high time either to get out now, or to accelerate the pace of withdrawal.

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Let’s hope for steadier nerves at the top of governments in Kabul, Washington and London, because either course of action would most certainly contribute to far greater long-term chaos for every day Afghans. What’s more, for all the setbacks, a great deal has been achieved in the country, albeit only in the last four years.

Let’s pray that President Karzai will not forget that US and British servicemen have been subjected to a number of deadly assaults. Sadly, the more likely outcome could be a rise in bodies repatriated to America.

All because low-level leaders missed the signs of incipient psychosis in one very distressed individual.

 Clive Fairweather is a former deputy commander of the SAS.

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