Saturday, April 13, 2013

One Week After, Details Keep Emerging

AP photo from video, minutes after the attack in
which Anne Smedinghoff and four others were killed















Consumer Notice: This post is certified 100% free of Matters of Official Concern that are not referenced from publicly available sources of information.

 As Domani Spero asked just the other day, can it possibly get any worse than this? I think it could very well get worse, if and when the public gets the results of the on-going FBI investigation into the attack, or those of any investigation the Defense Department may be conducting.

It's quite bad enough already, judging by the details that have come out so far. Let's see ... the book donation visit to the Sheik Baba Metti school by a team from the U.S. Embassy and PRT Zabul was announced to the press one day in advance. But, despite that lack of operational security, the team was allowed to walk to the school from the PRT's base at FOB Smart rather than use protected vehicles. The roughly 100-meter long route to the school evidently wasn't swept before the team's walk, or blocked to traffic during the movement. The team's military escort didn't know which gate to use to enter the school - a school that the PRT itself funded and regularly visited - which required the team to double back to FOB Smart and further expose themselves to attack.

Lastly, the attack reportedly involved a roadside bomb as well as a suicide driver in a bomb-laden vehicle. If that's true, it means that the Taliban were able to plant a command-detonated bomb in the street immediately outside FOB Smart despite the surveillance that street was undoubtedly under by both the U.S. and Afghan military.  

The latest details come from an Associate Press story today which quotes an anonymous State Department official.

A senior State Department [official] familiar with the investigation into the attack told the Associated Press that the group was walking, not driving, from a military base to the nearby school in Zabul Province when the explosion hit.

[snip]

The official was not authorized to speak to the news media and provided the details on condition of anonymity.

[snip]

The official said on-foot travel for the group was approved because of the short distance — about 100 yards — between the base and the school compound, and was in keeping with past visits to the site, which also houses an Afghan Ministry of Agriculture office.

Because of the proximity, the group would have had to get out of their vehicles at the military base, the official said.

He said the group took the shortest and most direct route from the base but was told on arrival that the entrance they wanted to use, and had been used previously, no longer provided access to the school.

The group was moving past the military base to another entrance to the compound at the time of the explosion, apparently from a suicide car bomber. That was followed by a second blast, apparently from a roadside bomb.

UK Guardian graphic
















Why was the team allowed to walk to the school? Why was that short transit from the FOB to the school so badly planned? Why didn't anyone notice an explosive device planted seemingly right outside the FOB's perimeter wall? Will any official body be convened to ask these questions?

The regulations governing Accountability Review Boards have a limited exception for incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan, so I assume one will not be convened in this case. (I cannot find a citation extending that exception into 2013, but maybe there is one and I'm just not looking in the right place.)

However, the State Department seriously needs an independent review here, not least for reasons of Congressional relations. It would be well advised to convene one, ideally in conjunction with the Defense Department. 

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

TSB -
How many senior State Department officials are there who would be familiar with the investigation? Let me guess... that doesn't include the official spokesman

Is this what people call a sanctioned "leak" ???









James said...

This just screams "inside job". You're right TSB, it's going to get much worse.

TSB said...

I don't think that was an authorized 'unauthorized' interview, since it does nothing to advance the Dept's interests. There will be plenty of people in Washington with details about the incident, and apparently there are also plenty of people who are angry about the casual way that school visit was handled.

Depending on how much of this is DOD's fault, Congress might not care to make it a political football. It could become another Camp Bastion (what's that?) instead of another Benghazi.

Anonymous said...

TSB: These Boston terrorists may have been 'amateurs' and the bombs may have been 'crude devices' but these guys definitely didn't need the FBI's assistance to set the whole thing up and get away. I'm guessing they are graduates of
'GWOTU'. gwb

TSB said...

I'll bet it was a single actor (a lone wolf), since those are the ones most likely to actually get an attack launched without being detected. I'll further guess the devices were fairly rudimentary (materials easily and legally obtained, medium level of expertise and planning required) since that's in keeping with the lone wolf theory. He picked a great place to blend in with the crowd when he planted the devices, so I'll go out on a limb and say that surveillance video will be useless.

The big question is, was it foreign or domestic? There, I have no idea.

James said...

I'm going with more than one. But I'm with you on the devices. Guess; foreign.
Long shot; It's tied to your post above and is part of a campaign.

Anonymous said...

I'm going with Saudi terror cell based on 1.the guy on the roof with hoodie and cell phone. 2.The Saudi student and his room-mate AND
the fact they are saying they had nothing to do with it. (We protect our Saudi friends). 3. The guy taken off? the plane at Logan for speaking arabic? 4. The media and the politicians (like DiFi) are talking really dumb and obviously know a lot more than they are telling. gwb

Anonymous said...

TSB: Please tell 'daring adventure' to keep those great posts coming. Especially about the bird flu! Apparently it's really taking off. More pigs, dogs, people, are dying and panic is high! Thanks! gwb

James said...

I'm peddling this everywhere (my latest theory on Boston).
Alright here's my conspiracy theory of the year. Boston: I think the Syrians did it. We're backing some odd birds against him and he's been threatening us about it. Syrian agents pull off a bombing with means and methods of Al Queda at a high profile event. Sends a message to Obama, turns public support away from whoever our allies are, and increases public dissension here. If true, the Administration would REALLY try to bottle the truth up on this one.

Anonymous said...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/obama-meets-saudi-foreign-minister-discusses-syria-223009934.html

Obama: 'Remember that 9/11 thing?
Looks like the same outfit.'
Saudi FM: 'You're the one who had to drone Yemen'.
gwb

Anonymous said...

Wow James, That's far out! But look at the photos of those 2 guys with the big black bombpacks.(one dark, one white) They are said to be contractors with 'Craft'. They are talking to each other and to others on cell phones. Next Tuesday State says the Saudi students will be deported. How does that fit your theory and how much is it selling for? gwb

TSB said...

About the Saudi student who is being departed, that is not the one in the hospital in Boston, but an unrelated person who is being deported for visa violations. According The Hill newspaper today, the deportee entered on a student visa and then failed to register for school. No connection between him and the Boston Marathon.

James said...

Anonymous,
Never thought I'd get much for it, but it was an interesting thought. The Syrians have a competent enough security organization to pull off a one time ground event in the US. And if you want to make it appear AQ related use some Saudis, which I don't doubt they could find some willing to do it. Look it is a long shot speculation, but Assad (Syrians) are known to do this.

Anonymous said...

TSB: Two Chechen brothers from Dagestan, members of a Wahhabi cell funded by Saudi al Qaeda, were identified as the terrorists who detonated two bombs at the Boston Marathon last Monday. gwb

James said...

Well it looks like I'm going to look dumb here (my friends say I have a talent for that), but I'm still suspicious especially with a Syrian PR campaign against our involvement just kicked off.

TSB said...

Maybe the bombers were backed by people opposed to The Gang of Eight's immigration/amnesty bill. The more that comes out about these Chechens and their asylum status, welfare benefits, etc., the less It looks like that bill will pass.

Just kidding about the comspiracy part, but seriously, I'll take whatever works.