Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling: Attack on National Guard in D.C. Appears ‘Targeted,’ Similar to ‘Fratricide Incidents’ Seen in War Zones

RUSH EXCERPT:

HERTLING: “Well, it’s interesting you should mention that, elise, I just finished writing an article that will appear in The Bulwark probably tomorrow or Monday about exactly that. And I experienced both a blue on blue and a green on blue fratricide incident within my command in Iraq. And both of those are devastating to the units involved because it really breaks down the trust. Is our friendly partner going to do something? Is it a fratricide where one of our fellow soldiers commits this action? Well, in this case, it was a former partner from Afghanistan, someone who had worked with American forces arbitrarily just going on a street corner and attacking two soldiers. So we’re not sure what his motivations are. And I can’t certainly determine what those are, but it certainly feels much more than, say, maybe a murder or a criminal roaming the streets of of Washington, D.C. this was a targeted attack, so it bears some resemblance to those kinds of fratricide incidents that you were just talking about. And a unit like the West Virginia National Guard is going to take this much more solemnly than just an accident or an attack by a criminal. This this was something different. This was a targeted attack, general.”