Skip to main content
Tags: North | Greene | killing | vetting

Col. Oliver North: Killing of Gen. Greene Should Spark Vetting Process

Col. Oliver North: Killing of Gen. Greene Should Spark Vetting Process
(Handout/Reuters/Landov)

By    |   Wednesday, 06 August 2014 03:20 PM EDT

The death of two-star Army General Harold J. Greene in Afghanistan on Tuesday should spark a more intense vetting process for military personnel hired by a host country where U.S. troops are serving, said Lt. Col. Oliver North.

"Vetting and clearing local personnel is the responsibility of the host government, whether it's Afghanistan or Iraq or even Jordan, or maybe even Turkey," North, a retired Marine officer, told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "I do think it's going to increase the need for vetting, whether it's 10,000 troops we leave behind or fewer."

The gunman, who was thought to be an Afghan soldier, may have had no ties to the Taliban, and could have been a "sleeper jihadist" who acted independently, North said Wednesday.

Vote Now: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance?

"I'm told that the perpetrator, like so many others who've conducted these insider attacks, was very likely a radical Islamist who joined the Afghan national security forces specifically because he wanted to carry out jihad, and waited for a target of opportunity," he said.

Senior military officers have a Personal Security Detachment, North explained, that accompanies them "to inspect and make sure that our resources are being properly applied to the fight." He said the military might need to upgrade the use of PSDs, given the threat faced by U.S. troops still in Afghanistan.

North said he did not anticipate that Tuesday's attack would alter the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. He said military forces were "vulnerable to this kind of thing" if a host nation was not "doing the kinds of clearance that they need."

North called it "good news" if reports were true that Iraqi forces killed 60 militants in an airstrike on Wednesday in Mosul. While the regime of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was still "shaky," he said the incident could show that the militant forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were not as impenetrable as they first appeared.

"If this report is true, it shows ISIL is not invincible. And, it's the first real reversal that they've experienced since they invaded Iraq and declared much of Iraq in the north and the west to be part of their new caliphate," he said.

Urgent: Discover your risk for heart disease, take the test now!

Related Stories:

© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Newsfront
The death of two-star Army General Harold J. Greene in Afghanistan on Tuesday should spark a more intense vetting process for military personnel hired by a host country where U.S. troops are serving, said Lt. Col. Oliver North.
North, Greene, killing, vetting
405
2014-20-06
Wednesday, 06 August 2014 03:20 PM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
TOP

Interest-Based Advertising | Do not sell or share my personal information

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the Newsmax App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved