Italy bribed the Taleban, but didn't inform the incoming French; 10 troops killed

[Tristram]

French troops were killed after Italy hushed up ‘bribes’ to Taleban

When ten French soldiers were killed last year in an ambush by Afghan insurgents in what had seemed a relatively peaceful area, the French public were horrified.

Their revulsion increased with the news that many of the dead soldiers had been mutilated — and with the publication of photographs showing the militants triumphantly sporting their victims’ flak jackets and weapons. The French had been in charge of the Sarobi area, east of Kabul, for only a month, taking over from the Italians; it was one of the biggest single losses of life by Nato forces in Afghanistan.

What the grieving nation did not know was that in the months before the French soldiers arrived in mid-2008, the Italian secret service had been paying tens of thousands of dollars to Taleban commanders and local warlords to keep the area quiet, The Times has learnt. The clandestine payments, whose existence was hidden from the incoming French forces, were disclosed by Western military officials.

Full article here.

So these guys basically funded terrorism to keep the casualties down. I can understand that logic, even if it's retarded and immoral. But not telling the guys who are taking over? Holy sh**.

[sprout]

Wow, I can't believe they sat back and let the French soliders get slaughtered. Revolting.