"Somebody got itchy, that's all I've got to say. Somebody got itchy – we just adjust," said the sergeant who was told to clear the hall of weapons.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew....

By Raf Sanchez, Washington

9:06PM GMT 14 Mar 2012

Less than a week after a US staff sergeant allegedly massacred 16 civilians in Kandahar, American soldiers were banned from bringing guns into a talk by Mr Panetta at a base in Helmand province.

Around 200 troops who had gathered in a tent at Camp Leatherneck were told "something had come to light" and asked abruptly to file outside and lay down their automatic rifles and 9mm pistols.

"Somebody got itchy, that's all I've got to say. Somebody got itchy – we just adjust," said the sergeant who was told to clear the hall of weapons.

Major General Mark Gurganus later said he gave the order because Afghan troops attending the talk were unarmed and he wanted the policy to be consistent for all.

"You've got one of the most important people in the world in the room," he told the New York Times, insisting that the decision was unrelated to Sunday's killings. "This is not a big deal."
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However, US troops often remain armed even when their Afghan colleagues have been asked to lay down their weapons and the incident is believed to be the first time they were stripped of guns during an address by their own secretary of defence.

The Ministry of Defence was unable to confirm reports that a small number of British troops had also been asked to put down their weapons.

Mr Panetta told the troops that the massacre of civilians and the resulting Afghan fury would not affect plans to keep US troops in the country until the end of 2014.

"We will be challenged by our enemies, we will be challenged by ourselves, we will be challenged by the hell of war itself," he said

First time troops have been disarmed for a sec of defense.

Hell *I* was visited by a sec of defense...stood within 2 feet of him chatting and I WAS ARMED, very visibly so ( M-16 with a M-203 grenade launcher attached, a knife in my web belt, etc..). No one was the least bit concerned.

This sends a VERY clear message: The current leadership does NOT trust it's own soldiers.

It would be politically-incorrect to disarm only the Muslim soldiers.

No way do they want these guys coming home...

Folks,

Bezzle's got it right. Not only was it politically incorrect, it was a violation of the standing theater military protocol.

My son was sitting there. Almost all of the attendees were Marines or Navy, with very few Air Force or Army, if any. The Air Force and Army have been kind of trying to stay out of the limelight since the Koran affair and now the alleged killings. I talked to him about it. This was not a big deal and it hasn't been the first time where they've had to attend disarmed for Sec Def or POTUS visits with allies in the room.

What made it awkward was that it was a theater staff command orders screw-up. The order to attend to the Afghans said no weapons, and the one to the MEF did not have it. Some staffee officer is to blame.

Gurganus was the first to hand over his personal weapon and he did it very visibly. Even the Sec Def security team, which included two Secret Service personnel handed over their weapons. Brits as well. Funny, there was a sudden problem of finding enough tables for the sidearms, since they shouldn't be placed on the ground.

People in the meeting say it wouldn't have made a difference anyway. Many of the Marines in there were trained MARSOC and SEAL types and crowd was so close that even with a grenade or if someone wanted someone killed they could have done it with their bare hands easily and not been stopped. There were no armed guards allowed at all in the building.

In any case, although Panetta is not for many an ideal Sec Def, more people in Camp Leatherneck today would rather go after Rumsfeld than Panetta. Rumsfeld was the architect of this mess. Panetta is only trying to pick up the pieces he inherited and has done fairly well. At least all of the Marines in Leatherneck have their personal body armor nowadays. When Rumsfeld was Sec Def, parents had to pay to get their children good body armor. Once Iran started, Afghanistan was the forgotten stepchild theater of war. Lots of wasted lives.

I agree with what you're saying Nuke, far too many people give the prior administration credit for supporting the military when all they wanted to do was bleed it dry. How many guys actually died for lack of decent vehicles and body armor versus Obama's birth certificate or his understanding of military protocol?