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According to an eyewitness, and Afghan boy neared Karzai’s vehicle. Karazi leaned out to shake his hand, as is the custom, and an Afghan in uniform moved forward and fired between four and eight rounds into the car wounding Kandahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai in the neck. The assassin, a former Taliban, had been recruited into the Kandahar Palace Guard only 17 days earlier.
A 23-year-old shopkeeper, who had some martial arts background, wrestled the hitman to the ground and another friendly jumped in to assist. At that point the SEAL blazed away with most of a magazine from an MP5 submachine gun, killing all three.

I described the incident to two experienced law-enforcement types who stated that if this incident had occurred in the United States by a law-enforcement department it more than likely it would more than likely been classified as a “bad shooting.” One SWAT team member said, “The SEAL, if he pulled that in the United States, would have been charged with “voluntary manslaughter,” or even “second degree murder.”

But that’s in the United States. A highly decorated Vietnam veteran SEAL gave the other side of story. “Look,” he said, “the mission of the SEALS was to eliminate the threat. What if the Taliban shooter broke away and tossed a grenade in the car: Or pulled out a pistol and popped his target in the face?
The SEAL went on to say, “The assassin certainly met the definition of a threat because he fired a weapon. In this type of situation, in a combat zone, you eliminate the threat and then worry about the collateral damage. The SEAL shooter did the right thing.”

SEAL Team Six in Kabul: Eliminate the Threat
by Lt. Col. Robert K. Brown, USAR (Ret.)

SEAL Team Six, also known as the Naval Development Group, added another chapter to their controversial but murky history when one of its operatives blew away a would-be assassin attempting to take out Afghan President Hamid Karzai on 5 September in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Unfortunately, in the course of so doing, he also blew away two bystanders who had jumped the bad guy and wrestled him to the ground as soon as he started shooting.

Karzai was in Kandahar, his hometown, for the wedding of his youngest brother. He had completed his evening prayers and was being given a tour of the governor’s mansion across from the mosque. Hundreds of supporters were milling around the gates as his entourage prepared to leave when the shooter made his move.

According to an eyewitness, and Afghan boy neared Karzai’s vehicle. Karazi leaned out to shake his hand, as is the custom, and an Afghan in uniform moved forward and fired between four and eight rounds into the car wounding Kandahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai in the neck. The assassin, a former Taliban, had been recruited into the Kandahar Palace Guard only 17 days earlier.
A 23-year-old shopkeeper, who had some martial arts background, wrestled the hitman to the ground and another friendly jumped in to assist. At that point the SEAL blazed away with most of a magazine from an MP5 submachine gun, killing all three.

I described the incident to two experienced law-enforcement types who stated that if this incident had occurred in the United States by a law-enforcement department it more than likely it would more than likely been classified as a “bad shooting.” One SWAT team member said, “The SEAL, if he pulled that in the United States, would have been charged with “voluntary manslaughter,” or even “second degree murder.”

But that’s in the United States. A highly decorated Vietnam veteran SEAL gave the other side of story. “Look,” he said, “the mission of the SEALS was to eliminate the threat. What if the Taliban shooter broke away and tossed a grenade in the car: Or pulled out a pistol and popped his target in the face?
The SEAL went on to say, “The assassin certainly met the definition of a threat because he fired a weapon. In this type of situation, in a combat zone, you eliminate the threat and then worry about the collateral damage. The SEAL shooter did the right thing.”

This particular SEAL mission is scheduled to end on or before 15 November. The Pentagon wants their special operators back as they have additional important missions for them, and figure that they can be replaced by Marines with embassy experience — who know the diplomatic-protection drill. These Marines will receive additional training and be controlled by the State Department Security.
Initially, Delta Force personnel, who receive a comprehensive block of instruction on executive protection as part of their Operator’s Training Course, (see sidebar) provided Karzai’s security. The security mission was handed-off to the SEALs sometime in August.


Executive Protection: Delta Force-Style
by Command Sergeant Major (Ret.) Eric L. Haney

Protecting the life of a high-ranking political figure targeted for death is the most difficult job on the face of the earth. It is a job the operational members of Delta Force have been performing continuously for almost a quarter of a century, and they have a perfect record. And even though these men ply their trade in the most dangerous spots on the globe no one under the protection of Delta Force has ever so much as received a scratch — though there have been a couple of close calls.
In 1978 I was one of a small handful of men selected by Colonel Charlie Beckwith in the formation of 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-D, or as it later came to be known: Delta Force. And it is interesting to contemplate now that our first mission — undertaken even before we were completely operational —was a protection mission. We were asked by the Secret Service to provide two operators who were expert skiers to work with former President Gerald Ford during his annual ski vacation. The Secret Service had only a few agents who were skiers, but since skiing is a common Ranger and Special Forces skill, we were glad to oblige.

This is also another case that reminds me again of the foresight and genius of Charlie Beckwith. There was no reason to think that we, as a counterterrorist force, were going to be called upon to provide diplomatic or VIP protection, yet Colonel Beckwith had insisted it be part of the Operators Training Course and, once again, Beckwith was proved right.

Our original training in protection was provided by the Secret Service and was then followed-up by instruction from the State Department. We learned and practiced in cities all over the East Coast what seemed like an unlimited number of tasks: Offensive driving, convoy operations, walking formations, successive layers of security, security surveys, and a host of other skills. But the one thing we already had, and had better than anyone else on the planet, was our shooting skills. Simply put, the Delta Force Operator is the finest combat shooter alive and for that reason alone we were of inestimable valuable to the Secret Service and State Department.

Then, as now, State Department Security was charged with the protection of ambassadors posted overseas, the security of American embassies around the world, and providing security services for certain visiting diplomats in the U.S.

But back in 1979, State was having a difficult time. Until then, life in an overseas embassy-posting had been pretty benign, but that was changing rapidly. The American Ambassador to Greece had been assassinated, American embassies in several countries had been attacked, and there were credible death threats on our ambassadors in such garden spots as Beirut, El Salvador, and a few other places where locals took exception to the American worldview.

For a lot of reasons the State Department was having trouble coping with the threat it was facing. That’s when Charlie Beckwith stepped in and offered them a deal they couldn’t refuse.
Charlie told the State Department he would provide them with operators for posting to their most threatened embassies; men who could not only fight, but train and lead local bodyguards — something we were good at and State didn’t like doing. All State had to do was provide initial training in their methods. After that, we would train our own people. It was a great deal for the State Department and they jumped at it before Colonel Beckwith could change his mind. It is a vital mission Delta has performed ever since.

So in the future, when you survey the evening news and see someone of high political rank, and of vital importance to America, living and working in one of the more dangerous places of the world rest assured that person is probably being protected by the most capable protection operatives that have ever lived.

For more than 20 years, Command Sergeant Major (Ret.) Eric L. Haney served in the United States Army’s most demanding combat units: as a Combat Infantryman, a Ranger and ultimately as a founding member and eight-year veteran of the Army’s super-secret counterterrorist arm, Delta Force. In his bucolic retirement, Haney has protected princes, presidents, and CEOs alike. He has negotiated with Latin American guerrillas for the safe return of hostages, rescued American children kidnapped around the world, and provided security for international companies operating in the most dangerous regions on earth. Today, Haney lives and writes in the relative peace and quiet of Marietta, Georgia. He is the author of the best-selling book: Inside Delta Force: The Story of America’s Elite Counterterrorist Unit, published by Delacorte Press, and is currently at work on his next book.