Number 105

Kentucky's 105th sacrifice to the unquenchable maw of the Iraq-AfPak Clusterfuck is Air Force Lt. Colonel John D. Loftis of Paducah.

He was a Pashto speaker working on the latest futile effort to win Afghan hearts and minds. His reward was getting shot in the head by an Afghan working in the same building.

Now can we bug the fuck out of that stone age hellhole?

From the Courier:

An airman from Paducah, Ky., was one of two U.S. military advisers killed in an attack at the Interior Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced Sunday.

Lt. Col. John D. Loftis, 44, died Saturday from wounds received during the attack, confirmed Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman Capt. Kristen Duncan.

The advisers were found dead after being shot in the head in their office, The Associated Press reported. A manhunt was under way for the main suspect in the shooting — an Afghan man who worked as a driver for an office on the same floor as the advisers, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said.

Loftis was a member of the 866th Air Expeditionary Squadron and was working in the ministry as a chief adviser to a program that developed a team of U.S. service personnel skilled in Afghan and Pakistani culture and language.

He spoke the Pashto language proficiently and had limited skills in Dari and Arabic, according to the Defense Department.

SNIP

Fiel credited Loftis with helping to improve Afghan society. “We will never forget, and the Afghan people should never forget, ... the valuable contributions he made to their country and community,” he said.

Loftis leaves behind a wife and two daughters.