General Petraeus Explains British PM the Circumstances of Linda Norgrove’s Death

British Prime Minister David Cameron is meeting in London top commander of the coalition forces in Afghanistan General David Petraeus to discuss the matter of the accidental death of Linda Norgrove, killed by a fragmentation grenade tossed by a U.S. Seal Team Six soldier in the eastern Kunar province.

Cameron and Petraeus are holding these talks as a result of the fact that the American general is doing his best to avoid a scandal between the two countries and armies after the U.S. headquarters in Afghanistan had informed London that Norgrove was killed by her kidnappers.

As soon as he got word that an American soldier may have been guilty of accidentally killing her, Petraeus phoned Downing Street immediately to make an attempt at making things right.

Furthermore, the Norgrove family thanked Petraeus for “not sweeping it under the carpet,” while the soldier in question is likely to face disciplinary action, according to a statement of the U.S. military issued today.

It is expected that the meeting today be somewhat tense because there are still details that need clarification. Even though both parties agree they handled the situation perfectly, they cannot oversee the fact that the tragedy has occurred.

Even though it becomes more and more clear that the U.S. soldier is responsible for her death, it is expected that people may understand the situation, especially considering the conditions of the rescue operation.

The only thing the soldier could be accused of, and possibly disciplined for, is that he withheld information from his superiors and failed to admit he had tossed the grenade.

Otherwise, British PM said that “the responsibility for this lies with those who cowardly, ruthlessly took her hostage.”

Linda Norgrove, 36, was kidnapped on September 26, in the province of Kunar where she was working for Development Alternatives Inc.

The British and American intelligence services had been monitoring the progress of the situation, and tapped into the conversations her kidnappers were engaged into, and it was there they found out that they were planning to treat her “like the Russian,” that is the way they had treated Soviet prisoners of war in the 1980s.

At that point a rescue operation was considered and it was implemented. At the moment the Seal Team Six troopers engaged in combat the kidnappers, Norgrove succeeded to free herself from her “guardian” and tried to get out when the American trooper tossed the grenade that killed her.

At first, the Americans released the information that she might have been killed by the kidnapper that was holding her hostage, who blew himself up along with her, but upon viewing the video recording of the mission they saw the fragmentation grenade, they had no knowledge about, nor did they expect to find there, since it is highly irregular for the fragmentation grenades to be tossed in the kind of rescue operations that involve hostages.

However difficult it may be for Petraeus to explain this situation, he is in London to approach another issue, too.

British Defense Ministry is attempting to cut on the expenses for the army, which is cause for concern for the U.S.-led coalition, given that UK is a very important factor of stability in Afghanistan.

Petraeus is looking in London for assurances that after the British review of defense financing the UK army will stay in place and continue their mission in Afghanistan.