As we mourn the loss of 30 US servicemen in Afghanistan today, among them members of beloved SEAL Team Six, the nature of the mission that they have been on, and that all of their fellow forces in the ISAF coalition have been on for nearly a decade, must come into focus if The Madness is ever to be brought to a stop.

To that end, I note another story of loss, this one from a Guardian report on yet another inquest into the death of yet another British marine. These uniquely British proceeedings prove to be a mainstay of detailed information on the proceedings of the war that are otherwise unavailable to us.

Corporal Stephen Curley, 26, died instantly when a roadside bomb detonated by a 14-year-old boy in Helmand last May.

His patrol's mission?

"The fatal patrol was organised as part of an effort to reassure local people concerned about their safety."

So, the COIN-bots strike again, seeking to win Afghan hearts and minds, but only losing Western lives. Will they ever be called to account?