This Sunday’s readings present tests of fidelity: Joshua challenges the people upon entry to the land of promise to “decide today whom you will serve,” while Jesus faces desertion in the ranks and knowledge that he will be betrayed. Top U.S. military brass are convening in Afghanistan this week to confront a deepening crisis of mistrust between U.S. service members and their presumed Afghan allies after a two-week stretch in which 10 Americans have been killed by Afghan security forces in violence designated as insider or "green-on-blue” attacks.

Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Afghanistan on Monday for discussions on the progress of the war even as New Zealand became the latest coalition partner to announce an accelerated troop withdrawal. The visit by Dempsey was characterized by NATO as one of his regular trips to Kabul, but it comes after the trust-eroding two-week stretch of insider attacks.

Dempsey met in Kabul with Gen. John R. Allen, the top commander in Afghanistan, as well as other senior coalition and Afghan officials, said Jamie Graybeal, a NATO spokesman. The visit comes as the military has moved insider killings to the top of the agenda because of heightened worries about how coalition troops can protect themselves while training members of the Afghan army and the police—a central part of the U.S.’s withdrawal strategy.

Last Saturday U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai by phone to urge him to find new ways to stop the attacks. On Monday President Barack Obama expressed concern about the killings and said in a White House news conference that he, too, would be conferring with Karzai about them.

Source: An article by Graham Bowley for the New York Times