In Afghanistan, an airstrike on Sunday was targeted for Taliban operatives along the border of the Daykundi and Uruzgan Provinces. This mission killed twenty-seven civilians. General McChrystal has apologized for the civilian deaths, but Afghan outrage over civilian deaths in the past year has risen.
"It's very difficult for us, for the people of Afghanistan to find answer: why civilian people are dying. We don't have any answer for them."-Shukria Barakzai, Member of Afghanistan Parliament
This diffcult scenario seems to minimize General McChrystal's true intentions: to get closer to the people, help protect them from insurgent forces, and train their troops in the difficult defense tactics of the desert terrain.
"General McChrystal is doing everything humanly possible to avoid civilian casualties. But it is also a fact that the Taliban mingle with civilians, they use them for cover, which obviously complicates any decision process by a commander on the ground, in knowing whether he's dealing with the Taliban, or innocent civilians, or a combination of the two. I'm not defending it at all, I'm just saying these kinds of things are inherent in a war, it's what makes war so ugly."-Defense Secretary Robert Gates
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june10/afghanistan1_02-22.html
-AB
Allison, is that you? --KK
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the Taliban surround themselves with civilians serving as human shields does make it kinda difficult.