Winning Their Hearts and Minds

News from that other war:

After more than five years of increasingly intense warfare, the conflict in Afghanistan reached a grim milestone in the first half of this year: U.S. troops and their NATO allies killed more civilians than insurgents did, according to several independent tallies.

The upsurge in deaths at the hands of Western forces has been driven by Taliban tactics as well as by actions of the American military and its allies.

But the growing toll is causing widespread disillusionment among the Afghan people, eroding support for the government of President Hamid Karzai and exacerbating political rifts among NATO allies about the nature and goals of the mission in Afghanistan.

More than 500 Afghan civilians have been reported killed this year, and the rate has dramatically increased in the last month.

I just don't have the heart to go into all the lies Bush et al have made in their multiple wars. But I would like to point out that when you call in airstrikes and artillery in villages, towns, and cities full of civilians you WILL kill more civilians than 'terrorists.'

Question for discussion: What ratio of innocents to combatants do you think is acceptable?



(Cross posted at Vidiotspeak)