Karzai Says Civilians Died in U.S. Attack

The Afghan president on Saturday said a U.S. air strike this month killed 10 civilians, including women and children, contradicting American military reports that claimed the casualties were Taliban militants.

I just don’t get it…. how do they think they are going to cover this stuff up?

Many Afghans are disenchanted by the risks taken by the U.S.-led coalition in using devastating military force in pursuit of terror suspects. The Jan. 17 raid followed two botched air strikes on villages in December that killed 15 children.

It stands to reason that devastating military force is going to result in devastating results - which are going to include innocent men, women, and children. It doesn’t take a military strategist to figure something like this out, if they are going to operate on the premise that the ends justify the means then do so and quit lying about it. According to the article 37 U.S. soldiers have died in the war in Afghanistan. Conservative figures noted here indicate that between 1000 - 1300 Afghan civilians have been killed, in other words (using the average of the two numbers) about 31 civilians for every American soldier.

Other reports put the numbers higher, at between 3,000 and 3,400 or (using the same averaging method as above) about 86 civilians for every American soldier… and still, the Taliban has yet to be brought to heel.

The first of these links notes an interesting fact. There were fewer air sorties in Afghanistan than there were in Kosovo, and the numbers of bombs dropped in Afghanistan were fewer than in Kosovo - yet the number of civilian deaths is greater in Afghanistan.

Is it less accurate bombing as the report theorizes, or possibly just a lower GaFF?

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