By snoadmin
The war in Afghanistan, with a not so promising start, could possibly be heading in the same direction as the unfinished war in Iraq. This is because NATO is losing support of two groups it needs in order to suceed in this war — Afghan and European allies.
Last week North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) jets mistakenly hit three mini-buses carrying 42 civilians in Afghanistan. Out of the 42 passengers, 27 were reported dead. These fatalities included women and children.
NATO forces suspected that the three mini-buses were filled with Taliban militants. This blunder by NATO is their deadliest in six months — not their only one, but their deadliest.
The incident follows recently failed missions by NATO forces. Last Thursday, when under-fire ground patrols requested air support, the result was a slaughter. This botched attack resulted in the injured and killed Afghan police officers.
On Monday of the same week, another miscalculated attack took place, causing the death of five civilians. This brings us to 32 civilian casualties in about 10 days. These weren’t normal causalities of war, these were targets that NATO forces assumed as terrorists, but mothers, fathers, sons and daughters were those who were hit.
Anyone who’s wondering how this mission in Afghanistan turned bad, so quickly, need only look at NATO’s failed efforts to answer this question.
The United States’ objectives in Afghanistan are to completely get rid of Taliban militants, protect the civilians threatened by the Taliban, and campaign for a reliable and accountable federal government, as well as accountable local governments.
So far, we have not accomplished any of these objectives. In order to protect local Afghans, our troops need their support. However, we have given locals no reason to trust even the support our allies have to offer. Though NATO’s actions should not be a representation of the effort and support the U.S. has to offer, it is a representation of the efforts of our allies — and in effect ours.
To make matters worse, NATO’s coalition in Afghanistan is fallng apart. With continuous and unnecessary civilian casualties — like those listed in this editorial — our allies’ citizens will not want to be a part of the war.
Recently the Netherlands, due to pressure from their citizenry withdrew their troops from Afghanistan. A pattern like this could result in a loss of more troops by the year’s end.
We are supposed to be fighting off Taliban militants, not international support. Obama’s administration must now work hard to regain and sustain the trust of both the Afghan people and our allies.
NATO’s Commander General Stanley McChrystal has tried to reduce civilian casualties since he assumed command last year. To achieve this, stricterer rules on the use of airstrikes have been put in place.
General McChrystal even apologized for the incident to Afghan President Hamid Karzais.
However, reducing the amount of civilian casualties is not enough for Karzais. While speaking to parliament, Karzais said, “We need to reach the point where there are no civilian casualties. Our effort … will continue until we reach that goal.”
