A Bit Touchy

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored
--Aldous Huxley

Never underestimate the power of very stupid
people in large groups
--John Kenneth Galbraith
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The most recent reports say U.S. raids killed Taliban, while the locals say it was civilians that died (''U.S. Says Raids Killed Taliban; Afghans Say Civilians Died.'') Can it be both?

It is the same old story. U.S. Special Forces soldiers kill a bunch of people and of course, they are all Taliban. You know the drill: Taliban equals evil. Well, it is their country, and people generally surround themselves with associates, all of whom happen to dress funny, talk funny and in all ways are funny, except when they get laser-guided bombs dropped on them. Then they no longer laugh, and understandably so.

Mr. Ahmad [parliament member] condemned the bombing and said that the fighting angered local residents because the Americans raided their houses at night

“They should not do that,” he said in a telephone interview. . . .

Raiding houses touches a nerve in Afghanistan, especially in conservative tribal areas, because the local custom dictates that men who are not family members cannot enter the parts of homes where the women stay.

Say it ain't so. Imagine that--the indig don't like having their houses searched at night. Are they just being overly sensitive? How 'bout folks in your town?

Surely we would have warmer feelings if we were in their shoes, given how much we love a man in a uniform. Maybe they should spend a few nights in Atlanta to understand how we do things on this side of the pond [see example of nighttime dynamic entry at Ms. Johnson's home.]

This article points to the tight wire act of combat soldiering against forces that move among the civilian population. If hearts and minds are the goal of counterinsurgency, then why are we killing so many civilians?

Their hearts and minds cease to be an asset once they are dead.