Democracy At 30,000 Feet

A British general had the courage to call out the United States.

A senior British commander in southern Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked that American Special Forces leave his area of operations because the high level of civilian casualties they had caused was making it difficult to win over local people.

Other British officers here in Helmand Province, speaking on condition of anonymity, criticized American Special Forces for causing most of the civilian deaths and injuries in their area. They also expressed concerns that the Americans’ extensive use of air power was turning the people against the foreign presence as British forces were trying to solidify recent gains against the Taliban.

We really are Borat in the antique shop, aren't we?

It's an article of wingnut faith that our pulling out of Vietnam indirectly caused the rise of Pol Pot and the genocide of a million Cambodians. In fact, it was the heavy Cambodian bombing campaign that destabilized the country and gave rise to the murderous dictator. Bombing to stop a counter-insurgency is a sign of desperation. And it's not possible to be successful. You alienate far more of the good guys to make up for the bad guys (and civilian collateral damage) that you kill.

“Everyone is concerned about civilian casualties,” the senior British commander said. “Of course it is counterproductive if civilians get injured, but we’ve got to pick up the pack of cards that we have got. Other people have been operating in our area before us.”

After months of heavy fighting that began in early 2006, the British commanders say they are finally making headway in securing important areas such as this town, and are now in the difficult position of trying to win back support among local people whose lives have been devastated by aerial bombing.

There's a sense of denial here, that as long as you rack up body counts you must be winning. It's simply untrue.