A U.S. service member walked out of a base in southern Afghanistan before dawn Sunday and started shooting Afghan civilians, according to residents and Afghan and NATO officials. Villagers showed an Associated Press photographer 15 bodies, including women and children, and said they were all killed by the American.
It seems pretty firm and I don't see what could mitigate the killings. But it is early. Yet even if the families killed were Taliban and actively assisting the enemy, this was not the way to work the problem.
We can say this is the consequence of suspicion caused by the Koran burning over-reaction enflamed by the Taliban.
We can say that the Taliban are responsible for far more killings of civilians.
We can say that it is incredibly rare for US troops to do anything like this.
We can say that unlike our enemies we will punish any guilty troops.
We can say that our military operates more cleanly to avoid civilian deaths both historically and compared to other militaries.
We can even say that if we are supposed to just get over Afghans shooting our troops on occasion (which is more of an anger management issue rather than Taliban infiltration, as Strategypage explains--Afghan security troops shoot each other, too), then they can, too.
Those are all true things. But it is a potential disaster with people here at home seemingly in the balance about whether we are winning (we are, but the debate exists regardless) and whether we should stay long enough to win.
The place of the incident is in Kandahar province where many of the enemy live. It is difficult enough to pacify this area if we are perfect. It is now more difficult.
But if we just stay calm, address the apparent discipline problem that led to this killing, punish any guilty parties, and let time heal this wound, we can move on and keep fighting the Taliban and jihadis who are the real source of dead Afghans.
This is the biggest potential Taliban win since their al Qaeda allies flew our planes into our buildings on 9/11. Work the problem and focus on our mission. This isn't a reason to retreat from Afghanistan. It's just an excuse for people who already want us out.
And be careful out there. This is a tense time to be a coalition personnel in Afghanistan.
UPDATE: It's a bloody part of the world. Again, it is no excuse. As the expression goes, it is worse than wrong--it is stupid.
UPDATE: Of course, the possibility that this could cause large numbers of the religion of peace to stage a Sepoy Mutiny--which we don't have right now--is one reason I've never been comfortable with so many troops in landlocked Afghanistan. Consistent with winning, I'll be happier when we have fewer troops there. But Lord knows what kind of briefings the president gets.
Work the problem.
UPDATE: As I said, this incident will be an opportunity not for analysis--and working the problem--but for those who oppose winning this war to say we must run:
"This is a fatal hammer blow on the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan. Whatever sliver of trust and credibility we might have had following the burnings of the Quran is now gone," said David Cortright, the director of policy studies at Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and an advocate for a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan.
What a shock that someone at so-called "peace studies" and an advocate for retreat would take this incident as a reason to run.
This killing is a problem. But it is a little killing in a big killing field. We can work through it. We have an interest in defeating the Taliban and most Afghans have an interst in defeating the Taliban. We and the Afghans have lost lives against that common enemy. We both need to win this fight. If you want to run, what do you think will happen there? Explain why having a potential haven for jihadis who want to kill us reopen in Afghanistan is in our intersts?
This is a bigger problem. Work the problem with a little more seriousness than usual. It is only a fatal hammer blow for those who would be knocked over by a feather.
UPDATE: Remember the objective. Some good words from Michael O'Hanlon (who has been good on the issue of fighting the war since the summer of the Iraq surge).
