USA Today obtained statistics from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s command in Afghanistan, that show an increase in civilian casualties attributable to NATO forces during the first three months of 2010 relative to the same period in 2009:
NATO troops accidentally killed 72 civilians in the
According to a new United Nations report, 2009 was the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the U.S. invaded in 2001. The international body tallied 2,412 civilian deaths, a spike from 2,118 killed in 2008. But insurgents were responsible for the vast majority. The population-protection measures taken by Gen. Stanley More…
One of the most important chapters of the 2006 Army-Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual is the seventh chapter on leadership. “In COIN environments, distinguishing an insurgent from a civilian is difficult and often impossible. Treating the second like the first, however, is a sure recipe for failure,” it reads. More…
Just got off a fascinating conference call with Col. John Agoglia, the head of the Counterinsurgency Training Center-Afghanistan, which seeks to instill and harmonize counterinsurgency capabilities across the 43 contributing coalition militaries in Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan security forces. If Agoglia has a bottom-line message to get across More…
Building on yesterday’s question of how “precisely” Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s Afghanistan strategy is “synchronized,” take a look at Brandon Friedman’s post at VetVoice. Brandon reads a CBS report about U.S. troops distributing a flyer to two villages in eastern Afghanistan that appears to tell the entire villages they More…
I didn’t have time yesterday to blog this, but it’s remarkable. In keeping with his recent move to restrict U.S. airstrikes out of strategic concern for losing Afghan support for the U.S.-NATO war effort, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, is putting forward new rules of More…
Nancy Youssef at McClatchy reports that Defense Secretary Bob Gates has ordered incoming Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal and his deputy, Gen. David Rodriguez, to spend 60 days reviewing war strategy. The task is nothing new for McChrystal, who just finished a different review of war strategy for More…
Can someone please bring an element of coherence to U.S. policy on civilian casualties in Afghanistan? The New York Times reports that a military inquiry into a May 4 bombing in Afghanistan’s Farah Province — in which dozens of civilians (the number is disputed) were killed — has uncovered More…
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) asked Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal how he views the strategic importance of reducing civilian casualties and how he intends to reduce them in Afghanistan.
“I believe the perception caused by civilian casualties is one of the most dangerous enemies we face,” McChrystal said, as the loss More…
In fairness, this was a rapidly issued apology (near-apology?) by U.S. Forces-Afghanistan. Here’s the statement in full, which I received 20 minutes ago:
Coalition Forces offer condolences following non-combatant deaths in Khost
KABUL, Afghanistan – Further inquiries into the Coalition and ANSF operation in Khost earlier today suggest that the
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