Over the last eighteen months, NATO forces in Afghanistan have been trying to be more careful about killing civilians. The Taliban, not so much. Human rights groups have noticed. Amnesty International is calling for a war-crimes tribunal directed at the insurgents.
If the people of Afghanistan have also noticed, perhaps the prospects there aren’t as grim as we’ve been told.
Or perhaps not. In any case, it’s good to know that our side of the war has gotten less vicious.
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Yay….
“. . . less vicious”
the new standard of American virtue and leadership in the world
“If the people of Afghanistan have also noticed, perhaps the prospects there aren’t as grim as we’ve been told.”
The grimness of the prospects cannot be judged until we know WTF we are there for. What exactly is the purpose of the US/NATO mission in Afghanistan? I don’t have a clue, do you?
If that mission is “convert them all to christian right-wing capitalists” (which as far as I can tell IS the mission) then, no, I’m afraid the prospects for that are still pretty grim.
If the mission is “convert them to a functioning democracy, free to choose Islamic nutcases to rule them if they want”, well, that’s pretty unlikely as well (cf Egypt, both its internal behavior and the US reaction).
So, sorry, Mark, but I honestly don’t see how this changes much of anything.