There is both possibly good news and bad news from Afghanistan on the issue of civilian deaths.
First, possibly good news: The new commander of US forces there, Lt. Gen. Stanley McCrystal, who is undergoing Senate approval hearings, pledged to change the rules of engagement to decrease the number of Afghan civilians killed by US/Coalition military operations. At this point this is only possibly good news; it won’t really good news until the rate of Afghan civilian deaths actually drops. The news report is excerpted below.
More possibly good news is that the new general of US troops along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Maj. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, made a similar pledge. Again, time will tell if this is actually good news. That report is also excerpted below.
The bad news is that the rate of Afghan civilian deaths — not to mention US military deaths there — is way up from last year, according to an Associated Press report, excerpted below.
Commander Vows to Avoid Afghan Deaths
by Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post, Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, President Obama’s choice to lead the war in Afghanistan, said Tuesday that violence and combat deaths will intensify as more U.S. troops surge into Taliban-held areas, but he pledged to execute a “holistic” strategy in which killing insurgents would be subordinate to safeguarding Afghan civilians.
McChrystal, a former Special Operations commander, promised that if confirmed to take extreme measures to avoid Afghan civilian casualties — a problem that has long tarnished the US-led military campaign — putting civilians at risk only when necessary to save the lives of coalition troops.
“I expect stiff fighting ahead,” McChrystal told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing Tuesday. But, he added, “the measure of effectiveness will not be the number of enemy killed, it will be the number of Afghans shielded from violence.”
To reduce civilian casualties, McChrystal said he would review all rules of engagement, limit air strikes, and use more small ground units in search and detention operations.
In his first public testimony before a congressional committee, McChrystal, a longtime Army Ranger who has spent most of the last six years commanding secretive manhunting units in Iraq and Afghanistan, took pains to emphasize the broader counterinsurgency goals of improving security and governance for Afghans.
Still, when asked to describe “success” in Afghanistan, McChrystal said the first component would be “a complete elimination of al Qaeda” from Pakistan and Afghanistan. That, in turn, would prevent al Qaeda from operating in either country with the Taliban, which he said would not be “destroyed” but rather made “irrelevant.”
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New US General Vows ‘Careful’ Use of Airstrikes
By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press, Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The incoming general in charge of U.S. troops along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border vowed Wednesday to be careful in the use of airstrikes, a contentious issue here because of the civilian casualties they can cause.
Maj. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, took over command of all troops in 14 provinces in eastern Afghanistan from outgoing Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, commander of the 101st Airborne Division…
Scaparrotti took only two questions at a media conference, and was immediately asked about civilian casualties.
“We look very closely at the use of close air support in terms of being deliberate and very precise,” Scaparrotti said. “We are here to protect the people of Afghanistan and we intend to pursue our operations with that first in mind, and use CAS (close air support) only where we need to protect our force and complete the mission. But we will be careful in its use,” he said.
A U.S. defense official said Wednesday that the U.S. military’s failure to follow tightened rules for aerial strikes likely caused civilian deaths in a May 4 American bombing in western Afghanistan. The finding comes from an internal review of the incident, said the official, …
The Afghan government says 140 civilians died in the May 4 battle in Farah province, while American commanders say video evidence recorded by fighter jets and the account of the ground commander suggest no more than 30 civilians were killed, as well as 60-65 Taliban. In Geneva, UN human rights investigator Philip Alston said about two-thirds of those killed May 4 appeared to be civilians, citing studies by the United Nations, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and others. “There’s no disagreement that a very significant number of civilians were killed,” Alston told journalists.
The new U.S. ambassador, Karl Eikenberry, a former three-star general who has served in Afghanistan, said Wednesday that “it will prove difficult to avoid all civilian casualties” in upcoming battles. …
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Violence in Afghanistan has ratcheted up the last several weeks, a precursor of the battles likely to take place this summer as 21,000 additional U.S. troops join the fight.
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US Deaths Rise in Afghanistan
By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press, Wednesday, June 3, 2009
US deaths in Afghanistan have risen to 65 so far this year, up from 36 over the first five months of 2008 — though US and coalition troops have also killed hundreds more militants, an Associated Press tally shows.
As newly arriving Marines enter the violent Afghan south — the spiritual home of the Taliban and the country’s major drug-producing region — the military said Tuesday that US deaths will likely increase even further this summer.
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Civilian deaths, long a contentious issue in Afghanistan, are also higher this year because of militant attacks and US and NATO operations.
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U.S. counter-IED experts say they expect IED attacks — roadside bombs and suicide attacks — to rise 50 percent this year, contributing to the increase in casualties.
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The AP count shows that US, NATO and Afghan forces have killed 173 civilians this year, compared with 26 the same period last year. The tally also shows that militants have killed 242 civilians this year, down from 343 the first five months last year.
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