

More grim news from Afghanistan: An airstrike by U.S.-led forces may have claimed the lives of more civilians. The New York Times quotes Afghan officials as saying as many as 40 civilians were killed after a coalition airstrike hit a wedding party in Kandahar province.

Details are still sketchy, and we were unable to reach U.S. Forces - Afghanistan for immediate comment. But civilian casualties have been causing serious friction between the U.S. and Afghan governments, particularly after a recent airstrike on the village of Azizabad claimed a number of innocent lives. In a statement congratulating Barack Obama on his election victory, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for a new strategy. “The fight against terrorism cannot be fought in our country, rather, our country is a victim of terrorism and we demand for civilian casualties to be eliminated,” he said.

As Noah has discussed here earlier, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan curtailed air strikes in 2004 over concerns they might undermine the support of the Afghan population. Likewise, the Taliban have become adept at exploiting civilian casualty reports in their own propaganda war. But Afghanistan has long been an "economy of force" mission – and sometimes that means relying on air power when there aren't enough boots on the ground.

[PHOTO: rawa.org]

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