Just now I read the following two news reports about incidents involving US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Together they illustrate, I think, the real reason why we will never "win" in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, or any of the other hot spots our soldiers find themselves in.
U.S. forces kill citizen, relatives say was executed
March 7, 2009 - 01:10:52
SALAH AL-DIN / Aswat al-Iraq: "U.S. forces handed over the body of a man who was shot dead to the Iraqi police in Baiji city, claiming that he was a gunman who attacked a U.S. patrol that killed him, a source from Salah al-Din police said on Saturday, while the dead man’s relatives said that the forces killed him in front of his family."
The article goes on:
"The dead man was in his thirties, and he was shot in the chest," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The U.S. side of the story is that he was a gunman who attacked a U.S. patrol in central Baiji suburb (35 km north of Tikrit), and the patrol responded and killed him instantaneously," he said.
Ahmed Abdullah, one of the dead man’s relatives, said "U.S. forces conducted a raid operation on al-Taameem neighborhood and killed the 37-year-old man in front of his family after entering his room."
"The victim was detained by U.S. forces and released three days ago," Abdullah added.
No comment is available from the U.S. side.
Tikrit, the capital city of Salah al-Din province, lies 175 km north of Baghdad."
Source:
http://en.aswataliraq.info/...
The second story was about this raid in Afghanistan:
(CBS/AP) Demonstrators in eastern Afghanistan blocked the path of a U.S. military convoy Saturday to condemn an early morning raid in Khost province that killed four people and wounded two, Tahir Khan Sabari, Khost deputy governor, told The Associated Press.
Sabari said the four killed were civilians, but the U.S. said they were militants.
Once again, the local report contradicts that of the US Military. The result of the raid?
Demonstrators in Khost city threw rocks at the convoy, shouted "Death to America" and burned tires in the road, sending up dark plumes of smoke. AP Television News footage showed several hundred men gathered in the street blocking the vehicles' path, but there were no clashes.
The U.S. military said both Afghan and coalition forces raided an Afghan home, and that militants fired at them. The forces killed what the U.S. said were four men linked to the militant network of warlord Siraj Haqqani. One militant was wounded and four were detained, the military said in a statement...
...Sabari countered that no Afghan forces took part in the raid, despite a recent agreement between U.S. forces and the Ministry of Defense saying Afghans would be included in such operations to prevent civilian casualties and help with cultural issues and language difficulties when entering Afghan homes.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has complained loudly during the last several months about civilian deaths, and has pleaded with the U.S. and NATO to prevent such killings. He made no comment Saturday on the raid in Khost.
http://www.cbsnews.com/...
Now, before flamers on both sides reach for their caps lock button, I urge you to read the rest of the post.
The reason I raise this story is not to choose sides or point fingers. I do not claim to know if one side is lying or another is exaggerating the truth. In fact, both side's claims in the stories could well be true. The Iraqi citizen could well have been at home when the troops performed a raid, felt his family threatened and fired to protect them. The troops could well have fired in self defense, killing the man "...in front of his family."
The Aghanistan raid may have been totally successful in targeting and killing several men the military felt were dangerous and yet still the local populous could have been justified in their anger over the attack.
The point here is not who is in the right. Neither is it who is winning the actual battle, the propaganda war, or even the battle for hearts and minds. The point is, that both situations are no win scenarios. The only way for us to "win" in Iraq and Afghanistan(or more to the point the only way not to "lose") is to bring our troops home.
Our soldiers can do their very best to police the world, chase down "insurgents" and "terrorists" and try to make the world "safe for democracy" but the problems we are facing in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan can not and will not be solved by our armed forces. As long as we are performing military style sweeps and raids on civilian towns and villages, we will be viewed as an occupying power, a military force who can shoot civilians with total impunity. As long as we are viewed as an occupying force, we can not win. The only way for us to truly keep insurgent and terrorist movements from growing in the Middle East is stop providing the terrorists and insurgents with a rallying point about which to coalesce, i.e. our troops presence. The only way we can do that is for us to pack up our Humvees and leave.
I do not blame our soldiers for carrying out their duty. I blame the leaders who continue to place them in situations where they can't win and have no business being; situations where their continued presence just makes them more and more hated by the local populous and where each new day is nothing but is another game of IED roulette.
Support the troops. Bring them ALL home.
I welcome all rational comments.