home > by publication type > op-eds > Collateral Damage in Afghanistan is Unavoidable
Email
| Author: | Micah Zenko, Fellow for Conflict Prevention |
|---|
June 30, 2009
Guardian UK
General Stanley McChrystal will soon issue a new tactical directive to all US and Nato troops under his command. The directive will authorise ground troops under fire from militants located in buildings or populated areas to first consider disengaging, rather than calling in air strikes that in the past have far too-often unintentionally killed innocent civilians. Now, in populated areas, airpower will be reserved only for protecting US, Nato, and Afghan forces in imminent danger, and not to kill Taliban taking refuge among civilians.
The directive intended to reduce the likelihood of repeating the 4 May bombing in the village of Granai, where Afghan national army and police forces came under a sustained attack from Taliban fighters, leading American military advisers to request three airstrikes from B1 bombers.
These airstrikes, conducted after sunset and without an assessment of potential collateral damage, killed somewhere between 26 civilians (according to US Central Command), 86 (Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission), or 140 (Afghan government). As a senior US military official noted on Monday: "We don't want another Granai. The tactical gains simply don't outweigh the costs."
McChrystal's tactical directive is much welcomed and long overdue. It elevates the principle of civilian protection in combat operations from a minor consideration to a central platform for US and Nato soldiers and pilots. In practice, however, it is unlikely that these new orders will eliminate many of the civilian casualties resulting from US airstrikes in Afghanistan.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.