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New NATO idea to avoid killing innocent Afghans
NATO commanders are weighing a new way to reduce civilian casualties in Afghanistan: recognizing soldiers for "courageous restraint" if they avoid using force that could endanger innocent lives.The concept comes as the coalition continues to struggle with the problem of civilian casualties despite repeated warnings from the top NATO commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, that the war effort hinges on the ability to protect the population and win support away from the Taliban. Want to reduce civilian casualties? Kill the bad guys. More than 2,400 civilians were killed in 2009, the United Nations says, making it the deadliest year of a war now more than eight years old.While it says foreign and Afghan troops killed 25 percent fewer civilians last year than in 2008, civilian deaths rose overall, because the number killed by insurgents rose 40 percent. Posted by: ed 2010-05-04 |
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