Opinion | Columnists
For Afghans, the situation is not getting any better
Since the period covered by the leaked war logs, there have been numerous incidents in which civilians were killed
- By Rachel Reid, Guardian News & Media Ltd
- Published: 00:00 July 31, 2010
Seven children killed by rockets in a mosque, a 16-year-old girl abused by a district police chief, more than 80 civilians killed in bomb attacks written off as insurgents. This dismal glimpse into the relentless chaos of war, seen through the hazy eyes of international soldiers in Afghanistan, comes from the massive leak of military field reports. And while US department of defence officials were quick to say that things have changed, this is sadly only half true.
I've trawled through this database for some of the incidents that I've followed since 2008. For the most part, though, what I've seen fits what I already knew — that the battlefield assessments before and after some massive civilian casualty incidents have been horribly inaccurate about the presence of civilians and about civilians killed.
Part of this no doubt reflects the fog of war, and the difficulty of troops on the ground making sense of messy situations. But the documents also expose a poor vision which is troubling — not least because it is too often turned into stony-faced public denials from US and Nato spokesmen. I've met families, still reeling with grief after these incidents, who struggle to comprehend why the representatives of those they've seen wreak havoc in their homes are denying responsibility for their actions.
Since 2008 American and Nato forces have introduced some significant improvements in operational guidelines in order to reduce civilian harm and to avoid the denials and the misreporting. These steps have helped, but have not solved the problem of poor intelligence, human error, and a lack of transparency and accountability. And this includes incidents I've looked into during the last few months, long after some of the tactical directives issued to remedy these problems.
Airstrikes haven't stopped
The most notable, positive impact has been a reduction in casualties from airstrikes. But those airstrikes continue, with several incidents just last month in which civilians were reportedly killed. There's been an improvement in guidance for detention operations, to minimise civilian harm during "night raids" — night-time ground operations to capture or kill insurgent commanders but as airstrikes have reduced, troops have increased, and the use of raids has intensified.
The leak comes at an interesting moment. Last month I was in Washington, DC, where some argue that Afghans won't fight and Americans aren't allowed to because their hands are tied by too many rules. In Kabul last week I heard that new tactical directives were bouncing around the Pentagon while the US military headquarters in Afghanistan was revising existing ones — it's still not known which direction they were going in. But the fear is that, far from further strengthening the rules to protect civilians, the gloves might come off, and the emphasis might swing back towards "force protection": protecting the lives of international troops even if it's at the cost of Afghan lives.
One can only hope that these massive leaks will mute these cries for weakening protections. The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating, and many are questioning the military strategy there. An increase now in civilian casualties would be a tragedy for Afghans, and a disaster for international efforts in Afghanistan.
Rachel Reid is a researcher in the Asian section of Human Rights Watch.
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