Graph: Afghan civilian casualties vs US Troop levels

[stephinrome]

This was posted on the Rethink Afghanistan site in September, so has probably appeared on DU before, but I think it warrants another post.



http://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/?p=852

[mix]

1. A recipe for perpetual war and hatred. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

2. I'm sure there's no connection

Civilian deaths and injuries are too readily dismissed by the Kill-the-Taliban crowd.

Not that I'd mind if the Taliban were toast.

Just that...

1) There can be even worse outcomes than letting them alone, and

2) Unless there is serious cultural change, eliminating one bunch of religious extremist nutbags will just leave a vacuum for the next such group to fill.

[StarfarerBill]

3. It's inevitable that increased military operations will result in increased civilian deaths;

further, they will be the majority of deaths caused by those operations.