Stanley's Army-2

"The US justification for the waging of war is because 9/11 was planned there. It is a fallacy. The next attack on America can be planned anywhere. Al Qaeda does not need Afghanistan to do that. ... All during the long years of the war in Vietnam, Americans were told that another increase of troops would turn the tide, but we now know what the White House knew then; there was no indigenous enthusiasm for the South Vietnamese generals and even less for the Americans. ... It doesn't matter who's elected because the business of Afghanistan is opium. ... Our military exists to kill people and smash things. Nation building is not one of its skill sets, nor should it be. ... When it becomes too lethal to join al Qaeda, its members will go back to herding goats", my emphasis, Alan Caruba, 8 September 2009, link: http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2009/09/08/the-afghanistan-quagmire/.

"A US-German rift over a deadly airstrike in Afghanistan on Friday escalated, as US commanders accused the German military of undermining guidelines that seek to avoid civilian causalties. ... Afghan and Western officials have said betweeen 70 and 130 people died, including many civilians. ... Civilian deaths are undermining Western efforts to marshal Afghans' support for the fight against the Taliban and further threatening support for President Hamid Karzai. ... Public disquiet is growing in Germany about the country's role in Afghanistan, only three weeks before Germany's national elections. ... Public pressure is rising for the German government to clarify the purpose and duration of its Afghanistan mission. ... According to a written report by Germany's defense minstry to German lawmakers, Taliban militants hijacked the two fuel trucks and killed one of the drivers, before the trucks got stuck on a sandbank in the Kunduz River about four miles from a base housing German military and civil-reconstruction personnel. ... A senior US defense official said investigators are trying to determine whether Germany's stringent battlefield restrictions, known as caveats, contributed to the bloody airstrike by limiting German forces' scope for actions on the ground", my emphasis, Marcus Walker, Matthew Rosenberg and Yochi Dreazen at the WSJ, 8 September 2009, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125229769546989199.html.

George Patton couldn't have said it better, my 9 August 2008 post: http://skepticaltexascpa.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-should-general-do-2.html. Stanley, please read this. Learn your trade.

Do you remember the Jenin massacre, which wasn't? As the Prophet (PBUH) said, "Deception is the essence of warfare". Did the Taliban put "civilians" in harm's way to create an incident? Will this "incident" ground allied aircraft in Afghanistan? US commanders worry less about their "allies" than "enemy" civilians. Amazing. Germany should tell Stanley "take your guidelines and shove 'em. We will set our own rules of engagement. Don't like it? We'll leave". If the WSJ is right about civilian deaths, I suspect the Taliban acts to increase them. Wanna bet? Imagine if during WWII, Hitler killed German civilians to get the US end the war. This is laughable. Unintended consequences? Hmm.