Once again, Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned Tuesday against air attacks that kill innocent civilians. If they continue, “we will be forced to take unilateral action in this regard,” he said in Kabul three days after a NATO air strike killed nine civilians, most of them women and children, in southern Helmand Province.
This is the tension that will exist going forward in Afghanistan. If the U.S. is intent on pulling out troops starting in July — and if it wants to keep up pressure on the Taliban — air strikes will be vital. That’s one reason they’re up 5,800% between 2004 and 2010.
