Last weekend, the beleaguered President of Afghanistan made a passionate plea on behalf of innocent civilians for an end to airstrikes. This is not the first time that he has done this (last year he was moved to tears on the subject), and it does point to the difficulty of the situation. On the one hand, there are some very bad people in Afghanistan who are at war with the Afghan government (and us). Because it is a large country and we cannot keep “boots on the ground” within striking distance of every potential insurgent hideout, airstrikes are sometimes the only method timely enough to be of use against the insurgents. The rules of engagement are quite complicated and, like the technology employed, are designed to minimize the risk of accidents. On the other hand, accidents still happen and innocent people still die.
As a result, I am not surprised that President Karzai is against airstrikes. Accidents end up killing his countrymen, undermine support for his regime, and bolster the fortunes of the enemy.
But you have to not the following irony: in practically the same breath used to call for an end to airstrikes in Afghanistan, President Karzai calls on the international community to start attacking insurgents in Pakistan.
Now I know that there are many insurgents and terrorists in Pakistan. And I know that the Afghan insurgency would be easier to defeat if there were no Islamist militants in Pakistan. But the risk of accidents does not change when you cross the Durrand Line. Intelligence does not get any better. The terrain does not get any easier. And the propaganda value of accidents (and the ability of insurgents to spin direct hits to terrorist targets as “collateral damage”) does not go down.
Then again, blaming Pakistan is useful for Afghan politicians, as is blaming NATO for civilian casualties. The only silver lining (at least for Pakistan) if NATO were to attack targets would be that the Pakistan government would have someone to blame for their failure to reign in Islamism in their own country (note: my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek here).
