U.S. Forces Kill Couple In Raid on Iraqi House
Military Says Man Led Assassin Cell
By Anthony Shadid and Qais Mizher
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, January 25, 2009
BAGHDAD, Jan. 24 -- U.S. troops stormed the house of a former army officer Saturday in northern Iraq, killing the man and his wife, wounding their 8-year-old daughter and unleashing anger among residents at tactics they deemed excessive, police said.
Afghan president: US forces killed 16 civilians
By JASON STRAZIUSO and RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Writers
Sun Jan 25, 2009
KABUL, Afghanistan – President Hamid Karzai condemned a U.S. operation he said killed 16 Afghan civilians, while hundreds of villagers denounced the American military during an angry demonstration Sunday.
When our tactics result in locals denouncing our presence, it's hard to frame a plausible argument that the tactics are contributing to achieving what ought to be our strategic objectives...
... though I note that we've never really articulated any strategic objectives, in either Iraq or Afghanistan.
Maybe this oughta be Obama's first task: clearly define our ultimate aims in both ongoing wars.
At least then we'll have some clue about how to measure progress... other than "number of bad guys killed" - which doesn't seem to mean very much. We've killed lots of bad guys. Are we closer to a desired end state for all the killing? Who knows? - We haven't said just what that desired end state is!
Have a nice day.
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