Taliban manufacture atrocity for Obama summit

NY Times:

Afghan officials and villagers said Wednesday that at least dozens and perhaps more than 100 civilians were killed in American airstrikes in western Afghanistan, threatening to stiffen Afghan opposition to the war just as the Obama administration is sending 20,000 more troops to the country.

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Early reports from American military forensic investigators at the scene raised questions about the Afghan account, according to a United States military official briefed on the inquiry.

Defense Department officials said late on Wednesday that investigators were looking into reports from witnesses that the Afghan civilians were killed by grenades hurled by Taliban militants, who then drove the bodies around the village claiming the dead were victims of an American airstrike.

The initial examination of the site and of some of the bodies suggested the use of armaments more like grenades than the much larger bombs used by attack planes, said the official, who requested anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

“We cannot confirm the report that the Taliban executed these people,” said Capt. John Kirby, the spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. “We don’t know if it’s true, and we also don’t know how many civilians were killed as a result of this operation.”

Col. Greg Julian, a spokesman for the United States military in Kabul, confirmed that United States Special Operations Forces had called in close air support in the area Monday night, including bombs and strafing with heavy machine guns. “There is a heavy insurgent presence there,” he said.

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The Taliban have recently suggested that they would use US air attacks to create atrocity information operations. I think that is what happened here. The timing is not coincidental. It was meant to put the US on the defensive during these talks. They also know it takes days for the truth to catch up with their information operations. It is easy enough for them to force locals to go along with their information operations.

This has been the Taliban's most effective antiaircraft operation tool. I think logic and the evidence will eventually demonstrate they staged this atrocity.

The military is reluctant to speculate at this point and the media is also reluctant to charge the Taliban with the atrocity, but they are well advised to be dubious of the charges.

CBS interviewed General David McKiernan, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, about the allegations.

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Couric: The Red Cross says that women and children are among the dozens killed in this air strike. How did this happen?

McKiernan: We have some information that leads us to believe that Taliban purposely caused civilian casualties, and then alleged that this is a result of U.S. air support.

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The Red Cross is acting like a Taliban useful idiot with these unsupported allegations. Since we know that it is Taliban strategy to manufacture this kind of story it makes sense to be dubious of this kind of report until all the facts are in.