Blowing up hearts and minds

So-called "NATO" forces of good have been on a civilian killing spree lately. After having blown up 7 children the other day, the latest air strike has blown up at least 25 Afghan civilians, many of whom were women and children. NATO blames the Taliban for using civilians as "human shields," which appears to be a misnomer as far as the behaviour of NATO is concerned. A shield is generally imagined to provide protection from attack, but given NATO's alacrity for blowing up "targets" that invariably turn out to be civilian occupied villages, the term "shield" seems wholly inappropriate. Civilians be damned, there is no shield and bombs away!

The NATO forces' air strike on the area mistakenly targeted two to three civilian houses, killing 25 civilians," Hassan said.

The dead included nine women and three children aged from six months to two years old....

The rest were men, including the mullah of the mosque of the village which is in the Gereshk district about 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the town of Lashkar Gah.

Hassan said the bodies of the dead were lying where they had been hit.

NATO further claimed that "20 Taliban were killed," though how they know this is entirely unclear. Because no one can find the bodies. Spirited away by "other militants," is the official line.

In light of this clear and present danger, President Hamid Karzai is at wit's end, and rightly so.

Attacks causing civilian casualties, as I have said before, are not acceptable for us. It is no longer tolerated.

As you are aware over the past several days, as result of indiscriminate and unprecise operations of NATO and coalition forces, our people suffered casualties.

In Chora, NATO, coalition forces fired artillery on Chora from Tirin Kot in which according to our latest information ... 52 of our countrymen were martyred.

In all, NATO forces have killed 250 civilians this year and Karzai stepped up the rhetoric with a delusional demand that NATO will

have to work the way we ask them to work here. That's the line.

Good luck with that.