Meanwhile, Back in Afghanistan

Consider the following eyewitness accounts from distraught villagers in Bandi Temur, Afghanistan. As reported in the May 27, 2002 edition of the New York Times: "They shot my husband, Abdullah, and they beat me and bound my hands and eyes." From a wailing mother came the cry: "They shot my son, Muhammad Sadiq. He was 35. They shot him in the legs." Most distressing was the story of another mother whose 3 year old daughter ran in fear from the soldiers. "They were shooting....I could not see anything but she was running. We only found her the next day. She was in the well, she was dead."

Were these soldiers part of another in the all-too-frequent conflicts between rival Afghan warlords that render life outside of Kabul dangerous and deadly? No, this was another lethal raid in recent actions by US troops that have outraged Afghan villagers. Among the other egregious violence in this attack was the brutal death by "a blow from a rifle butt" of the 100 year old village chief. As General Akram, the regional head of police, explained: "The villagers really respected him, that's why they are so angry." Angry enough, according to the General, to view such raids of the American-led coalition forces as similar to the Soviet activities of the 1980's.