Taliban Responsible For Ever-Increasing Percentage Of Civilian Deaths In Afghanistan

The release of the secret military documents regarding Afghanistan paint a stark picture of a war zone.  For anyone that reads the articles in the New York Times, or the two European papers that had initial access to the documents, understands that the issue over civilian deaths is the most difficult to stomach.  While there is always deaths of innocents in a war zone, it is never something that one wants to acknowledge.  When war takes place more than just the combatants die.  That is an unavoidable truth.

The released documents make serious note of the death of civilians by armed forces fighting the Taliban. But I think it very important to keep in perspective the high number of civilian deaths as a result of the Taliban themselves. 

While there have been many stories about the somewhat restrictive rules of engagement that allied soldiers refer to in order to keep civilian deaths lower, at the same time the Taliban creates an ever-increasing number of civilian deaths.  In 2009 the United Nations released a report that showed the Taliban used IEDs, suicide bombers and assassinations and executions on civilians with every intention of inflicting death and mayhem.    During the time of the report, and since, the death from American and allied forces has declined.  The problem, as the new documents strongly suggest, is that the PR war is being lost as the Afghan people do not see the Taliban as the most serious problem for civilians. 

But the facts of course point to the Taliban as the real problem.  During 2009, attacks by the Taliban killed at least 1,630 Afghan civilians, a 41 percent increase from 2008.  Civilian casualties caused by U.S. and allied forces and Afghan troops were down 28 percent from 2008, the UN said.

There is no ‘good’ civilian death.  But there does need to be truth brought to light that shows who the responsible ones are that create the carnage.