A senior British commander in southern Afghanistan did an amazing thing a couple of days ago: he asked American Special Forces to leave his area of operations because the high number of civilians they kill is undermining the work of British combat troops there.

This is quite incredible. The Brits have been in heavy combat in that region, and the Americans have been supplying them with air power. In effect, this commander is saying that American are so indiscriminate about who they drop their bombs on, in would be better for his soldiers to not have air support.

Also, keep in mind the debate among NATO countries about who would send how many troops to Afghanistan – every country wanted the other countries to send more. Now the British have decided that the Americans kill so many innocent people it would be better if they just left.

It is also worth noting that the province in question, Helmand Province in the south, is a Taliban stronghold, and one of the few places where the NATO war effort is going well, thanks to the British.

Anyone who thinks the United States should delay in putting a decisive end to Bush’s disastrous foreign wars, who thinks it would be rash to just pack up and leave, should carefully consider the implications of these remarkable outburst from the British.

for the story, see http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/world/asia/09casualties.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

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