We Just Killed 9 Boys, Ages 12 and Under. Do You Care?

NATO and the US (yes us), killed nine innocent boys on March 1 in the Pech valley area of Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan.

Oh Afghanistan!  What if this had been 9 boys killed in your home town?  Would you care?

According to a statement by Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, the killing was a mistake by coalition forces and he extended his condolences and regret to Karzai and the Afghan people, promising that such an incident will not be repeated.


Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, who directs day-to-day operations of coalition forces across Afghanistan, later issued a video statement of apology.  In the video, Rodriguez said troops at a base in the valley were responding to a rocket attack and dispatched attack helicopters to the location they were told the rockets came from. He said the helicopters thought they were engaging insurgents, but it later turned out they were boys from a nearby village who were cutting firewood.

What is an acceptable level of "collateral damage?"

And remind me why are we in Afghanistan again?