The use of air attacks is causing a lot of civilian causalities. The Taliban also uses civilians as shields - Afghanistan has to be one of the worst places on earth to be living right now. For the average Afghanistan it is a case of damned if you fight - damned if you don't. Either way, unfortunately I do not see the Taliban ever leaving or become so small that they fade into the desert.
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 3231 100%
Phyllis Bennis on Ending the US War in Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, the number of civilian casualties continues to rise. On Tuesday, at least eight people died after a bomb exploded in the southern provincial capital of Lashkar Gah amid a major US-led offensive in the area. Local authorities said all those killed in the attack were civilians. Meanwhile, Afghanistan's government has condemned a NATO air strike on a convoy on Sunday that killed twenty-seven civilians, including four women and a child. NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal went on Afghan television to apologize for the attack. Last year was the deadliest of the war for civilians and foreign troops. And while there is no reliable count of the number of Afghans killed, the number of US soldiers killed in the war has reached 1,000. Ref. Source 3
Nimitz pilots waged a different war this time
Navy fighter pilots flying over Afghanistan last fall and winter dropped fewer bombs than in the past, thanks to less-lethal battlefield orders from the top general there and better communication with people on the ground. Ref. Source 8