Civilian Deaths, Karzai announces Warlord as running mate

100 Civilians were killed in two Afghani villages on Thursday, supposedly due to an American airstrike. The fighting started when Taliban members attacked a group of Afghani military troops. The Taliban then retreated to nearby villages, which were soon bombed by the U.S. Some say the Taliban was completely out of the villages by the time the Americans arrived. The civilian causalities sparked a very anti-American protest, with citizens chanting “Death to America”. What people are trying to figure out now is who exactly caused the casualties. American officials are blaming the Taliban- but many civilians and Afghani officials say it was most certainly the American troops. Some people say it could be a mix of grenades from the Taliban and air missiles from the Americans, but most say it was the air strike. The protesters demanded for American forces to leave Afghanistan. US Defense Secretary Gates apologized publicly for any civilian casualties, but accused the Taliban of using civilians as shields and trying to attract civilian death. He says the Taliban tries to hide behind civilians so they are killed. Although this may be true, the general consensus is that the US is responsible for these civilian deaths.


President Karzai announced that he will run for re-election this august and has selected his running mates. One of them is Mohamed Fahim, a warlord who has attracted a lot of controversy. This is a very interesting decision of Karzai’s part, as the group Human Rights Watch immediately issued press statements criticizing Karzai. One official from the group stated about Fahim, “"He is one of the most notorious warlords in the country, with the blood of many Afghans on his hands from the civil war.” They say putting Fahim in a position of power would be a step back for Afghanistan, rather than moving forwards. Karzai is backed by the West, but his administration is known for corruption and inefficiency. This is a crucial election for not only Afghanistan, but the United States and other nations that have troops in the country.