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Hard For U.S. to Overcome Alleged Civilian Killings in Afghanistan

Visiting law professor Charlie Dunlap says incident could spur a rethinking of U.S.-Afghan policy

A U.S. Army staff sergeant's alleged killing of 16 Afghan citizens during a shooting spree March 11 could cause further unrest and a rethinking of U.S.-Afghan policy, said a Duke University visiting law professor."This is a horrifying and almost unimaginable heartbreak not just for the Afghans, but also for the U.S. and NATO troops who have sacrificed so much in the past decade," said Charlie Dunlap, former deputy judge advocate general of the U.S. Air Force who specializes in warfare policy and strategy."While the investigation and justice process must be allowed to proceed, it is difficult to conceive how the strategic damage can be overcome." Dunlap added that such killings -- civilians deliberately gunned down in cold blood -- generate a different response than do civilian deaths incidental to a drone attack or other military operation."It is ironic that the greatest setbacks U.S. forces have suffered since 9/11 have not been battlefield defeats but incidents of indiscipline, such as Abu Ghraib and, more recently, the desecration of corpses, the Koran burning and now this," he said. "In many respects, this is illustrative of how different 21st century, information-age conflicts can be from those of previous eras. A single individual can upend a decade of effort by tens of thousands of troops."Dunlap said this latest incident may require a "major revamping of the U.S.'s Afghan policy.""Moreover, given that it is virtually impossible to root out every potential rogue from the millions who serve in uniform, military planners may want to rethink the manpower-intensive strategies that have come to dominate American military policy, and especially counterinsurgency doctrine in which winning hearts and minds is said to be essential," Dunlap said. The Taliban and al-Qaida will be able to leverage this tragedy to their advantage. Dunlap said that even though both groups have killed vastly more innocent civilians than have U.S. or NATO forces, the Afghan people simply do not react in the same way as when U.S. forces or other foreign forces are responsible."However unfair or illogical this may seem, it is a reality that U.S. policymakers must accept and take into account as they look ahead."