Editorial: From bad to worse in Afghanistan
A man sits next to the covered body of a person who was allegedly killed by a U.S. soldier in Panjwai, Kandahar province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan (March 11, 2012). Credit: AP
It's hard to overstate the tragedy of 16 innocents, including nine children, slaughtered in their sleep Sunday in Afghanistan. And it's dreadful that the man accused of the massacre is a U.S. Army sergeant who reportedly walked door to door shooting people in the head and then burning their bodies.
The quick, thorough investigation U.S. officials promise is the right thing to do. But it won't be enough to salvage the situation in Afghanistan. Regrettable incidents involving U.S. troops have made the 10-year occupation less tenable, and negotiating a "strategic partnership agreement," allowing a U.S. military presence after combat troops are withdrawn in 2014, more difficult.
There was good reason to invade Afghanistan in 2001. The Taliban ruled the nation at the time and had provided safe harbor for al-Qaida as it plotted the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Routing the Taliban and al-Qaida, killing Osama bin Laden, and ushering in an elected government were critical victories.
But before combat troops are withdrawn, President Barack Obama wants to lock down that strategic partnership ageeement to help ensure al-Qaida doesn't reestablish a stronghold in Afghanistan. But each incident that insults Afghans makes that deal more difficult, and they have been coming in rapid succession. A video of four U.S. Marines urinating on Afghan corpses was posted on the Web in January. Then last month U.S. troops burned copies of the Quran in a garbage pit in Kabul, an affront U.S. officials see as a lamentable mistake but Afghans consider a heinous crime.
Such incidents raise serious concerns about the state of military discipline, particularly among service members who, like the sergeant suspected of committing Sunday's massacre, have endured repeated deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The United States military has accomplished all that can reasonably be expected in Afghanistan. The continued presence of U.S. combat troops is doing more harm than good. It's time to bring them home.
