quote:
Originally posted by Ronn_Bman:
Due care and respect doesn't mean they figured out a way to completely eliminate civilian casualties. After a month of bombing, the number of civilian casualties is incredibly low. If they were indiscriminately bombing, the number could easily be into the thousands by now.
A bomb drops into an Afghan city and accidently kills 10 people. If we wanted to kill people in cities do you think 10 at the time, or even a thousand, is the best we could do? Of course not, you are just appalled by the loss of human life as am I, but it's important to keep things in perspective.
While no one is "forcing" them to do it, Osama Bin Laden certainly forced "our hand". Before September 11th, we were using the smartest bombs of all in Afghanistan...no bombs. The only coalition force in Afghanistan prior to September 11th was distributing food. September 11th changed things in a way no previous terrorist attack on American's had. Put the blame where you will.
Sorry, Afghani civilians are not, and never will be, Osama bin Laden. As for the civilian numbers, there is no guarantee whatsoever they are accurate. After the barefaced lies America told about civilian casualities in the Gulf War, I am afraid I have turned a wee bit cynical.