Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Justine Rellosa
Talk Radio News Service

There have been recent reports regarding U.S military involvement in the deaths of three Afghan women in February following an American Special Operations attack. The nighttime raid is now being called a cover-up with signs of evidence tampering at the scene by Special Operation Forces, who dug out bullets from the bodies of the women in order to hide the true nature of their deaths.

Matthew Duss, National Security Editor at the Center for American Progress, said the U.S. had dealt with the situation in an incorrect manner by choosing to cover-up the true outcome of the assault.

“When there are civilian casualties and other collateral damage to operations like this, I would think that the best thing to do is to own up to it, and recognize it, and deal with the problem. In general, it seems to me that the U.S. has been better at doing that.” said Duss. “General McChrystal himself has been personally involved in dealing with the families of certain civilians in the past who have been killed by air raids or other raids carried out by special forces. It seems it was just not done this time.”

Despite Afghan President Hamid Karzai accusing Western troops of weakening his government, said Duss, Karzai himself is truly to blame for the fact that his government is still dysfunctional.

“What the U.S. and its partners are trying to do is to help stand up an effective and legitimate Afghan central government, and the ongoing corruption of that government really handicaps that effort. We had President Obama in Afghanistan just last weekend making a very public plea to Karzai to deal with the problem,” said Duss.

According to Duss, it is unclear what the United States can really do in Afghanistan if the culture of corruption is not effectively managed by Karzai and his government.