In a video distributed Feb. 23, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, apologized for 27 civilian deaths that occurred after U.S. forces attacked a convoy of Afghan civilians that had been mistaken for insurgents. The Christian Science Monitor reported that it was the coalition’s deadliest mistake in six months. While public apologies by NATO have come to seem almost commonplace—this was just one of half a dozen in February and the second by McChrystal himself—the push to admit mistakes and apologize is unprecedented in NATO’s nine-year intervention in Afghanistan. But it does reflect McChrystal’s new strategy that prioritizes winning over the population. “I have instituted a thorough investigation to prevent this from happening again,” he said. “I pledge to strengthen our efforts to regain your trust to build a brighter future for all Afghans. Most importantly, I express my deepest, heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families. We all share in their grief and will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”
NATO Apologizes for Afghan Civilian Deaths
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
Around the affluent world, new hostility, resentment and anxiety has been directed at immigrant populations that are emerging as preferred scapegoats for all manner of political and socio-economic shortcomings.
“Each day is becoming more difficult, but we do not surrender,” Father Igor Boyko, 48, the rector of the Greek Catholic seminary in Lviv, told Gerard O’Connell. “To surrender means we are finished.”
Many have questioned how so many Latinos could support a candidate like DonaldTrump, who promised restrictive immigration policies. “And the answer is that, of course, Latinos are complicated people.”
Catholic voters were a crucial part of Donald J. Trump’s re-election as president. But did misogyny and a resistance to women in power cause Catholic voters to disregard the common good?