British Criticize U.S. Air Attacks in Afghan Region

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/09/world/asia/09casualties.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

By CARLOTTA GALL
Published: August 9, 2007
SANGIN, Afghanistan - A senior British commander in southern
Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked that American
Special Forces leave his area of operations because the high level of
civilian casualties they had caused was making it difficult to win
over local people.

Other British officers here in Helmand Province, speaking on condition
of anonymity, criticized American Special Forces for causing most of
the civilian deaths and injuries in their area. They also expressed
concerns that the Americans' extensive use of air power was turning
the people against the foreign presence as British forces were trying
to solidify recent gains against the Taliban.

An American military spokesman denied that the request for American
forces to leave was ever made, either formally or otherwise, or that
they had caused most of the casualties. But the episode underlines
differences of opinion among NATO and American military forces in
Afghanistan on tactics for fighting Taliban insurgents, and concerns
among soldiers about the consequences of the high level of civilians
being killed in fighting.

A precise tally of civilian deaths is difficult to pin down, but one
reliable count puts the number killed in Helmand this year at close to
300 civilians, the vast majority of them caused by foreign and Afghan
forces, rather than the Taliban.

"Everyone is concerned about civilian casualties," the senior British
commander said. "Of course it is counterproductive if civilians get
injured, but we've got to pick up the pack of cards that we have got.
Other people have been operating in our area before us."

After months of heavy fighting that began in early 2006, the British
commanders say they are finally making headway in securing important
areas such as this town, and are now in the difficult position of
trying to win back support among local people whose lives have been
devastated by aerial bombing.

American Special Forces have been active in Helmand since United
States forces first entered Afghanistan in late 2001, and for several
years they maintained a small base outside the town of Gereshk. But
the foreign troop presence was never more than a few hundred men.

British forces arrived in the spring of 2006 and now have command of
the province with some 6,000 troops deployed, with small units of
Estonians and Danish troops. American Special Forces have continued to
assist in fighting insurgents, operating as advisers to Afghan
national security forces.

It is these American teams that are coming under criticism. They tend
to work in small units that rely heavily on air cover because they are
vulnerable to large groups of insurgents. Such Special Forces teams
have often called in airstrikes in Helmand and other places where
civilians have subsequently been found to have suffered casualties.

In just two cases, airstrikes killed 31 nomads west of Kandahar in
November last year and another 57 villagers, half of them women and
children, in western Afghanistan in April. In both cases, United
States Special Forces were responsible for calling in the airstrikes.

The chief British press officer in Helmand, Col. Charles Mayo,
defended the American Special Forces and said they were essential to
NATO's efforts to clear out heavily entrenched Taliban insurgents.

An American military spokesman said United States Special Forces would
continue to operate in Helmand for the foreseeable future. He denied
that their tactics had caused greater civilian deaths and blamed the
Taliban for fighting from civilian compounds.

"U.S. Special Forces have a tremendous reputation not only in combat
operations but also in training and advising the Afghan National
Security Forces," Lt. Col. David Accetta, a spokesman for American
forces in Afghanistan, said in an e-mail response from Bagram air
base.

United States Special Forces had also provided development and medical
assistance, which, with the combat missions, "can be said to have
'turned the tide' in Helmand," he said.

But the senior British commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity
during an interview in July, said that in Sangin, which has been calm
recently, there was no longer a need for United States Special Forces.
"There aren't large bodies of Taliban to fight anymore; we are dealing
with small groups and we are trying to kick-start reconstruction and
development," he said.

Orders had just come down from the NATO force's headquarters in Kabul,
which is led by Gen. Dan K. McNeill of the United States, re-
emphasizing the need to avoid civilian deaths, he said.

"The phrase is: 'It may be legal but is it appropriate?' No one is
saying it is illegal to use air power, but is there any other way of
doing it if there is a risk of collateral damage?" he said.

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