A shred of hope in Afghanistan

If this is real, it's a step in a better direction for our policy in Afghanistan.

The new American commander in Afghanistan said he would sharply restrict the use of airstrikes here, in an effort to reduce the civilian deaths that he said were undermining the American-led mission. [...]

“When we shoot into a compound, that should only be for the protection of our forces,” he said. “I want everyone to understand that.”

Of course, the official line has always been that we only drop aerial bombs when the troops are in trouble, so I'm not sure I see what the big shift is here.

To be fair though, if you read the whole link, he's also talking about changing the rules of engagement a bit to discourage starting a ground fight when the Taliban are mingling with civilian poplulations. Since that seems to be one of their major defensive tactics, I'll be waiting to see how this plays out in real life before I start popping any champagne though.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]