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NATO appears to be taking seriously the threat that airstrikes pose to civilians in Afghanistan:
Brig. Gen.Richard Blanchette, NATO's chief spokesman in Afghanistan, said commanders are now under orders to consider a "tactical withdrawal" when faced with the choice of calling in air support during clashes in areas where civilians are believed to be present. The goal of the order is to minimize civilian casualties, encourage better coordination with Afghan troops and discourage overreliance on air power to repel insurgent attacks, Blanchette said.We'll see how this plays out. It's possible that there'll be no change; as it seems to be a general injunction to use less airpower, it's unclear whether commanders in combat situations will actually change their behavior. If their behavior does change, I'm curious to see how this will affect the mobility and combat tactics of the Taliban."We'll do anything we can to prevent unnecessary casualties, and we'll ensure that we'll have safe use of force. That includes not only airstrikes but ground operations," Blanchette said.
In other news, NATO is deploying a substantial force to the Horn of Africa to help fight piracy. If my calculations are correct, this would represent roughly a 50 percent increase in the number of ships available for anti-pirate activity off Somalia.
--Robert Farley
