"No, Bowser. Contrary to your constant sensationalizing of the facts, allies and civilians were not, and are not, our main targets."

Dan, sometimes I wonder. I'm remembering back to the posts wherein you labelled all Palestinians as combatants. And your memory of that differs.

I believe what I said about the accidental bombings and shootings was that each had an explanation, and in the aggregate they were terrible. That while each of them might be able to be excused, by us, over time the repeated incidents were going to create a lot of hate.

(It's interesting the pilot is being left out to dry in the Canadian incident. The Afghans don't have enough clout to force an investigation of the type the Canadians got.)

I didn't say civilians were the main targets. Where you get those things is beyond me.

In re to the Afghan invasion, I said the Taliban was replaced, and that was about it. Terrorism is still a threat. Al Qaeda still exists. And OBL may well be dead, but most folks don't think so. (Even if he is, so what. There's another one behind him. And if I could "show" him to you, I'd take my $25 million and be gone for a while. But, you could show me his body, and you can have the bucks.)

The Brits reporting actions which didn't occur is a symptom of the situation. When you don't capture or kill the enemy, when they dissolve and reconstitute themselves, all the while remaining a threat, when your commanders in the field are pressured to report victories and no casualties, you've got a screwy situation.

When someone admits the situation, I call it "candor". You call it "victory".

Arf