NPR Briefed By and Reports on US Militarty Side Of Story

[Procrustes Stretched]

Funny, I know some people just don't get it. NPR is fair and balanced. Especially when the Military decides to tell it's side of the story.

Clearing Up Misperceptions

The U.S. military later accepted that mistakes had led to the civilian deaths in February. American officials also are eager to improve what they think is a misperception about their work and methods.

Two senior officials with the special operations task force that directed the raid on Kushkaki's house briefed NPR extensively.

They said between April 2009 and April 2010, the task force carried out 946 raids. They said targets are tracked by technical means in addition to human sources. Four out of five times, when they surround a house and call out on the bull horn, the suspect comes out without a shot fired. Afghan authorities are briefed on every raid, they said.

In a recent seven-week period, nine members of the special operations task force have died in the line of fire, the officials said. But they say they are confident that the night raids have effectively stopped insurgents from killing Afghans and coalition forces. Civilians died in less than 2 percent of the raids, the senior officials said, and that was sometimes in crossfire with insurgents.

As for the raid on Kushkaki's house, they said the target, Shamsudin, was positively identified at the site, and that the radios and mortar sighting equipment found at the house had no civilian use. The officials said they were fired upon first and returned fire.

Regarding 16-year-old Habibudin, who bled to death, the officials said they believed he had a weapon in his hand, but they could not say for certain.

This story I heard on the radio. It cleared much up in my mind as to what is happening on the ground during these raids from the US Military perspective.

This makes what the US Military is doing seem like the correct solution for all concerned. People will be caught up in the middle of the conflicts, but that is the reality of urban conflict.