U.S. Alters Policy on Death Toll data. Los Angeles Times – The World, Friday, July 24, 2009, by Julian Barns, Reporting from Afghanistan. “It’s, (the U.S.), no longer releasing numbers of militants killed in Afghanistan aiming to focus more on civilian safety….as part of an overall strategy….that emphasises concern for the local populations well being.”
The jackass responsible for this nonsense is Navy Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, (no doubt at prompting from the politically correct Pentagon lawyers who have contributed so much to the death of U.S. troops with their rules of engagement and feel good agenda.) Admiral Smith, shame on you – I cannot conceive of you being any type of warrior. This move gives aid and comfort to the enemy because it tones down any military success against them; what part of psychological warfare don’t you understand Admiral? You and the pathetic creeps who came up with this are a disgrace- you should be ashamed of yourself. Just my disgusted opinion.
Beaudreaux
I do believe this goes beyond political correctness and I believe that Obama is just attempting to downplay the amount of civilian deaths he is authorizing, much like LBJ did. Because of the pressure that he was under at the time, LBJ effectively lost the initiative of the Vietnam war that was won militarily.
Eleas – that is a very astute observation. However, I think that strategy will fail as the death toll of NATO forces rise. Without tallying Taliban losses – NATO loses will seem all out of proportion to the conflict.