Taliban to CNN : Troop Increase ‘Means more dead Americans’
CNN recently contacted a Taliban spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid for the group’s response to Obama’s recently announced U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan.
Mujahid’s statement seems to echo similar fears from Afghans about mounting Afghan civilian casualties.
According to Reuters, former Afghan Prime Minister, Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, is fearful that in response to the troop surge, more Afghan civilians will die as a result of crossfire or possible human shield tactics by the Taliban:
“More troops will mean more targets for the Taliban and the troops are bound to fight, and fighting certainly will cause civilian casualties,” Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai, a former Afghan prime minister, told Reuters. “The civilian casualties will be further a blow to the U.S. image and cause more indignation among Afghans.”
Afghans unimpressed by Obama‘s troops surge [Reuters]
Of course, both statements highlight the high stakes of Obama’s decision and the importance of having an actual plan of action for the 30,000 extra troops in Afghanistan. Also, as stated earlier, Obama must find a way to effectively use ground forces and a civilian surge to both limit the use of drone air strikes and to prop up basic services and security for the Afghan people. If the civilian and troop surge are able to do these things it could possibly prove a successful deterrent to the Taliban propaganda campaign against the U.S. which has use the lack of development, mounting civilian deaths and a corrupt government as propaganda tools against the United States and its allies.