Soldiers from Bravo Company, Special Troops Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, Task Force Gladius wait for a CH-47 Chinook helicopter at the landing zone at Forward Operating Base Morales-Frasier on Jan. 20, 2008. The Chinook will air lift them into the Surobi District of Afghanistan to protect another CH-47 that made a hard landing there. DoD photo by Sgt. Johnny R. Aragon, U.S Army. (Released)From International Herald Tribune:
KABUL: In unusually blunt remarks, the chief of the UN mission in Afghanistan warned in an interview last weekend that unless Afghanistan's international partners conducted their military operations with more care and cultural sensitivity, redoubled their work to minimize civilian casualties and accelerated their reconstruction programs, they risked jeopardizing their efforts to stabilize and rebuild the country.
Kai Eide, the UN special representative for Afghanistan, also came to the defense of the embattled president, Hamid Karzai, saying that Karzai's harsh public criticism of his foreign allies on both the military and development fronts had been authentic, not to mention an accurate reflection of widespread and growing frustration among Afghans.
Read more ....
My Comment: Everyone is afraid on what the U.S. surge will mean to Afghanistan. The increase in fighting and the body bags going back home is clearly not what most Nato/UN countries are willing to accept. The mission chief's remarks should .... and probably will be heeded.