"Andrew Bacevich Warns Against Obama’s Escalation of War in Afghanistan And Intensifying Use of Air Power in Region" (with audio and video)

Democracy Now! with video and audio:

Less than a week after US air strikes killed over a hundred Afghan civilians, President Obama’s top security adviser General James Jones said Sunday that the US will continue its strikes in Afghanistan. Despite sharp criticism about rising civilian casualties from Afghan President Hamid Karzai. We speak to Boston University professor and retired military colonel Andrew Bacevich about why Obama’s plans in Afghanistan and Pakistan are counterproductive.

Less than a week after US air strikes killed over a hundred Afghan civilians, President Obama’s top security adviser General James Jones said Sunday that the US will continue its strikes in Afghanistan. Despite sharp criticism about rising civilian casualties from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, General Jones said on ABC’s “This Week,” that “to tie the hands of our commanders and say we”re not going to conduct air strikes would be imprudent."

Residents of the two villages hit by US bombs last week report that 147 civilians were killed in the strikes but US officials have disputed this number. During a visit to Afghanistan last week Secretary of Defense Robert Gates accused the Taliban of using civilians as human shields. He said civilian casualties caused by US and coalition forces were accidental but “when the Taliban creates civilian casualties it has been deliberate.”

Afghan doctors meanwhile say they have treated at least 14 patients with unusually severe burns. The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission is investigating whether the US army used white phosphorous in its attacks last week. The US military denies the allegation and has accused the Taliban of using white phosphorous on at least four occasions.

The increasing civilian casualties by US air strikes come on the eve of the deployment of an additional 21,000 US troops to Afghanistan.