Hearts And Minds And Other Small Bits

"The ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who actually live out there". Lyndon Johnson on Vietnam

After U.S. Strikes, Afghans Describe 'Tractor Trailers Full of Pieces of Human Bodies'

Rage spreads in Afghanistan after a U.S. bombing kills some 130 people; Meanwhile the Pentagon spins a cover-up and Obama readies more troops

"As President Barack Obama prepares to send some 21,000 more U.S. troops into Afghanistan, anger is rising in the western province of Farah, the scene of a U.S. bombing massacre that may have killed as many as 130 Afghans, including 13 members of one family. At least six houses were bombed and among the dead and wounded are women and children. As of this writing reports indicate some people remain buried in rubble. The U.S. airstrikes happened on Monday and Tuesday. Just hours after Obama met with U.S.-backed president Hamid Karzai Wednesday, hundreds of Afghans -- perhaps as many as 2,000 -- poured into the streets of the provincial capital, chanting "Death to America.” The protesters demanded a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.In Washington, Karzai said he and the U.S. occupation forces should operate from a "higher platform of morality," saying, "We must be conducting this war as better human beings," and recognize that "force won’t buy you obedience." And yet, his security forces opened fire on the demonstrators, reportedly wounding five people."