When Skies Turn Cloudy

Rebecca Harrelson
November 4th 2010
5:34 pm

Hundreds of homes in southern Afghanistan have been destroyed or partially damaged as the result of ongoing fighting between pro-government Afghan and foreign forces and Taliban fighters, human rights group states on Thursday. The fighting in Arghandab, Daman and other districts of Kandahar province in the past few months have heavily impacted the region. The group claims US-led forces have allegedly used a blanket bombing tactic in a bid to eliminate all Taliban sanctuaries and explosive devices (IED's)
In result many are accusing U.S troops of destroying our pomegranate gardens and grape orchards in order to establish military stations and create new roads for their vehicles," the farmer from the Arghandab District said. Elders from Zheray District, complained about what they called abusive intrusions into their homes. They stated in such raids their cultural norms and the protection of femals, were being violated.
"Why are they intruding into our houses without notice and searching our women?" asked Malik Aminullah and elder from Zheray. Security and the Taliban have nothing to do with women and children."
"The Taliban are like a shade whose body is in Pakistan but the Americans are only fighting the shade in Afghanistan," one local told the Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM). "with the onset if winter, when skies turn cloudy, the shade-the Taliban-disappears until next spring."
What we as a society need to figure out is if the US led forces are doing their job in a efficient but also a caring way. If excess force is being used on the families, women in particular, then something needs to be done. If notice can be given to parts of Southern Afghanistan. Many of these people have dealt with many sources of war, also we are all human, so compassion should be shown, in times of need.

http://www.islandcrisis.net/2010/11/human-rights-group-says-hundreds-of-homes-destroyed-in-afghan-conflict/