Short of 'justified' wanton killing of the innocent, has anyone in Afghanistan directly responsible for the destruction of the WTC been brought to justice yet? It's been a long while now and if no one has been caught it is time to stop saving the wretched country by reducing its population. Come home now before we win over too many people to 'collateral damage'.

H Spencer, Leeds, UK

When will the rest of the U.S. population realise that our government and it's armed forces are not and have never been benevolent! The ignorance of my fellow citizens is truly amazing but I have to say that the media and public school curriculum both corporate owned or influenced has done it's job. The good guys wave American flags in defence of 'freedom' and the bad guys do not. Patriotism is a blight on the intellect which allows the most heinous crimes to be commited with hardly a second thought as to who the real criminals are. The foreign policy of this nation is drafted by and for the interest of capitalists corporations and thier shareholders to insure uncontested access to resources, cheap labor and markets. Not be too simple about it but this is 'competition' on a global scale. So forget all the democracy and freedom rhetoric, the peoples of the world know better. U.S. history is soaked with the blood of millions that stood in it's path to profit. Injustice breeds resistance!

Scott, San Diego, California

That Afghans hate us is no newsflash. It was totally predictable, indeed inevitable.

Air war is the most hated form of warfare in human history – by civilians that is, commanders love it. In occupation theaters, it almost always culminates in war crimes.

This is why in almost every modern military it is the Air Force that is most politicized. It must be, for it requires deep ideological commitment to visit such barbaric and indiscriminant death and destruction on civilians.

Dan Stewart, Miami, FL, USA

The only eggs that need breaking are American eggs. Their disgusting violent response to a few terrorist successes is immoral and illegal; their behavior in the world contradicts everything we thought America was supposed to stand for.

Robin Westin, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

NATO would never dream of using these tactics in Western Europe or North America. But in Asia or the Middle East, hey, collateral damage is okay. There is problem. Right there. Don't see it? Shame really, because it is why the US lost Vietnam, will lose Iraq and why Nato will lose Afghanistan.

Until an Afghan or Iraqi civilian is treated with as much care as a European or North American, we will be reviled for the racist bigots that we are.

PJM, Sydney, Australia

Yes , those pesky civillians stopping shrapnel and bullets meant for Terrorists , adding to the American deficit and deflecting the forces of Good from their righteous path.

The precision capacity of guided munitions such as 1 ton bombs when used in populated areas would seem to indicate that the ratio of 1 Terrorist : 20 Civilians : 0 Western Military is an acceptable balance and that the locals should be grateful for Democracy.

The "We didn't mean it" wins the hearts and minds of natives every time.

Oh , and , congratulations on the drug eradication programe.

Another sucessful war.

Tim Kaehler, Brisbane, Australia

If Americans of 1776 had thought like Scott of TN and his ilk, America would be British today--because militiamen would have marched onto an open field in a nice row and been gunned down by superior British firepower. "Hiding behind civilians" is just the imperial trooper's name for "guerrilla warfare." Newsflash: the enemies are the sons and brothers and husbands of those civilian "shields."

PKL, Hudson, MA

Yup, Afghans are being terrorized again by a gang of superbly armed foreigners. But "our" victory will come when we convince them that this is "a force for good."

E. Roby, Steinbach, Germany

You can't make omellettes without breajing a few eggs

Pete Brown, milton keynes, UK

This is spot on that there are not enough troops to do, essentially, what the U.S. is trying to do now in Iraq -- create garrisons in the hamlets to keep the enemy from infiltrating. That, it seems, really is the key. But beyond that, I think you go off the mark.

The facts of what happened with the Marines north of Jalalabad the other day matters very much, as do the composition of the crowd that came out to protest. Being a former U.S. infantry officer, I can assure you that we are trained, retrained, and trained some more to return fire in the direction from which we are receiving fire. I would wait until the after action report to see what our soldiers say happened.

One other thing, our soldiers cannot be blamed for civilian deaths, particularly in a newspaper such as this, when those deaths are the result of an enemy using human shields or otherwise attacking in areas of civilian habitation.

Scott, Maryville,, TN, USA

JUST LIKE IRAQ

Remember that the Iraq insurgency got its real start when jumpy US troops fired on a crowd of demonstrators. We in the US (like you in the UK I'm sure) brag that we have the best army in the world, but it just isn't so. They're obviously poorly trained and not very brave.

Arik Silverman, Milwaukee, WI

These populations have a cruel destiny. We should all feel guilty for what we are keep doing to them. Europe must find a way to opposite the USin this imperialistic and unhuman way to rule the World

Paolo, Milano, Italy