Source: Christian Science Monitor, March 15, 2012

To some extent, that is because Afghans have come to expect violence from US troops, says Joshua Foust, a fellow at the American Security Project and a former civilian cultural adviser to the US Army.

The families of those killed in the murderous attacks on Sunday reportedly did not react at first because they thought they had been targeted by US special operations forces in one of the many night raids.

The night raids have become contentious. Afghans resent “being roughed up by Americans” in their homes at night, but they are used to it, Mr. Foust says. Still, they erode the trust between the US military and Afghan civilians and create “this expectation of violence from American personnel.”

The Pentagon is unwilling to give up these raids, despite those implications. “There’s this entrenched viewpoint within the military and special operations community that night raids are so effective that they couldn’t possibly relent, because it’s the only piece of real leverage they have against the insurgency,” Foust adds.

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