Now, This is What We Need to Communicate
U.N. Blames Taliban for Afghan Toll – NYTimes.com
But the most striking aspect of the report was the shift in responsibility for the deaths of Afghan civilians. The survey found that the Taliban and other insurgents killed three times more civilians than the American-led coalition and Afghan government forces last year.
This should be the main message we try to convey. The reality is, if we promise democracy, an end to corruption, and economic development we will fail because we can’t deliver. But the much more simple argument that the insurgents are fanatics and killers is actually both likely to be more effective and also is borne out by facts.
If the Afghan people come to see the insurgents as primarily a disruptive and destructive influence, we won’t need 100,000 in every nook and cranny of the country to see the Taliban marginalized.
