Acorn said:
Baloo, I won't call you a "retard," but I will question your reading skills. Or are you so simple as to think it makes a jot of difference to the average Afghani that we aren't American?
I won't call you a "retard", but I'll ask you where you're coming from.
Did I ever mention a difference between Americans and Canadians? Last time I checked in this, no, I didn't.
But what I will do, is give the majority of Afghans the benefit of the doubt and say that they will recognize the difference between Soviet occupation in the late 1980s and the current bout of fighting going on in the outlying provinces. I've talked to Afghans, one who fought the Soviets as well, and they can differentiate between Americans and Soviets. Of course, not all can, that is granted. A foreign power coming to uproot their previous government and battle fellow Afghans. Will the majority of Afghans like it? Not necessarily, but they will still note that a) the Americans are NOT Red Army soldiers, out to destroy their culture and heritage and b) the Taliban has been removed, for the better.
I will grant that Goldsmith, in your second post, I will agree with the fact that incidents like this certainly do not help the struggle, and will taint our standing with the locals, whether or not the troops on the ground intended those consequences (PsyOps probably did not...but will pay the price).
I contended in my second point that OUR (I am still unsure what Goldsmith meant...American? Canadian? All of the above?) moral compass was not being affected for the worse, nor was that of the American Army as a whole. Goldsmith contended that he wished for the Army of the Gulf or Somalia, and incidents in Gitmo and Abu Ghraib destroyed that credibility. Considering the soldiers in question are being tried, convicted and this is certainly not an Army endorsed action (torture, etc.), I fail to see how the American moral compass (on a military strategic / tactical level) has in any way been affected, or is any worse than previous decades.