Airstrike Junkies

According to a Reuters report, US and NATO forces in Afghanistan are addicted to airstrikes and we won't be kicking that habit anytime soon:

"Western forces are unlikely to curtail the use of lethal air power against Taliban forces in Afghanistan, despite a wave of civilian casualties threatening support for the mission, analysts and military sources say.

"An aversion in NATO capitals to allied casualties, plus all-too-frequent shortages of ground troops, have forced commanders to turn to the sky in efforts to beat insurgents still going strong six years after the U.S.-led invasion.

"Despite repeated criticism of Western tactics by President Hamid Karzai, and pledges by NATO and U.S. officials to review procedures, few expect an overhaul of strategy by the 50,000 international troops there any time soon.

"Some say more aid and faster probes of accidents might limit the public relations damage from incidents, but would not in themselves reduce casualties.

"Others blame the small size of the troop presence -- less than a third of that in Iraq for a country 1.5 times as big -- for what they see as excessive reliance on air power.

"'If the Taliban withdraw to a village, there is an inability to send troops forward on the ground to clear that village. That is very manpower-intensive,' said Christopher Langton of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Even if further troops were available -- and there are no signs that any of NATO's 26 members or partner nations are in the mood to stump up more -- some analysts sense a preference for air power over riskier deployments of ground troops.

"'Countries such as Canada are already under pressure to reduce troops,' said Matthew Clements, Eurasia editor at Jane's Country Risk report. 'They don't want more casualties.'

"Given the limitations of Western forces and the Taliban tactic of using human shields, Langton said NATO and its allies would do better to adopt a less aggressive approach and consider negotiating ceasefire deals in some cases."