New U.S. air strategy in Afghanistan: First, do no harm

[unhappycamper]

New U.S. air strategy in Afghanistan: First, do no harm
By Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy Newspapers
Stars and Stripes online edition, Sunday, January 31, 2010

NANGAHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan — As his commander greeted a local leader in a district government building one day recently, Air Force Technical Sgt. Tyler Woodson, 20, scurried past them and ran up three flights of stairs to the roof.

There, Woodson, of Macon, Ga., surveyed the town. He saw children playing soccer in an adjacent field, trucks traveling on the main throughway and, several hundred yards away, a glorious range of mountains touching the sky.

He knew that was the best place to drop a bomb from an F-16 — where there was no chance of striking anyone or anything.

~snip~

Privately, ground troops see that the restraint is putting them in greater danger, and so far, they aren't seeing results.

~snip~

Air Force Maj. Gen. Stephen P. Mueller, the director of coordinating air resources in Afghanistan and a McChrystal adviser on Air Force matters, said he's aware that troops feel less safe and is trying to address that by stressing that they'll get air support when they need it.

Rest of article about the continuing Afghanistan occupation at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=67665