Petraeus issues new rules to avoid civilian casualties

General David Petraeus has issued new rules to troops in Afghanistan, telling them to avoid civilian deaths.

KABUL: General David Petraeus has issued new rules to troops in Afghanistan, telling them to “redouble” efforts to avoid civilian deaths - seen as a crucial issue in winning the increasingly unpopular war.

The head of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan told commanders he believed the counter-insurgency strategy was bearing fruit but warned that any civilian casualties risked losing the battle to win Afghan hearts and minds.

“We must continue - indeed, redouble - our efforts to reduce the loss of innocent civilian life to an absolute minimum. Every Afghan civilian death diminishes our cause,” he said in the directive released by Nato on Wednesday.

“If we use excessive force or operate contrary to our counter-insurgency principles, tactical victories may prove to be strategic setbacks,” he said in the directive, which replaces rules issued to troops in July 2009.

The four-star general, credited with turning around the Iraq war, emphasised the need to partner Afghan troops at all times and to make sure before using force that no civilians are present, except in cases of self-defence.

Petraeus took over command of more than 140,000 coalition troops in Afghanistan on July 4 from US General Stanley McChrystal, who was sacked for showing disdain for US administration officials in a magazine interview.

McChrystal’s own combat rules, focused on minimising civilian casualties, drew praise from the Afghan government, but there were complaints by troops who said their hands were sometimes tied.

Petraeus had pledged to review those rules and in his new directive he appeared to have updated guidelines on self-defence, but some details were not released due to “operational security”.

Civilian casualties caused by foreign troops are hugely controversial in the nearly nine-year Afghan war. Reducing the number of such incidents is seen as crucial to a US-led counter-insurgency strategy designed to end the conflict.

Last Tuesday Petraeus released a separate set of Afghan counter-insurgency guidelines, which asked foreign troops to “be a good guest” while urging them to “fight hard” and get tough on corruption.

The renewed push on the counter-insurgency strategy comes as US public support for the Afghan war and US President Barack Obama’s handing of the conflict has hit an all-time low, according to a poll released on Tuesday.

Growing public doubt comes as the death toll for US troops in July hit a record high of 66, part of a toll of 415 deaths of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan, so far this year, according to the independent icasualties.org website.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2010.