US alters strategy, makes gains after botched raid

[unhappycamper]

US forces have instituted a near-ban on nighttime raids in Khost. Above, US soldiers patrolled a base in the province.


US alters strategy, makes gains after botched raid
By Farah Stockman and Kamal Sadaat
Globe Correspondent / February 10, 2008

KHOST, Afghanistan - In the dead of night, in a remote Afghan village, US Special Forces commandos surrounded a home, hoping to arrest a high-value target. Hours later, five Afghans were dead, including a 14-year-old girl. The suspect was nowhere to be found.

The botched raid on Dec. 12, 2006, sparked a massive protest in the province of Khost that threatened to undermine the US effort to stabilize the region. Both the US military and the United Nations investigated the raid during the past year. Neither has made its findings public.

But the tragic chain of events that night helped bring about a near-ban on midnight raids by US soldiers in Khost, which were once a frequently used tactic in the province. The policy shift that is now credited with helping to revive public support for the US and Afghan governments and minimize support for the insurgency here.

"We have really tried to pull away from the US coalition doing 'hard knocks' and blowing off doors at night," Lieutenant Colonel Scott Custer, commander of the US military in Khost, said by phone. "We didn't want to have to go through that again."

Custer said he will permit nighttime raids only in rare circumstances. He instituted the new policy at the request of Khost's governor, Arsala Jamal, who also convinced Custer's team that if such a raid has to be conducted, Afghan soldiers should take the lead because they more likely to avoid fatal miscommunications and stir resentment.


Rest of article at: http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2008/02/10/us_alters_strategy_makes_gains_after_botched_raid/