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Van Hollen Calls for Action to Address Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan
United States Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) sent the following letter to Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State, United States Department of State, and to Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, United States Department of Defense, regarding civilian deaths in Afghanistan:
June 29, 2007
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Department of Defense
The Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301
Dear Secretary Rice and Secretary Gates:
I am writing to express my grave concern that the increasing number of Afghan civilian casualties resulting from the actions of Coalition military forces is undermining support for our mission in Afghanistan.
Six years after the terrible attacks of September 11th, we have failed to defeat Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. We must redouble our efforts to accomplish that objective. In order to succeed, we must strengthen our efforts to gain the support and build the trust of the Afghan people. The mounting civilian death toll makes it more difficult for the U. S. and Afghanistan to accomplish our collective goal of defeating al Qaeda and bringing stability and greater prosperity to Afghanistan.
According to Christopher Alexander, Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in Afghanistan, since 2006 the number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan has risen 30%, now an estimated 2,800 deaths. In the last two weeks alone, more than 90 Afghan civilians have lost their lives as a direct result of actions of Coalition forces.
Afghan and international relief agencies, including CARE, Save the Children and the Mercy Corps, have reported that Allied forces are responsible in fourteen instances in which civilians had been "killed for simply driving or walking too closely" to foreign soldiers. In May 2006, President Hamid Karzai called for an investigation into the deaths of 15 Afghan civilian victims of air strikes. One year later, President Karzai continues to express serious and justifiable concerns about the number of civilian deaths, proclaiming in May 2007 that the number was "unacceptable." Such actions are sapping the patience of Afghan citizens and weakening support for international aid workers and Western forces.
I do not underestimate the difficulty of the mission in Afghanistan. In a country larger than Iraq, only 50,000 troops are charged with the task of maintaining stability and performing counter-insurgency activities while working with the Karzai government to build a viable Afghan state. I also appreciate the difficulties that Coalition forces face in confronting an enemy that uses Afghan citizens to shield themselves from Coalition attacks.
However, military commanders are reportedly relying too heavily on aerial bombing, thereby endangering civilians, in order to compensate for an insufficient number of troops on the ground. Moreover, given the increase in civilian deaths since NATO forces assumed strategic command of ISAF in 2003, there have been numerous reports of the lack of coordination between NATO-led and U.S. forces, resulting in avoidable mistakes and increasing the number of civilian deaths.
The task of winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan people and rebuilding credibility among our international supporters demands that we do all we can to ensure that the number of civilian casualties is kept to an absolute minimum. I am hopeful that limiting civilian deaths remains a high priority of Allied forces and that greater consideration will be given to coordinating Coalition operations in a manner that will reverse this troubling trend.
Sincerely,
Chris Van Hollen
Member of Congress
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