Making Enemies

“By all accounts, the Americans virtually ensured their own defeat: They repeatedly bombed their closest supporters here, showing just how little the United States understood about the war it was fighting. Civilian casualties are tragically common in war, in Afghanistan or anywhere else. But these attacks were different, residents here say. The Americans killed and maimed the very people who supported them most, swelling the Taliban’s ranks by turning allies into enemies.” NYT (Gift Article): How America Created the Enemy It Feared Most. “For the Taliban, the battle of Want punctured the myth of American invincibility, proving that hardened resolve could overcome even the greatest superpower. But there is another lesson, too, whether or not the Americans ever fully learned it: the consequences of trampling blindly into a valley they badly misread.” (We’re still learning critical details about America’s war in Afghanistan years after we pulled out. That’s worth considering in situations when we think we’re getting the whole story in real time.)