Afghans Demand They Have a Say Over Foreign Troops In Their Country

It turns out that some of the countries in the Middle East take the words "democracy promotion" seriously:

KABUL - Afghan lawmakers on Monday demanded legal restrictions on foreign forces fighting in their country, to prevent further civilian deaths, then closed for half a day to protest the latest casualties from U.S. air strikes.

The attacks on homes packed with civilians, during a protracted battle last week, have damaged ties with Washington and stoked popular anger about the presence of western troops, over rising non-combatant deaths.

Debate about innocent casualties dominated the morning's session and the delegates said they had given the government one week to come up with a way of regulating foreign fighters.

"To prevent the bombardment and killing of our people, the Wolesi Jirga (lower house) has decided the government must come up with a plan, within one week, to regulate the foreign forces," said Wolesi Jirga secretary Abdul Sattar Khawaasi.

Even putting aside the dire human and moral consequences of the air strikes, from a purely geopolitical and strategic point of view, angering the elected government of the country we expect to be working for us is a terrible idea if we want their cooperation. Wanton use of air power and heavy civilian casualties will do little but continue to drive more Afghans into joining the insurgency.