Blame it on “Dave”

That Afghan jail riot was finally ended when the NA sent in a tank and killed the last 3 (out of several hundred) prisoners. Amnesty wants an inquiry over why the jail was “nuked from orbit” by US airstrikes in a devastatingly non-proportional response. This is a great eye witness account — the prisoners rioted when they saw their fellow inmates being tied up. Usually the prelude to execution, US and UK forces say they were going to prevent this and this was part of moving the Taliban prisoners someplace safer. But when the riot broke out, the CIA agent known only as “Dave” called in the airstrike.

Days ago, international law experts were worried that US policy was going to drift into the massacre of prisoners by proxy forces. This strategy obviously suits the temperment of the Bush Gang, but if your enemy forces know they will not be allowed to surrender and live then they really are very likely to fight until they die. This makes winning any war so much more difficult, especially when it involves such hostile terrain as in southern Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the massacre has made it more difficult for the US and UK forces to see a way for the Taliban pocket to surrender.

Courtyard littered with bodies:

Dead body