WikiLeaks plans to post video showing US massacre of Afghani civilians

The use of the word "massacre" implies something like My Lai or the Katyn Forest, a deliberate killing of large numbers of noncombatants, especially by infantry.<p>Attacks by aircraft, like those in this video (as indicated in the article) and the previous one, should be described as something else -- although it remains the case that Apaches, F/A-18s, and B-1s (the US counterpart to the Backfire) do not have the large role in COIN that the Pentagon has assigned them, and their employment in Iraq and Afghanistan reveals a poisonously cavalier attitude towards non-American lives.<p>The right way to fight COIN campaigns is known (see David Galula, _Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice_ (1967)); it is not the same as the Pentagon's -- although in fairness, the US military has been trending in the right direction since the happy day when Rumsfeld was given the boot.

This is a very minor point, but could someone edit the title? "Afghani" means the currency; "Afghan" means the people of Afghanistan (Afghan-i Stan, "Land of the Afghans [originally another name for the Pashtuns]", in Persian).<p>This is a pretty common mistake, for what it's worth; demonymns in the eastern Middle East are kind of unpredictable.

How should I feel about the possible reaction in Afghanistan given that we still have US citizens in the country? My father is due to make a two week tour of Afghanistan next week and this makes me worry for him.<p>I realize that exposing the realities of war is the best way to end a war but I can't help but worry for the people on the ground.

Wikileaks were exceedingly disingenuous with their presentation of the material in the former video - in which 2 helicopters killed a group carrying loaded RPG and assault rifles that were an imminent threat to a passing ground patrol that was already taking fire.<p>I hope that they'll let the material stand for itself rather than lying like politicians trying to score points.<p>The way they handled the last one was like some sort of Microsoft marketing exercise.

What's wrong with using non-lethal weapons when one side has an overwhelming advantage?

If it's anything like that pathetic excuse for an exclusive video from last week it won't be worth watching.<p>Report the news . Don't make it, fabricate it or skew it.<p>The days of yellow journalism are still alive and well.