When the Targeting Evidence Fails--"Continue to Believe"

U.N. Finds Airstrike Killed 90 Afghans Most of Fatalities In U.S.-Led Attack Said to Be Children

By Candace Rondeaux and Karen DeYoung Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, August 27, 2008; A01

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 26 -- United Nations officials in Afghanistan said Tuesday that there was "convincing evidence" at least 90 civilians -- two-thirds of them children -- were killed in a U.S.-led airstrike last week that caused the Afghan government to call for a review of U.S. and NATO military operations in the country.

Kai Eide, the top U.N. official in Afghanistan, said local officials and residents in the western province of Herat corroborated reports that 60 children and 30 adults had been killed in an Aug. 21 military operation led by U.S. Special Operations forces and the Afghan army.

. . . U.S. forces in Afghanistan have increased their reliance on air power since last year, causing a corresponding increase in civilian deaths.

The Herat assault appears to have caused the la…