The whole legitimacy thing

Afgahn presdient Hamid Karzai criticizes lack of coordination between Coalition and NATO forces for the number of civilians killed in the last week by bombings.

Karzai's only, very reasonable, request is that the forces let his government know before any military strike. It is the Afghani's country after all.

As the Bush administration is considering a quicker close to Guantanamo in light of loss of U.S. standing in the world, the loss of Afghan and Iraqi civilians also contributes to the West's credibility gap.

Few leaders do have legitimacy to Afghanis, considering that they are fighting against the Taliban, while they continue to be bombed by outsiders who are supposed to "help" them in that fight.

The result is that "reactionary" forces seem more appealing. If civilians continue to be bombed, the West has helped create another enemy for itself.

Much like after Reagan's use of the Taliban to fight against the Soviets, the vacuum left as the West pulled out created an optimum recruiting environment for al Queda.

History repeats itself.