The war in Afghanistan is getting uglier by the day and NATO casualities are mounting. The US forces are finding the job of fighting in Afghanistan so difficult that the policy makers in US are slowly becoming aware of ther folly of supporting the mujahudeen against the Soviets. The insurgency is becoming more sophisticated and the Taliban are learning the lessons from Iraq very well. If domestic support for the war evaporates upon mounting casualities then US and NATO troops will withdraw. In a recent air strike NATO forces killed more than 100 civilians and Karzai, though he claims to have won the elections, commands so little credibility that his writ does not even extend beyond the Presidential Palace in central Kabul.

The picture published by Associated Press showns Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard lying wounded after being hit by a rocket propelled grenade and even as his fellow marines were tending the soldier, a phot of the soldier was ffaashed, even as he lay dying. Personally, I feel that the picture was in bad taste, but then the western media does this all the time. The Secretary of Defence, Dr Robert Gates requested AP not to publish the picture, but they went ahead claiming "freedom of the press".

Such picture will undermine public support for the war and hence the extreme caution with regard to theior publication. I did not want to put the picture in this blog because I feel that the wishes of the family have to be respected.