Battle Company Is Out There

Report From a US Military Outpost in Afghanistan

Elizabeth Rubin reports for The New York Times: "I went to Afghanistan last fall with a question: Why, with all our technology, were we killing so many civilians in air strikes? ... After a few days, the first question sparked more: Was there a deeper problem in the counterinsurgency campaign? More than 100 American soldiers were killed last year, the highest rate since the invasion. Why were so many more American troops being killed? To find out, I spent much of the fall in the Korengal Valley and elsewhere in Kunar province alongside soldiers who were making life-and-death decisions almost every day - decisions that led to the deaths of soldiers and of civilians."