November 2, 2001

Editor:

The innocent civilians being killed in Afghanistan are not collateral damage! They are human beings. They are children and women and men of all ages. Yes, the terrorists should be destroyed and so should the Taliban leaders and their military forces. No military advantage, however, is worth the indiscriminant killing of innocent humans.

In the Soviet/Afghan war, the Soviets killed the innocents, just as we are doing. That turned all of the Afghan people and the entire world against the Soviet Union. The United States will suffer the same fate in the concourse of world opinion, if it does not stop killing these innocents, now and throughout the conduct of the war.

I have just finished "Kara Kush," a novel about the Soviet/Afghan war, by Idries Shah, an Afghan nobleman, noted scholar and the author of over 20 non-fiction books. Although "Kara Kush" is fiction, it is based on Shah's personal observations on many, varied battlefronts during the early part of the Soviet/Afghan war.

It is a shame that the U. S. military people involved in the planning and perpetration of this U. S. war against terrorists, the Taliban leadership, and the Taliban military forces did not take into account the messages in "Kara Kush." If they had, there would be no killing of innocent human beings!

Sincerely,

Hal Mansfield, 1138 C. R. 302, Durango, CO 81303-8050

970.259.1324