What could have been in the mind of a U.S. Army staff sergeant who military officials say went methodically from house to house in Afghanistan on Sunday and killed 16 Afghan civilians, including women and children?
Had the stress of war simply made him snap? Was he seeking revenge for the recent murders of six U.S. soldiers by Afghans angry over the accidental burning of some copies of the Quran, Islam’s holy book? Or was it something else?
We don’t know at this point.
What we do know is that the killings will spur a backlash in Afghanistan and will complicate our efforts to root out terrorism there — efforts which began with the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan more than 10 years ago after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. The United States invaded Afghanistan because the radical Muslim Taliban regime harbored 9/11 terrorist Osama bin Laden.
It seems at least possible that our nation will now speed the planned end of our combat role in Afghanistan, something that is currently slated to take place in 2013. The United States plans to have a continuing role in training Afghan forces through 2014.