NSC chief: US will not stop airstrikes against Taliban in Afghanistan

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
In a blunt rebuff of the Afghan president, US President Barack Obama's national security adviser said Sunday the United States would not end the airstrikes in Afghanistan that have reportedly killed hundreds of civilians in the course war. Most recently, Hamid Karzai said US bombing and air strikes western Afghanistan's Farah province may have killed as many as 130 civilians. Retired Gen. James Jones said American forces would continue to make military decisions based on the best intelligence available and would not rule out any action because "we can't fight with one hand tied behind our back." Jones acknowledge the difficulty facing US troops who are fighting a Taliban enemy that has no compunction about using civilians as human shields, and said that the US will "have to be careful to make sure that we don't unnecessarily wound or kill innocent civilians."