Misinformation Campaign to Remove US Special Forces from Afghanistan

Once again using anonymous sources the media is claiming that the British military wants US Special Forces out of their sector of operations in Afghanistan:

A SENIOR British commander in southern Afghanistan has called for US Special Forces to leave his area of operations because the high level of civilian casualties they had caused was making it difficult to win over local people.

Other British officers in Helmand province, in south-west Afghanistan, criticised US Special Forces for causing most of the civilian deaths and injuries in their area.

They also expressed concern that the Americans’ extensive use of air power was turning the people against the foreign presence as British forces were trying to solidify recent gains against the Taliban.

A US military spokesman denied the request for US forces to leave was made, formally or otherwise, or that they had caused most of the casualties.

No where in the article does the journalist identify one British officer making this claim so for all we know it could be the British commander of the chow hall telling this to the reporter.  Additionally the only British officer quoted and identified by the journalist had this to say:

The chief British press officer in Helmand, Colonel Charles Mayo, defended the US Special Forces, saying they were essential to NATO’s efforts to clear out heavily entrenched Taliban insurgents.

A US military spokesman said Special Forces would continue to operate in Helmand for the foreseeable future. He denied their tactics had increased civilian deaths and blamed the Taliban for fighting from civilian compounds.

So the official position of the British military in Helmand province is that the US Special Forces are wanted and will stay in the area.  So why isn’t the headline of the article labeled such?  It is because the author so desperately wants to believe US Special Forces are killing all these civilians and will quote and sensationalize anyone that feeds this belief.  Thus if the commander of the chow hall tells the reporter that US Special Forces are not wanted in Helmand Province it will become headline material despite the official British military position saying otherwise. 

This whole article sounds very familiar to the prior Taliban misinformation campaign that ended in an entire Marine unit being redeployed out of Afghanistan.  You often hear the media trumpet the "rise in violence" in Afghanistan however when you look at who is being killed 75% of the casualties are Taliban fighters.  Thus the rise in violence is actually because the US military and its allies are killing an increasing amount of Taliban.  That is why the Taliban is increasing its disinformation campaign in regards to civilian casualties.  The misinformation campaign worked to get the US Marines kicked out of Afghanistan so why couldn’t the same tactic work to get the US Special Forces, which are probably the most deadly hunters of Taliban fighters, kicked out of Afghanistan as well? 

This is just another example of the all to willing media being more than happy to aid the Taliban in this goal.